The bioarchaeology of ritual and religion / edited by Alexandra Livarda, Richard Madgwick, and Santiago Riera.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Livarda, Alexandra, editor.

Madgwick, Richard, editor.

Riera, Santiago, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Archaeology and religion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (422 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, England : Oxbow Books, 2018.

Summary:

The Bioarchaeology of Ritual and Religion' is the first volume dedicated to exploring ritual and religious practice in past societies from a variety of 'environmental' remains. Building on recent debates surrounding, for instance, performance, materiality and the false dichotomy between ritualistic and secular behaviour, this book investigates notions of ritual and religion through the lens of perishable material culture. Research centring on bioarchaeological evidence and drawing on methods from archaeological science has traditionally focused on functional questions surrounding environment and economy. However, recent years have seen an increased recognition of the under-exploited potential for scientific data to provide detailed information relating to ritual and religious practice. This volume explores the diverse roles of plant, animal and other organic remains in ritual and religion, as foods, offerings, sensory or healing mediums, grave goods, and worked artefacts. It also provides insights into how archaeological science can shed light on the reconstruction of ritual processes and the framing of rituals. The 14 papers showcase current and new approaches in the investigation of bioarchaeological evidence for elucidating complex social issues and worldviews. The case studies are intentionally broad, encompassing a range of sub-disciplines of bioarchaeology, including archaeobotany, anthracology, palynology, micromorphology, geoarchaeology, zooarchaeology (including avian and worked bone studies), archaeomalacology and organic residue analysis. The temporal and geographical coverage is equally wide, extending across Europe from the Mediterranean and Aegean to the Baltic and North Atlantic regions and from the Mesolithic to the medieval period. The volume also includes a discursive paper by Prof. Brian Hayden, who suggests a different interpretative framework of archaeological contexts and rituals.

Contents:

Front cover

Title

Copyright

Contents

List of Tables, Figures and Plates

List of Contributors

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 Ritual and Religion: Bioarchaeological Perspectives

Chapter 2 Sacred to the Soil: Micromorphology, Geoarchaeology, and the Bioarchaeology of Ritual and Religion, with Reference tothe Iron Age Site of High Pasture Cave, Scotland

Chapter 3 Pollen Signatures of a Ritual Process in the Collective Burial Cave of Cova des Pas (Late Bronze Age, Minorca, Balearic Islands, Spain)

Chapter 4 The Final Masquerade: Resinous Substances and Roman Mortuary Rites

Chapter 5 Plant Rituals and Fuel in Roman Cemeteries of Apulia (SE Italy)

Chapter 6 Feasting in a Sacred Grove: A Multidisciplinary Study of the Gallo-Roman Sanctuary of Kempraten, Switzerland

Chapter 7 Ritual Meals and Votive Offerings: Shells and Animal Bones atthe Archaic Sanctuary of Apollo at Ancient Zone, Thrace, Greece

Chapter 8 Animals and Rituals in Iron Age Iberian Settlementsin the Region of Valencia, Spain

Chapter 9 Animal Biographies in the Iron Age of Wessex: Winnall Down, UK, Revisited

Chapter 10 Faunal Remains and Ritualisation: Case Studies from Bronze Age Caves in Central Italy

Chapter 11 Towards an Archaeology of the Social Meanings of the Environment: Plants and Animals at the Prehistoric Ceremonial and Funerary Staggered Turriform ofSon Ferrer (Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain)

Chapter 12 Animals and Worldviews: A Diachronic Approach to Tooth and Bone Pendants from the Mesolithic to the Medieval Period in Estonia

Chapter 13 Birds in Death: Avian Archaeology and the Mortuary Record in the Scottish Islands

Chapter 14 Beyond Bones: Ritual and Social Secrets in Archaeological Remains

Back cover.

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (EBC, viewed February 10, 2018).

ISBN:

9781785708312

1785708317

9781785708299

1785708295

OCLC:

1019708842