Archaeology of Ritual Research Papers (original) (raw)

The tradition of placing objects and symbols within, under, on, and around buildings for supernatural protection and good luck, as an act of formal or informal consecration, or as an element of other magico-religious or mundane ritual, has been documented throughout the world. This thesis examines the material culture of magic and folk ritual in the eastern United States, focusing on objects deliberately concealed within and around standing structures. While a wide range of objects and symbols are considered, in-depth analysis focuses on three artifact types: witch bottles, concealed footwear, and concealed cats. This thesis examines the European origins of ritual concealments, their transmission to North America, and their continuation into the modern era. It also explores how culturally derived cognitive frameworks, including cosmology, religion, ideology, and worldview, as well as the concepts of family and household, may have influenced or encouraged the use of ritual concealments among certain groups. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis truly would not have been possible without the continuous love and encouragement of my family, especially my amazingly supportive parents, Michael and Mary Manning, and my sister, Becca, my rock, who's always there when I need her, night or day. Most of all, this thesis is dedicated to Spencer, who has put up with so much and yet still remains smiling. I also owe a big debt of gratitude to my incredible friends and church family who have supported me in every way possible. Thank you, Laura and

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- Art, Apotropaic Devices, Colonial America, Alchemy

Recent work on the funerary chapel of Amenirdis I at Medinet Habu has proved her selections from the Opening of the Mouth ritual to be deliberately chosen and meticulously laid out on the walls of her funerary chapel such that the texts, which were inscribed in retrograde, commence at the doorway to the chapel and culminate on the innermost wall of the corridor surrounding her cella. This interpretation of the layout of OM scenes suggests that the scenes inscribed on opposite walls run parallel to each other and should thus be read concurrently rather than sequentially. While this theory differs from more conventional interpretations of the division of the ritual, it accounts for the scenes' layout, their retrograde direction of writing/ reading, and relates the scenes' textual content to their physical location on the walls of the chapel. A new system for numbering the various scenes of the Opening of the Mouth arose from this particular analysis of Amenirdis's texts. The new numbers incorporate the scenes' physical location on the monument on which they occur.

- by Mariam Ayad
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- Ancient Egyptian Religion, Egyptian religion, Egyptian Ritual Texts, Ritual Theory
- by James Brady
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Archaeology of Religion

Roman expansion into the Rhineland was followed by centuries of religious entanglements that involved the interactions of individuals and communities with a variety of backgrounds, interests and agendas, and, over time, an array of cultic narratives and practices was maintained, transformed and abandoned.. The notion of cultic heterogeneity used in this discussion is informed by the perception that all social constructs are reproduced through continuous affirmation vis-àvis extent alternatives. Cultic discourse is inherently heterogeneous due to the discrepant attitudes, abilities and actions of situated agents. This will be explored by considering the symbolic narratives and ritual practices associated with the Hercules Magusanus cult on Rome's Germanic frontier.

- by Karim Mata
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- Complexity Theory, Discourse, Colonialism, Funerary Archaeology

"This is only a reference to this new book.
I can´t publish the pdf of the paper before 2014."

The much shorter Archaiologikon Deltion for the single year of 2005 invariably offers far fewer reports on the work of the Archaeological Service than the four-year volume with which we were presented last year. This, in itself, is no bad thing, although the geographical and chronological balance generated by such a large dataset is notable by its absence. This unevenness is, as ever, partially offset by the publication of fieldwork, although certain areas maintain a far more visible archaeological presence than others. This is particularly true for the northeastern Peloponnese, which has, in recent years, been the recipient of an almost unparalleled focus of both research and rescue excavation; a fact reflected in the significant contribution made to this year's report by the edited proceedings of the conference The Corinthia and the Northeast Peloponnese: Topography and History from Prehistoric Times until the End of Antiquity (Kissas and Niemeier 2013). A total of 56 individual papers provide details on sites that range in date from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. A great strength of this collection lies in the contribution of so many current and former staff of the Archaeological Service, and, of the numerous papers that engage directly or indirectly with the archaeology of the Archaic to Roman period, several are discussed in greater depth in the course of this report. A complementary Hesperia supplement detailing the current state of prehistoric and historic research on the Corinthian Isthmus is due to appear before the end of the year (Gebhard and Gregory forthcoming), as is a study of material from Henry Robinson's 1961–1962 excavation in the North Cemetery (Slane forthcoming). The study of religious practice during the Classical period benefits from the publication of the first volume of material from excavations conducted by the Canadian Institute in Greece between 1994 and 2001 in the Sanctuary of Athena at Stymphalos (Schaus 2014a), while the consolidation of synthetic regional studies and individual site reports within Villae Rusticae: Family and Market-oriented Farms in Greece under Roman Rule (Rizakis and Touratsoglou 2013) will no doubt ensure that it becomes a standard text for the study of the rural economy of Roman Greece (see Stewart, this volume).

- by David Smith
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- Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Funerary Archaeology
- by Lorenzo Verderame and +1
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- Sumerian Religion, Egyptology, Assyriology, Hittitology

Employing Mauss's notion of the fourth obligation, giving to the gods, this article develops a formulation of ritual exchange to examine the interactive nature of ritual practice. As a modality of interaction, ritual exchange is contingent upon enduring normative beliefs, such as perceived obligations to spiritual entities, and the social positions of ritual practitioners. Consequently, ritual exchange evinces not only the material and immaterial nature of sacred beliefs but also the potential flexibility and fungibility of social interaction. By considering a relatively under-utilized form of data to study past ritual, archaeobotanical remains, we employ this perspective to explore the ancient Maya practice of offering foods in several caves in western Belize. These data exhibit complex configurations of commonality and variability, suggesting the potential flexibility and latent fungibility of ritual exchange.Employing Mauss's notion of the fourth obligation, giving to the gods, this article develops a formulation of ritual exchange to examine the interactive nature of ritual practice. As a modality of interaction, ritual exchange is contingent upon enduring normative beliefs, such as perceived obligations to spiritual entities, and the social positions of ritual practitioners. Consequently, ritual exchange evinces not only the material and immaterial nature of sacred beliefs but also the potential flexibility and fungibility of social interaction. By considering a relatively under-utilized form of data to study past ritual, archaeobotanical remains, we employ this perspective to explore the ancient Maya practice of offering foods in several caves in western Belize. These data exhibit complex configurations of commonality and variability, suggesting the potential flexibility and latent fungibility of ritual exchange.RésuméEn recourant à la quatrième obligation selon Mauss (l'offrande aux dieux), l'auteur élabore une formulation des échanges rituels afin d'examiner la nature interactive de la pratique rituelle. En tant que modalité d'interaction, l'échange rituel dépend de la pérennité de croyances normatives, telles que les obligations perçues envers les entités du monde des esprits et le statut social des officiants. En conséquence, l'échange rituel évince non seulement la nature matérielle et immatérielle des croyances sacrées, mais aussi la flexibilité et la fonctionnalité potentielles des interactions sociales. En examinant les vestiges archéobotaniques, données relativement mal utilisées pour étudier les rituels passés, nous appliquons ce point de vue à l'étude des pratiques des anciens Mayas qui déposaient des offrandes de nourriture dans des grottes de l'Ouest du Belize. Ces données font apparaître des configurations complexes de points communs et de variabilité, qui suggèrent une flexibilité potentielle et une fonctionnalité latente des échanges rituels.En recourant à la quatrième obligation selon Mauss (l'offrande aux dieux), l'auteur élabore une formulation des échanges rituels afin d'examiner la nature interactive de la pratique rituelle. En tant que modalité d'interaction, l'échange rituel dépend de la pérennité de croyances normatives, telles que les obligations perçues envers les entités du monde des esprits et le statut social des officiants. En conséquence, l'échange rituel évince non seulement la nature matérielle et immatérielle des croyances sacrées, mais aussi la flexibilité et la fonctionnalité potentielles des interactions sociales. En examinant les vestiges archéobotaniques, données relativement mal utilisées pour étudier les rituels passés, nous appliquons ce point de vue à l'étude des pratiques des anciens Mayas qui déposaient des offrandes de nourriture dans des grottes de l'Ouest du Belize. Ces données font apparaître des configurations complexes de points communs et de variabilité, qui suggèrent une flexibilité potentielle et une fonctionnalité latente des échanges rituels.

The Roman numismatic coins of the Silla History and Archaeology Museum (Valencia, Spain) are made
public. It is a museum that gards coins which come from two archaeological excavations recently made in
two villae located in its municipal district: La Font del Gat and Silla, last one in the historical centre of
population. Four high-imperial coins were recovered in the first villa, without archaeological context, and
in the second one a monetary set was found, made up of by a ring and four coins; three ases of Claudius I
of Hispanic mint and an as of Galba, which appeared in a Roman thermal bath, in the middle of the trench
of the foundation of the wall that separates the changing area of the space which gives way to the cold area
or an unctorium. Probably it is a foundational deposit with votive components. A brief current situation of
the knowledge has been done of the ancient numismatic in the region of “L’Horta Sud” of Valencia.
Se dan a conocer los fondos numismáticos romanos del Museo de Historia y Arqueología de Silla. Se
trata de un museo que custodia monedas provenientes de dos intervenciones arqueológicas efectuadas recientemente
en dos villas romanas localizadas en su término municipal: la de La Font del Gat y la de Silla,
esta última situada en el centro histórico de la población. De la primera villa se recuperaron cuatro monedas
altoimperiales sin contexto arqueológico y de la segunda se halló un conjunto monetario, formado
por un anillo y cuatro monedas: tres ases de Claudio I de ceca hispana y un as de Galba, el cual apareció
en unas termas romanas, en mitad de la zanja de fundación del cimiento del muro que separaba la zona
de muda del espacio de la sala fría o de un unctorium. Se trata de un probable depósito fundacional con
componentes votivos. También aquí se hace un sucinto estado de la cuestión del conocimiento de la numismática
antigua en la comarca de l´Horta Sud de Valencia.

- by Tomás Hurtado Mullor
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- History, Ancient History, Archaeology, Ritual

For decades archaeologists have recognized that Khonkho Wankane was an important monumental site in the Bolivian Andes, and most have interpreted it as a Tiwanaku regional center. A decade of research indicates that Khonkho Wankane was an important Late Formative center that engendered Tiwanaku’s Middle Horizon urbanism and ritual-political centrality. It was neither a Tiwanaku regional center nor Tiwanaku’s second city. Furthermore, recent research at Khonkho suggests a critique of the “one center, one polity” model of political complexity. Rather than being the singular center of a spatially bounded multi-community polity, Khonkho was one of multiple interacting Late Formative centers in an emergent macro-community that gave rise to Tiwanaku urban centrality.

- by John Janusek
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- Archaeology, Andean Archaeology, Urban Studies, Urbanism

Abstract: This chapter (written in Spanish) provides a general characterization of the garments with beads documented in the Montelirio tholos, including considerations of their manufacture and use in mortuary practices. Firstly, the contexts in which the beads were found, the position and distribution of the latter, also in association with specific individuals, are described with attention to the post-depositional processes that affected the formation of the archaeological deposits. Secondly, the techniques of bead manufacture and assemblage deployed to create elaborate garments, as well as the characteristics of the latter, are examined in light of the evidence provided by the beads, their location, and distribution. The chapter concludes with some preliminary thoughts on the social dimension of the manufacture of such elaborate garments with beads, which most probably required organized craftsmanship, and their use in the mortuary practices developed in the Montelirio tholos.

- by Marta Diaz-Guardamino and +2
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- History of Dress, Funerary Archaeology, Neolithic Archaeology, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology

Recent fieldwork in the main excavation area at Göbekli Tepe has focused on the excavation of deep soundingsto reach the natural bedrock in preparation for the construction of a shelter, urgently required for the protection of the exposed Neolithic architecture. Eleven deep soundings have been excavated to the bedrock. At several locations, considerable amounts of carbonized botanical material were discovered, so far unique for excavations at Göbekli. A series of more than 150 samples has been produced either on site or by flotation of the relevant soil units. To test the quality of the material for radiocarbon dating, five samples from the area of the large enclosures from Layer III were submitted for AMS-radiocarbon dating. These new data, together with a further age made on collagen from an animal tooth, are presented and discussed in context with previously available absolute chronological evidence.

ABSTRACT: This lecture, which forms part-1 of two parts, includes a discussion and illustration of the following topics: (1) How the Ancient Egyptians conceived of the tomb and its component parts; (2) How a typical middle-upper class family prepared their tomb; (3) What problems emerged regarding mortuary cults (e.g., continuity of offerings; security; etc.) and how they they resolved them (in part); (4) Ancient Egyptian beliefs about communicating with dead (including how they communicated); (5) Egyptian views upon reusing earlier tomb materials and actual practices (i.e., Did they still do it? Discourage it?); (6) Some of the Ancient Egyptian private (and royal) mortuary/funerary beliefs; (7) Some of the mummification practices during the Old Kingdom; (8) Old Kingdom (and later) Egyptians beliefs and approaches to death, mourning, and funerals; (9) Further discussion on private/elite afterlife beliefs (i.e., what happened after death?); (10) How the surviving family initiated and maintained a funerary cult for relatives; (11) Some of the ideal types of mortuary offerings (i.e., by the living …); (12) The various types of “back-up,” permanent offerings for the deceased; (13) Evidence for some historical autobiographical texts and other data (and their types); (14) Some doubts are sometimes implied (especially later) regarding the afterlife; and (15) The "typical" elite mastaba tomb layout/components (e.g., Burial; False door; Serdab). UPDATED: Extensive editing, formatting, and some additions on March 12, 2023.

- by Gregory Mumford
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- Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ancient History, Archaeology, Egyptology

"Göbekli Tepe is one of the most important archaeological discoveries of modern times, pushing back the origins of monumentality beyond the emergence of agriculture. We are pleased to present a summary of work in progress by the excavators of this remarkable site and their latest thoughts
about its role and meaning. At the dawn of the Neolithic, hunter-gatherers congregating at Göbekli Tepe created social and ideological cohesion through the carving of decorated pillars, dancing, feasting—and, almost certainly, the drinking of beer made from fermented wild crops."

- by Viktor Vietrov
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- History, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology
- by John B Carlson
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- Religion, Native American Religions, Comparative Religion, Sociology
- by Yonatan Adler
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- Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Jewish Law

Essen und Trinken – ein beliebtes Thema, sicher zu allen Zeiten und in allen Kulturen. In Stadlers
einleitenden Worten: „Nahrungsgewinnung, -zubereitung und -aufnahme spielen die gesamte
Menschheitsgeschichte hindurch eine zentrale Rolle, nicht nur als unumgängliche physische Notwendigkeit,
sondern in besonderer Weise auch im Bereich des Kultes und der Religion“ (S. 1). Damit
erinnert sie uns gleich zu Beginn an den dualen Charakter von Essen und Trinken: Es ist nicht
allein ein biologisches Bedürfnis, sondern eine Kulturleistung – und als solche auch nicht auf „Kult
und Religion“ zu beschränken.

Maya caves are exclusively ritual spaces, so all artifacts within them are part of a ritual assemblage. Because of their social importance, caves were magnets for ancient activities and thus produce the largest ritual assemblages recovered. Therefore, caves are the single best context to study ancient Maya religion and have enabled cave archaeologists to pioneer a new approach to defi ning ritual assemblages. Most Maya cave artifacts are identical to socalled utilitarian objects excavated in surface contexts. Thus, discrete ritual and utilitarian assemblages do not exist. Special-use objects made specifi cally for ritual that form the core of traditionally identifi ed ritual assemblages constitute a minor component of cave assemblages, suggesting that most ritual activity in surface contexts goes unrecognized. Because there are only subtle differences between ritual and utilitarian assemblages, the analysis of cave assemblages can inform the fi eld about ways of recognizing ritual.

- by James Brady
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Ritual, Mesoamerican Archaeology
- by Linda A. Brown
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- Religion, Zooarchaeology, Ethnoarchaeology, Human Rights

A metalwork hoard dated to the Wilburton phase of the later Bronze Age, found at Barway close to the Isle of Ely in the Cambridgeshire Fens, is reported. Consideration of the hoard, in the context of later prehistoric hoarding in the local landscape, reveals that particular sorts of artefacts were associated with particular places in the landscape. In particular a strong association between later Bronze Age hoards and causeways connecting the Isle of Ely to the outside world is identified, and an interpretation suggested. This study demonstrates the potential of a detailed contextual approach for providing a more nuanced understanding of later Bronze Age metalwork deposition that moves away from a simplistic wet-dry dichotomy.

- by David Barrowclough
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- European History, European Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology

This chapter examines the ontology of Indigenous South-Central California with a focus on the colorful pictographs of the Chumash. I argue that interpretations of rock art from shamanic perspectives has dehistoricized the art and cast imagery within essentialist cognitive terms, effectively curtailing the possibility of interpreting the images as something more than the standard outward expression of a universal neuropsychological function. By contrast, considering Indigenous ontologies affords a much better understanding of both rock art and Native perceptions of their environment, allowing us to move closer to an emic perspective and to appreciate Indigenous social dynamics and rock art in social rather than cognitive terms.

- by David Robinson
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- Archaeology, Anthropology, Mythology, Ontology

"Over a century, the excavations conducted in the ancient city of Eretria have unearthed some ten urban sanctuaries dating from the Geometric to the end of the roman Imperial period. Although the divinities worshipped in these shrines have been most of the time identified, their functions and rituals need to be specified. At present, it remains difficult to achieve a comprehensive overview of the urban sanctuaries of Eretria.
But in the last decades, three sanctuaries have provided valuable archaeological evidence for understanding the religious practices of the Eretrians during the Geometric and Archaic Periods (8th-6th centuries BCE): the sanctuary of Apollo Daphnephoros, tutelary divinity of the city, an anonymous sacrificial area found nearby, and the sanctuary of Athena on the acropolis. Based on the archaeological evidence, it is now possible to enjoy a better understanding of the sacrifices, the vessels used for the cult, and the offerings. In this paper, I will attempt to summarize the features of ritual practice in the Archaic period. I will highlight the differences between the cults, as they seemed to be influenced by different factors, such as the personality of the divinity, the nature of the ritual, the identity of the worshipers (according to gender and social status), and the social changes that would have occurred within the religious community."

- by Sandrine Huber
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- Iconography, Archaeology of Religion, Greek Archaeology, Ancient Greek Religion

The article comprehends a discussion of a short invocation in Pap. New York 35.9.21,
XXVII,8, in Pap. Brooklyn 47.218.138, x+XV,7, in Pap. Berlin P. 3037, rt. and on the eastern wall, H
2 of the temple in Hībis. It is shown that in this egyptian ritual beneath the semitic passage ’e/ilka
„Your (m.) Gott“, written in Hieroglyphics, also JHWH is mentioned in a short form of his name as Yw
for protection.

- by Christoffer Theis
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- Religion, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Comparative Religion, Jewish Studies

This paper reviews the evidence for Neolithic burial practices in SE Arabia, focusing in particular on sites in the Ja'alan region of eastern Oman. Attention is given to the nature of material buried with human remains, including jewellery and, most interestingly, the bones and shells of green turtles in the burials of Ra's al-Hamra 5 and 10. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possible evidence for "necrophobia" at the 5 th millennium BC Neolithic necropolis of Suwayh 1.

- by Vincent CHARPENTIER
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- Religion, Prehistoric Archaeology, Anthropology, Death

Summary of archaeological and ethnographic research conducted by Herbert Dick and others at Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico, from 1961-1999

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- by Francesca Diosono
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- Classical Archaeology, Classics, Late Antiquity, Greek Archaeology

Areni-1 Cave in Armenia is a special-purpose site that provides a unique window into human-animal interactions in the Chalcolithic period (ca. 5200-3400 BCE) of the southern Caucasus. Areni-1 is known for its extensive funerary and votive practices characterised by exceptional preservation. But the people who used the cave also engaged in animal exploitation for subsistence-related purposes. We use contextual taphonomy to explore differences in the depositional history of bones in areas of the cave where symbolic ritual activities and domestic activities were most concentrated. Our contextual taphonomic analyses as well relative abundance measures confirm field observations about the ritual nature of activities deep inside the cave. We show that wild animals, such as canids and possibly wild cattle, were more common in these ritual contexts, and that bones from these contexts were buried relatively faster than in the areas of mixed domestic-ritual activities at the mouth of the cave. We also demonstrate that people who used the cave herded a mix of sheep, goat, and cattle for a range of their primary and secondary products. Finally, craft production activities inside the cave included manufacturing leather shoes from the hide of pigs and/or boars; but caprines, cattle, and possibly foxes were also skinned and processed for their hide and hair.

- by Siavash Samei and +1
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- Zooarchaeology, Ritual, Caucasus, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology

דרך עולי הרגל לירושלים בימי הבית השני:
מבט תרבותי-ארכיאולוגי

- by Omri Abadi
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- Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Anthropology

Cave archaeology's increasing sophistication in dealing with cave environments is best exemplified in the documentation of a previously overlooked pattern of purposeful breakage of cave formations (speleothems) by the ancient Maya (Brady et al. 1997). Subsequent reports have verified the ubiquity of speleothem breakage (Prufer 2002; Rissolo 2001) and some limited attempts have been made to develop more detailed studies of the context, extent, and significance of this practice (Moyes 2001). This chapter describes initial attempts to assess the extent of breakage in a single cave, Balam Na Cave 1. The study assembled data on the amount of stalactite breakage from this single cave to provide some type of benchmark for estimating the quantity of material that left caves and was incorporated into surface deposits. In addition, the process of inventorying the stalactites aroused the curiosity of our

- by James Brady
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Ritual

One of the major accomplishments of cave archaeology has been to champion a new view of Maya religion and cosmology. This has been accomplished to no small degree by embracing the explicit use of ethnographic analogy. Ethnographers have long recognized the fundamental role that caves, mountains, and springs play in social reproduction in communities across Mesoamerica, as well as the pervasiveness of religious specialists who engage indigenous deities in Maya social and political life and have long agreed that many types of religious expression have pre-Columbian antecedents Holland 1964; Vogt 1964). Ethnohistoric sources indicated that caves were fundamental features in Maya religious organization at the dawn of Spanish colonialism. Although Maya archaeologists have generally been hesitant in their explicit acceptance of analogy as a method, they often acknowledge similarities between the ethnographic present and the archaeological past (Culbert 1988; Gossen and

- by James Brady
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Cosmology (Anthropology)

Princeton University Press (2007, paperback 2009).

- by John B Carlson
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- Religion, Comparative Religion, Mythology And Folklore, Ancient History

PANTELLERIA. THE SESE DI FRESCO EXCAVATION AND FINDS
FROM DESTROYED SESES AT MURSIA. - The sese Di Fresco I excavations, an emispheric tomb with four chamber which one, found still closed, is a tholos dome, suggest for the first time the pantellerian megalithism ritual. Each chamber contained one or two burials amongst the so-called Sicilian “banchetto funebre” typical equipment: seashells, Ovis vel capra bones, beads, flint and obsidian implements, ware. The pottery from this sese and from other seses, now destroyed, dated in Early and Middle Bronze age, suggest links with RTV, Capo Graziano, Thapsos - Milazzese, Tarxien cemetery and Borg in-Nadur pottery styles. The Mursia surviving seses also prove the existence of an unknown megalithic cemetery. The monuments seem to line up with an ancient route, now ruined but once going to a spring and then to the village.

During the P.E.F. excavations at the Ophel in Jerusalem in the 1920s a large sherd of an Iron Age II jug was found with a pictorial design incised on the surface. The design shows two humanoid figures above a series of semi-circles bordering the broken edge of the sherd. The figures are joined by rough lines above and below the waist. The details of the figures include traditional Canaanite elements that indicate they are deity figures, one male and one female, and it is proposed that they represent Yahweh and Asherah. If so, this would add to the growing record of textual and symbolic imagery of Yahweh and Asherah together from Iron Age Israel and Judah. The sherd and its inscription are critical to our understanding of early Israelite religion, its relationship to its Canaanite antecedents, and to the nature of folk religion in Judah in the period of the monarchy.