Religion and ritual in prehistory Research Papers (original) (raw)

This paper examines alternatives to top-down approaches to heritage management and development. One of the key issues facing communities around the globe today is the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD)--the determination of heritage... more

This paper examines alternatives to top-down approaches to heritage management and development. One of the key issues facing communities around the globe today is the Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD)--the determination of heritage values by “experts” and government officials on behalf of the people. It is all too common to find local people alienated by such practices and searching for ways in which they can take ownership of their own heritage. Community-based research that shares power and is participatory is one avenue that is quickly developing in many regions around the globe. In Africa, a number of villages and other small communities have taken the initiative to preserve and develop their heritage, free of outside control. Important lessons may be drawn from these experiences, particularly the use of discourse-based research that captures how the people define and live out their heritages through everyday practice.

Designed or modified pools are a previously unrecognised element in the rich prehistoric landscape of Dartmoor. This paper explores their role on Dartmoor and especially their relationship with cairns and stone rows, and suggests they may... more

Designed or modified pools are a previously unrecognised element in the rich prehistoric landscape of Dartmoor. This paper explores their role on Dartmoor and especially their relationship with cairns and stone rows, and suggests they may have had a 'sacred' function. More than 40 possible examples are listed, with a distribution map.

This thesis uses Continuing Bonds Theory to reinterpret kispum, an ancient Mesopotamian family funerary practice, in a new way. Traditional scholarship has portrayed the purpose of the ritual as apotropaic, and that the family dead are... more

This thesis uses Continuing Bonds Theory to reinterpret kispum, an ancient Mesopotamian family funerary practice, in a new way. Traditional scholarship has portrayed the purpose of the ritual as apotropaic, and that the family dead are feared as hostile ghosts. This study suggests that profound beliefs about life and death in Mesopotamia, and interactions between the family and deceased loved ones can be found in the material and textual evidence. A new perspective focusing on evidence from the second millennium BC in ancient Mesopotamia is used to investigate the kispum ritual using ideas from the archaeology of emotion and Death and Dying studies. Current understandings based on textual based studies and the varied traditions of archaeological investigation are introduced in Chapter 2. Then, using notions of continued bonds, new insights are explored to better understand the ongoing relationship between the living and the dead. In Chapters 3 through 6 textual sources and archaeological evidence are assessed against this background, and against each other, with attempts to correlate textual with archaeological details. In the context of ancient Mesopotamia, this thesis employs new approaches to mortuary archaeology to provide new insights suggesting ways that conventional methods may be enhanced. Finally, this study also brings us back to an archaeology of death which is interested in attitudes toward the dead. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS While analyzing what has gone into this project, I realized that it came to fruition through the influences of several key mentors. For teaching me how to ask insightful questions and think more critically about theory and evidence, I am overwhelmingly grateful to my supervisor, Dr. David Edwards. Without his guidance and urging to look again at ideas and how they are expressed, I would have been unable complete this project. Special thanks go to him for his kindness, vast patience and many hours of mentoring across the miles. I have learned a lot from him. The original idea for this thesis came from my colleague Dr. Dennis Klass, who with his unbounded enthusiasm and confidence, encouraged me to take a deeper look at the evidence for Continued Bonds in ancient Mesopotamian families. I would like to thank Giorgio Buccellati for many years of Akkadian, and he and Marilyn Kelly--Buccellati for seasons of fieldwork at Terqa, and many fond memories.

In the Negev and Sinai deserts, excavations of tens of cult and burial sites, radiometrically dated to the 6th to 3rd millennia BC, have yielded assemblages of artefacts and faunal remains. Many of the objects can confidently be... more

In the Negev and Sinai deserts, excavations of tens of cult and burial sites, radiometrically dated to the 6th to 3rd millennia BC, have yielded assemblages of artefacts and faunal remains. Many of the objects can confidently be identified as cult or mortuary offerings, while the animal bones are identified as remains of sacrifices and food offerings. This article describes finds from fifteen excavated cult and burial sites with standing stones, as well as from the “nawamis” tombs of Sinai. The nature and role of cult and mortuary offerings and sacrifices in past desert societies, is discussed within this context.

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

Sea urchins (echinoids) were integrated into many aspects of prehistoric Oceanic society as they provided food, raw material for abrading tools and rare ornaments, and were used as offerings on shrines (ko'a) in the Hawaiian Islands. We... more

Sea urchins (echinoids) were integrated into many aspects of prehistoric Oceanic society as they provided food, raw material for abrading tools and rare ornaments, and were used as offerings on shrines (ko'a) in the Hawaiian Islands. We privilege seven habitation and shrine assemblages (mostly dating to late prehistory; i.e., post AD 1500s) situated along a $12-km length of the rocky windward coast of Moloka'i, Hawaiian Islands, where some of the densest concentrations of urchins have been recorded from Oceania. We examined >185,000 urchin fragments weighing nearly 11.7 kg which, we believe, is the largest analyzed sample to date. Focusing primarily on the helmet urchin (Colobocentrotus atratus), found throughout the Indo-Pacific, we used a protocol for accurately calculating the minimum numbers of individuals using unique test (endoskeleton) plates and internal mouthparts, demonstrated the dietary importance of urchins for marine subsistence, constructed an allometric formula for calculating individual urchin size, and discussed the relevance of urchins for monitoring long-term human impacts to this important coastal resource. While the study sites contained overwhelmingly limpets (Cellana spp.), urchins supplied >80% fat and nearly 40% protein of some of the invertebrate assemblages. It was documented that slightly larger urchins were placed as offerings on a shrine in contrast to smaller individuals associated with habitation structures.

TWO-STAGE (DUAL) FUNERARY RITUAL OF JAPAN AND OKINAWA AS A CULTURAL MODEL (Abstract of the Ph.D. Thesis) Pукопись aвторефератa диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата культурологии (специальность 24.00.01 – теория и история... more

TWO-STAGE (DUAL) FUNERARY RITUAL OF JAPAN AND OKINAWA AS A CULTURAL MODEL (Abstract of the Ph.D. Thesis)
Pукопись aвторефератa диссертации на соискание ученой степени кандидата культурологии (специальность 24.00.01 – теория и история культуры, культурология).
Работа выполнена в Секторе «Языки культур» Российского института культурологии. Москва, 2005
Научный руководитель: доктор исторических наук А.Н.Мещеряков
Официальные оппоненты:
доктор филологических наук Т.П. Григорьева
доктор культурологии Т.В. Мордовцева
Ведущая организация – Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет

Stone monuments are important cultural markers and as such help to deciphers the population pattern and its variations through ages. Since it covers millions of square kilometres and very different geographic environments, various... more

Stone monuments are important cultural markers and as such
help to deciphers the population pattern and its variations through ages. Since it covers millions of square kilometres and very different geographic environments, various groups, with possibly different monuments and rites, are expected to have occupied the Sahara. The situation is quite different on either side of the T´en´er´e (Niger). Except for the Tibesti mountains, monuments are almost totally absent beyond 16◦E, and at least 95% are registered west of this line. While some of these stone monuments have a narrow distribution area, others, on the contrary, are known from the T´en´er´e (Niger) to the Atlantic Ocean. Data compiled for
eight different types reveal different orientation rules with time and location.
The “keyhole” monuments seem to have a luni-solar alignment as opposed to a the random distribution for rectangular tumuli for instance. The number of monuments registered so far is large enough for regional analyses in order to detect possible space variations.

The prehistory and legends of the etnean caves a cura di editors

Bodies make space speak. This graduate seminar investigates the relationship between bodily practice, social performance, and the production of architectural space. Critical literature on the human body, its gender and sexuality, its... more

Bodies make space speak. This graduate seminar investigates the relationship between bodily practice, social performance, and the production of architectural space. Critical literature on the human body, its gender and sexuality, its materiality, and everyday life have flourished in the recent decades, while discussions of architectural space, place and landscape came to the foreground. Drawing on this corpus of recent scholarship in the social sciences and humanities, we will work closely with architectural, art historical and archaeological case studies drawn from the ancient Near Eastern world, and consider the impact of such new paradigms on the field. Neolithic figurines, megalithic monuments, rock reliefs, cave paintings, funerary rituals, urban festivals and festive spaces with visual narrative programs will constitute some of the case studies. Discussions of embodiment, embodied subjectivity, agency of objects, animism of architectural spaces and landscapes, gendered representation of the body, gender performance, multi-sensorial experience of the everyday world, spectacles of the state and biopolitics will play a central role in the seminar. While reading theoretical scholarship on body, performance and space, we will also be studying closely select case studies of archaeological sites, bodies of material evidence drawn from athe ancient Middle Eastern world from prehistory to the late Iron Age.

The author describes the situation in the Canary Islands, referring first to the deities of the communities here. The aborigines of the Canary Islands utilized sacrificial altars, locally known as pireos, to perform rituals on prominent... more

The author describes the situation in the Canary Islands, referring first to the deities of the communities here.
The aborigines of the Canary Islands utilized sacrificial altars, locally known as pireos, to perform rituals on prominent geological locations such as mountaintops or cliffs. These are dry stone constructions shaped as an ovalcircular enclosure with one or more small cavities, where burning of food offerings was performed. It presents the construction characteristics of these sacrificial enclosures.
The shared prominent location and aspect of altars for sacrifices reflect a phenomenon on pan-insular scale, a unitary ideological system, a network of territorial connections along the entire archipelago, and a hierarchical social organization.
It is noted the southern peak of the Montaña de Tindaya (northeastern Fuerteventura Island) with 213 foot-shaped rock engravings, where different sacred activities took place. The hub of the religious, cultural and social network was the great insular-scale sanctuary on El Alto de Garajonay (La Gomera Island). In conclusion, sanctuaries were organized according to a well-established territorial hierarchy, which is easily associable with the image given by ethnohistorical sources about an aboriginal segmented and non-egalitarian society. Some of these monuments have been investigated, providing information about their age, as well as the products offered to the deities (especially parts of animals, wild fruits and cultivated cereals). A cult center with about twenty-five altars for fire sacrifices and related stone altars occurs on La Fortaleza de Chipude (The Fortress of Chipude). A hierarchical network of fire-sacrificial sanctuaries set in the different islands participated to a complex process of social segmentation-interrelation cohesion-guidance of the population.
A pan-insular organization above the tribes did not exist. A supraterritorial religious and social institute was established instead, based on the power to interpret the divine will and predict the future through sacrifices.

The Perry Mesa region of north-central Arizona was largely unoccupied prior to the middle 13th century. Between 1250 and 1300 CE, however, thousands of people moved into the area. We believe this was a highly diverse population, with... more

The Perry Mesa region of north-central Arizona was largely unoccupied prior to the middle 13th century. Between 1250 and 1300 CE, however, thousands of people moved into the area. We believe this was a highly diverse population, with disparate origins throughout the Southwest. 131 linear features have been noted in north-central Arizona. To date, 35 have been visited and identified as prehistoric, ritual racetracks. Early racetracks were few and far between, spread throughout the region. In the 14th century, the track network grew exponentially and became spatially focused atop Perry Mesa

Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park, the second national forest park in Zhangjiajie City, is located in the north western Hunan Provice of China, only 8 kilometers from the city proper of... more

Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park
Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park, the second national forest park in Zhangjiajie City, is located in the north western Hunan Provice of China, only 8 kilometers from the city proper of Zhangjiajie. The park is a super holiday resort integrating with miraculous geomorphologic landscapes, temples, local culture, relics of humanity, wild animals, primitive forests, and so forth.
Tianmen Mountain
Standing at 1518.6 meters, Tianmen Mountain is the first recorded mountain in the history of Hunan Province and has been revered as the "Soul of Zhangjiajie". The mountain boasts intact primitive forest, numerous rare tree species and medicinal herbs, and abundance of fauna.
Tianmen Mountain Temple
Tianmen Mountain Temple was first built in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) as a center of Buddhism in the area of western Hunan. The present Tianmen Mountain Temple is rebuilt on the basis of the original site with a plot area of more than 10,000㎡. It adopts an official style of the Qing Dynasty(1636 - 1912) and the buildings in the Temple compare well with the famous classical houses at home. The Temple is located in the mountain hollow with a broad vision. If one gazes into the southeast, all the hills seem to be so small that the Temple is really like an overlord.
Tianmen Cave
Tiamnen Cave, or Tianmen Gate is the natural water-eroded cave with the highest elevation in the world. In 263 AD, the thousand-meter high cliff of Songliang Mountain suddenly broke open into a door-like cave which became a rare wonder of the world. Hence Songliang Mountain is change to Tianmen Mountain.
Tianmen Cave runs south-northward with a height of 131.5 meters, a width of 57 meters and a depth of 60 meters. It rises above the ground and nears the sky with a lofty and towering posture. The shadow of it reaches the north of the vast sea, the clouds over it near the south of the handle of the Dipper. It's much like a gate towards the heaven. The wonder attracted the visits and appreciations by emperors, officials, sages, hermits, dignitaries and men of letters of different dynasties. After the accumulation over the dynasties, the unique profound Culture of Heaven is built up.
Garden in the Air
Tianmen Mountain is an integrated synclinal geological unit which has the landform of middle-mountain karst platform with peak groups and canyons. The top of Tianmen Mountain is a cliff sight of karst platform. The karst hillocks and karrens spread wildly to form wonders of stone forests in the air. Moreover, with moss spreading all over the ground, wild vines twining and twisting, what come into sight are natural bonsais like grand gardens which were as if created by the immortals.

This research contends that the singular purpose of the material production of four different types of artefact is to provide a religious function for a discrete society of people located in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Integral to... more

This research contends that the singular purpose of the material production of four different types of artefact is to provide a religious function for a discrete society of people located in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Integral to this argument is that these Indigenous people, the Yindjibarndi (pronounced Injar-barndi), practise a religion. Although the High Court of Australia, in the case titled Church of the New Faith v Commissioner for PayRoll Tax (Vic) [1983] HCA 40, 154 CLR 120, defined the attributes required for a group of people to be regarded as 'religious', none of the 147 religious denominations officially recognised and listed by the Australian government at Schedule 1 of the Marriage (Recognised Denominations)

During the II millennium BC (Castelluccio culture, 2200 / 2100-1440-1420 BC), the area where the Greek colony of Megara Hyblaea will be founded, was characterized by several indigenous settlements. Among these, the most important sites... more

During the II millennium BC (Castelluccio culture, 2200 / 2100-1440-1420 BC), the area where the Greek colony of Megara Hyblaea will be founded, was characterized by several indigenous settlements. Among these, the most important sites are Bernardina, Secchiera, Mostringiano, Vallone della Neve and Cana Barbara, all located in the “cave”, a short distance from the rivers and the coast. They were explored for the rst time by Paolo Orsi to the end of the nineteenth century. On that occasion, Orsi discovered numerous chamber tombs, mostly with well-preserved grave-goods. Most of the burials date back to the Early and Middle Sicilian Bronze Age, with some traces of later occupation.
As for the Early Bronze, the tombs generally contained a large amount of local pottery and stone tools, along with some metal objects. Although since then many excavations have been carried out by the Soprintendenza (mostly unpublished), the investigations of P. Orsi of the late nineteenth century have not yet been overcome. The same goes for the ceramic productions, the main indicator of the Castelluccio culture and never studied in the “megarese” area.
In this perspective, the analysis of ceramics from the necropolis of Bernardina (Orsi 1891), Secchiera (Orsi 1893), Vallone della Neve (Orsi 1899) and Cana Barbara (Orsi 1902) could provide signi cant data.
In autumn 2013, the Author was authorized by the director of the Archaeological Museum of Siracusa to start a complete study of all the material coming from the archaeological researches carried out by Orsi. Over 260 complete objects have been identi ed, belonging to the Early and Middle Bronze Age (objects in precious stone, basalt, int, metal, bone and ceramics).
The aim of this work is the study and classi cation of Castelluccio-style pottery from the aforementioned sites in the context of the Bronze Age in Sicily. Paolo Orsi, between 1889 and 1899 published the preliminary re- ports, in which he brie y described the characteristics of some of the tombs and their grave-goods. The publica- tions included a few illustrations and schematic drawings of some objects. There were no further investigations on these sites by P. Orsi and he has never published a nal report. The materials discovered by Orsi are now kept at the Archaeological Museum of Siracusa and they are largely unknown and almost forgotten.
The 51 ceramic samples from the above mentioned sites make an important contribution to the knowledge of the ceramic horizons of the Early and Middle Bronze Age chronological phases. In particular, 47 specimens belong to the Castelluccio style, 2 to the Rodì-Tindari-Vallelunga style and 2 to the Thapsos culture, that means Early and Middle Bronze Age.
The analysis of the ceramic production took place through an attempt at classi cation, organized according to morphological, dimensional and decorative criteria. Taxonomy is organized into a hierarchical system with ve different levels of classi cation: Form, Group, Type, Variety and Variation.

"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... more

"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."

This paper outlines an archaeological approach to rituals that separates ritual (praxis) from religion or belief (doxa). Rather than trying to elucidate what people may have thought, we suggest focusing on ritual as action; these actions... more

This paper outlines an archaeological approach to rituals that separates ritual (praxis) from religion or belief (doxa). Rather than trying to elucidate what people may have thought, we suggest focusing on ritual as action; these actions have a huge communicative and transformative potential and thus it is their effect on society that interests us here. This social efficacy can be scrutinized archaeologically in the longue durée. We apply this understanding to a new approach to the study of hoards and deposits. These, too, are understood as the results of ritual action, i.e. sequenced and communicative practice that involves handling and manipulating cultural knowledge, reproducing and maybe altering it, thus affecting social identities and relations. We therefore suggest focusing on the depositional practice rather than the motivations behind deposition. Moreover we suggest proceeding from the understanding of depositions as ritual actions to analysing what effect they had on space and how they simultaneously were directed by culturally perceived spatial structures.

As we have already learned from our study of the brotherly dyads found in Genesis, scholars often attempt to connect the motif of election of biblical siblings with the selection of the cultic animals at Yom Kippur. In a manner similar to... more

As we have already learned from our study of the brotherly dyads found in Genesis, scholars often attempt to connect the motif of election of biblical siblings with the selection of the cultic animals at Yom Kippur. In a manner similar to Karl Barth, Mary Douglas sees the motif of election as one of the most crucial links between the stories of the brotherly pairs and the two goats' ritual, wherein one animal was selected for the Lord and the other for Azazel. She argues that, in the Book of Genesis, "the theme of conspicuously uneven destinies occurs prominently. Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, of two brothers one is chosen and the other is not."55 The mystery of election is paradoxically highlighted by a role reversal, as the expected recipient of the blessing, the elder son, is rejected, and the younger sibling somewhat unexpectedly receives the blessing. In this respect, Douglas further notes that:

I recently had the opportunity to review Alex Gibson’s thought provoking volume, 'Enclosing the Neolithic: Recent studies in Britain and Europe'. That review, to which the reader is directed for further commentary, identified as a... more

I recently had the opportunity to review Alex Gibson’s thought provoking volume, 'Enclosing the Neolithic: Recent studies in Britain and Europe'. That review, to which the reader is directed for further commentary, identified as a weakness the uneven spread of regional case studies, and in particular the omission of studies from the West Country, Wales and North West England, which are so important in understanding the Irish Sea Zone. The aim of this paper is to address this with regard to the material from the North West of England, and in particular Cumbria. This paper is therefore meant to be read in conjunction with Gibson’s edited volume.

The aim of this article is two-fold : 1/ review the situation concerning the Monuments à alignement - MAA- (mon. with small auxiliary towers) ; 2/ reply to undue comments of Milburn (Almogaren, XXXVIII, 2007) regarding two of our previous... more

The aim of this article is two-fold : 1/ review the situation concerning the Monuments à alignement - MAA- (mon. with small auxiliary towers) ; 2/ reply to undue comments of Milburn (Almogaren, XXXVIII, 2007) regarding two of our previous articles; rectify some wrong ideas Milburn pushes forward; and finally, reply to Milburn's xenophobic remarks that serve as scientific answer to our own comments on his studies. Due to the recent (2006) resolution increase of the satellite photo cover by Google Earth, our knowledge on Saharan monuments has made a huge step forward: thousands of these constructions are now directly visible, among which hundreds of MAA as opposed to a few dozens known before, from direct observation. The new High Resolution Bands cover 5-10% only of the Sahara but are distributed on all countries and cover all main geographic environments. The data at hand allows to better appreciate the architectural elements of these MAA, to improve statistics regarding their orientation and to map their distribution.
Regional variants come out clearly that imply some change in our previous conclusions: a rising moon alignment is still highly probable for most MAA with the striking exception of a small region (with a high density of monuments), namely SW Aïr, and, to some extend, the Adrar des Ifoghas.

For many years Late Postclassic-period (AD 1250 – AD 1500) Maya culture was interpreted in light of the preceding Classic-period (AD 600 – AD 900) when ancient Maya history, religion and the arts reached its perceived apogee. The term for... more

For many years Late Postclassic-period (AD 1250 – AD 1500) Maya culture was interpreted in light of the preceding Classic-period (AD 600 – AD 900) when ancient Maya history, religion and the arts reached its perceived apogee. The term for the-period itself, Postclassic, implies from the start a decline from the achievements of the Classic. Other terms for the-period, such as “decadent,” convey in even stronger language an impression that the Postclassic-period was a time of cultural demise, collapse and near chaos (Proskouriakoff 1955; Thompson 1970). However, research in recent years has called for a reevaluation of this flawed perception and the abandonment of biased Classic-centric views. A new, clearer and more accurate picture of Late Postclassic-period Maya culture is emerging, one that considers this-period unique, innovative, progressive, dynamic, flexible, responsive to change and much more similar to the Classic-period than previously thought (Leventhal 1983; Freidel 1985; Robles-Castellanos and Andrews 1986; Pendergast 1990; Andrews 1993; Lorenzen 2003). As a result, researchers have increasingly moved away from using pejorative terminology when describing Postclassic-period culture, opting instead for a more objective view that treats this-period as simply different from the Classic, neither better nor worse. A perspective such as this is critical to our knowledge of ancient Maya ritual and religion; particularly, in understanding the function and meaning of public verus private miniature masonry shrines and the role of ancestor veneration in shrine rites. To these ends, new archaeological research carried out at the Late Postclassic-period center of El Naranjal, located in northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, treats these and other related issues. Findings from this research conducted in 1999 and 2001 address ritual shrine use in both public civic-ceremonial precincts and private domestic compounds situated in the site center. To date, twelve miniature shrine complexes (each composed of a single shrine and stairway set on a substructure, together with a series of associated altars) are reported within the two square-kilometer core of El Naranjal (Lorenzen 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003). Functional interpretations are presented in the context of early historical accounts, recent ethnographic reports, previous archaeological description and current research at El Naranjal and other sites in the Maya region. Considering these data through an ethnoarchaeological perspective, a final discussion posits that the nature and significance of ritual evidence excavated from shrine complexes indicates their intensive use as religious loci for the performance of agricultural fertility-based ceremonies – rites and rituals inextricably tied to ancestor veneration that involved the actual deification of particularly revered familial lineage heads and esteemed community leaders (Lorenzen 2003).

This article describes a frieze, which includes, from left to right, an early Neolithic, Bégude-type prestige axe from the Italian Alps, a huge anthropomorph coifed with ten “plumes”, and two apparent boats. It goes on to compare the... more

This article describes a frieze, which includes, from left to right, an early Neolithic, Bégude-type prestige axe from the Italian Alps, a huge anthropomorph coifed with ten “plumes”, and two apparent boats. It goes on to compare the frieze to comparable iconography both in the immediate area and beyond. The larger “vessel”, which has high angular extremities and a hook that looks like a steering oar or bird’s beak, appears to illustrate a complex watercraft made of planks, rather than the kind of simple dug-out canoes that have usually been associated with the western European Neolithic. The likelihood that the motif illustrates a boat like a Haida war canoe fundamentally changes our conception of what Europe’s early Neolithic people could do and build, making it much more likely, for example, that they engaged in extensive trade and even whaling.

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... more

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.

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... more

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.

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... more

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.

SUMMARY: Lecture-3 continues examining the Neolithic period in Anatolia, including trends, with a major focus on Chatal Huyuk, including trade, shrines, burials, clothing, and other aspects of this site (in PART-2), plus a brief summary... more

SUMMARY: Lecture-3 continues examining the Neolithic period in Anatolia, including trends, with a major focus on Chatal Huyuk, including trade, shrines, burials, clothing, and other aspects of this site (in PART-2), plus a brief summary of the Neolithic in Syria-Palestine, a summary of the parts 1-2 lectures, and selected sources. This lecture is designed mainly as an educational resource for college students (i.e., normally posted only on my institution's course website), the public (e.g., people auditing my course), and interested colleagues from other disciplines (to whom I provide copies privately). I am posting it here, both as a broader access, educational tool, and especially to promote the study of this region and its past societies. For further knowledge about this region and period, I refer interested parties to the textbooks and other sources from which the materials were extracted (see syllabus), and/or the bibliographies in these works and my online resource guides (see other files in my academia folders). The lecture summarizes the pertinent materials in the course textbook(s), adding in other data, and furnishing numerous images to clarify information encountered within the textbook(s). Some generic imagery (usually indicated as such) is posted to aid in transmitting various concepts visually, and/or when a specific image remains not located (temporarily). I update and revise such lectures each time, with such elective courses normally being taught once every two years. I try to cover the most current, mainstream views, and usually place summary notes at the end of each lecture alongside some of the key sources used for compiling the ppt. Over time, each lecture is improved, errors rectified, and additional data placed within the lecture. These ppt. lectures take many hours to compile, but they have proved useful to many of my more serious students and I hope they can be of benefit to others as well. My apologies for any errors I may have made, and my liberal usage of educational imagery from professional sources and vetted internet sources (new slides, sources, and formatting, Sept., 2020).

The subject of the article is the development and dissemination of the horse-drawn chariot with spoked wheels in the Ancient World during the second millennium BCE. Thereby, the focus is less on the question as to the place of origin of... more

The subject of the article is the development and dissemination of the horse-drawn chariot with spoked wheels in the Ancient World during the second millennium BCE. Thereby, the focus is less on the question as to the place of origin of the chariot and more on the summary compilation and discussion of the different and on the whole sparse material sources in the individual regions, from which contextual, pictorial and material evidence for early chariots derives.
The scope here extends from North Africa, Europe, the Near East, India and from the Eurasian Steppe to China. In many of these regions the source materials reveal that the chariot did not serve for military purposes, but rather played a role in funerary customs and death cults, which likely founded upon its enormous prestige as a rapid and innovative means of transportation.

Archaeological discussions on prehistoric ritual are largely concerned with their material remains, including architectural debris. The first step in interpretation of such remains is their precise identification and categorization. There... more

Archaeological discussions on prehistoric ritual are largely concerned with their material remains, including architectural debris. The first step in interpretation of such remains is their precise identification and categorization. There are numerous terms for objects and architectural remains that are widely utilized in the archaeological jargon, including, but not limited to, the terms temple, sanctuary and shrine. During almost a century of studying the Chalcolithic Ghassulian culture of the southern Le-vant, various architectural structures excavated at the sites of Teleilat Ghassul, Gilat and En Gedi have all been interpreted as temples, sanctuaries, or shrines – terms that in case of the Ghassulian culture are used as synonymous of temples. However, the actual architectural remains from these sites differ significantly and explicit definitions on what is meant by the terms used are rare. Apart from demonstrating the importance of properly defining a term in a context in which it is used, the aim of the present paper is to compare these various architectural remains, as well as various interpretations of Ghassulian society and the role the presumed temples played in them. This will be the basis for evaluating how classifying archaeological structures as temples has influenced interpretations of Ghassulian social organization.

"El presente trabajo se basa sobre todo en el hallazgo de los ídolos aparecidos en la Pijotilla (Badajoz), con una generalización de los mismos relacionados con otros del occidente de la península Ibérica. Los ídolos de La Pijotilla han... more

"El presente trabajo se basa sobre todo en el hallazgo de los ídolos aparecidos en la Pijotilla (Badajoz), con una generalización de los mismos relacionados con otros del occidente de la península Ibérica. Los ídolos de La Pijotilla han sido publicados en el número de Zephyrus (Salamanca) dedicado al Centenario de Sautuola (1979) y a él nos remitimos para una concretización del tema. Dentro del complejo ajuar que acompaña al difunto en los se-pulcros megalíticos o que se encuentran en los poblados del periodo calcolítico, quizás sea el ídolo el elemento más espectacular, tanto por lo que conlleva como pieza religiosa, adentrándonos así en las creencias de un pueblo prehistórico-como por su plástica, la cual, a veces rebasa los esquemas que en un principio podíamos presuponer para tal cultura. Estas piezas, además, plantean una problemática mayor al tratar su dispersión geográfica y su origen-cronología. Es a través de estas manifestaciones externas como podemos indagar en el sentimiento religioso del hombre prehistórico, cuyo sentido total se nos escapa al igual que muchos significados de los que nunca podremos estar completamente seguros y que aceptamos de acuerdo con nuestros propios esquemas."

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... more

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

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... more

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

Band 145, 2015 der Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien widmet sich dem Themenkomplex „Symbole und Rituale“, im Sinne der Gesellschaft mit Beiträgen aus Archäologie, Anthropologie, Volks- und Völkerkunde. Symbole und... more

Band 145, 2015 der Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien widmet sich dem Themenkomplex „Symbole und Rituale“, im Sinne der Gesellschaft mit Beiträgen aus Archäologie, Anthropologie, Volks- und Völkerkunde. Symbole und Rituale sind etwas zutiefst Menschliches, Universalia humana, mit denen wir unserem Dasein Bedeutung verleihen. Wir ordnen und rhythmisieren mit Ritualen den Tages- und Jahrsablauf, sowie die einzelnen Lebensabschnitte. Symbole finden sich überall – ob nun bewusst wahrgenommen und als metaphorische Ebene integriert oder als unbewusste, alt tradierte Motivik. Symbole zieren viele Gegenstände, mit denen wir täglich hantieren, sie fließen überall mit in unsere Umgebung ein, sei es bei Haus- oder Gartengestaltung, oder selbst in modernsten Bereichen.