Archaeological Approaches to Shamanism

Archaeological Approaches to Shamanism PDF Author: Dragoş Gheorghiu
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527509559
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
This long awaited book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution. The book is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It discusses the clear associations with this sometimes little-understood ritualised practice, and asks what shamanism is and if tangible evidence can be extracted from a largely fragmentary archaeological record. The book offers a novel portrayal of the material culture of shamanism by collating carefully selected studies by specialists from three different continents, promoting a series of new perspectives on this idiosyncratic and sometimes intangible phenomenon.

Archaeological Approaches to Shamanism

Archaeological Approaches to Shamanism PDF Author: Dragoş Gheorghiu
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527509559
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Get Book

Book Description
This long awaited book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution. The book is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It discusses the clear associations with this sometimes little-understood ritualised practice, and asks what shamanism is and if tangible evidence can be extracted from a largely fragmentary archaeological record. The book offers a novel portrayal of the material culture of shamanism by collating carefully selected studies by specialists from three different continents, promoting a series of new perspectives on this idiosyncratic and sometimes intangible phenomenon.

Shamanism and the Ancient Mind

Shamanism and the Ancient Mind PDF Author: James L. Pearson
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
ISBN: 9780759101562
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
A study of archaeological evidence for Shamanism in North America and how it links to the archaeology of the mind. Visit our website for sample chapters!

The Archaeology of Shamanism

The Archaeology of Shamanism PDF Author: Neil S. Price
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415252553
Category : Ethnoarchaeology
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
No Australian Aboriginal content.

Shamans of the Lost World

Shamans of the Lost World PDF Author: William F. Romain
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780759119055
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Shamans of the Lost World bridges the gap between recent work in the cognitive sciences and some of humankind's oldest religious expressions. In this detailed look at the prehistoric shamanism of the Ohio Hopewell, Romain uses cognitive science, archaeology, and ethnology to propose that the shamanic world view results from psychological mechanisms that have a basis in our cognitive evolutionary development. The discussions in this volume of the most current theories concerning how early peoples came to believe in spirits and gods, as well as how those theories help account for what we find in the archaeological record of the Hopewell, are of interest to archaeologists and cognitive scientists alike.

Prehistoric Belief

Prehistoric Belief PDF Author: Mike Williams
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752476343
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 505

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Book Description
Unlike modern people, those in prehistory were adept at entering trance; what we now call shamanism. This gave access to alternative realms where people met and befriended entities that they thought of as spirits. To the people of the past, the otherworld of trance, and the spirits that resided there, were as real to them as anything else they encountered. Until recently, this otherworldly realm was closed to archaeology; there was no way to reconstruct ancient thought. This changed with the advent of modernneurology. For the first time we can now enter the minds of those who lived thousands of years ago and begin to unravel their lives: the world as they would have believed it to be. In this bold and groundbreaking book, Dr Williams tackles all the big subjects in archaeology: the spread of humans from Africa, the rise of social groups, the adoption of agriculture, the construction of monuments, the emergence of metal, and the fall of the Celtic tribes. Showing that belief was central to these epic changes, as well as influencing the most mundane, everyday task, a new understanding of our prehistoric past emerges. Whilst being extensively researched, a fast-paced and engaging narrative makes this a page-turning read. Evocative vignettes supplement the text and take readers back in time to experience for themselves the sights, smells, and sounds of the past. This is a new way to approach prehistory, putting people and the beliefs that they held centre stage. For without understanding people's beliefs, we will never comprehend their world. Mike Williams has an MA and PhD from the University of Reading and is a shamanic practitioner and teacher, having studied with indigenous shamanic teachers in Siberia and Lapland. He has written many academic and popular articles and is the author of: Follow the Shaman's Call: An Ancient Path for Modern Lives, which was published by Llewellyn Worldwide in January 2010. He lives in a secluded valley in Wales with his wife and various animals

Lands of the Shamans

Lands of the Shamans PDF Author: Dragos Gheorghiu
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781785709579
Category : BODY, MIND & SPIRIT
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
'Shamanism' is a term with specific anthropological roots, but which is used more generally to cover a set of interactions between a practitioner or 'shaman' and a spiritual or religious realm beyond the reach of most members of the community. It has often been considered from an anthropological viewpoint, but this book gathers the most recent studies on a subject which has not been comprehensively studied by archaeologists. By putting together experts from two continents who have studied the phenomenon of shamanism, Lands of the Shamans through carefully selected case studies uses the archaeological evidence to construct the shamans' worldview, landscape and cosmology. Recent interdisciplinary studies support the idea of the existence of shamanistic representations as long ago as the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic, but at the same time, do not follow developments during the history of humankind. As ethnographic evidence shows, shamanistic activity represents a complex phenomenon that is extremely diversified, its spiritual activity possessing a large variety of expressions in the material culture. In other words, shamanism could be defined as a series of differing spiritual world views which model the material culture and the landscape. Throughout the archaeological record of all prehistoric and historic periods, there is a series of visual representations and objects and landscape alterations that could be ascribed to these differing world views, many thought to represent shamanistic cognition and activity. The shaman's landscape reveals itself to the world as one of multifaceted spiritual and material activity. Consequently, this first book dedicated completely to the shamanistic landscape presents in fresh perspective the landscapes of the lower and upper worlds as well as their phenomenological experience. Case studies come from Europe, North America and Asia.

The Archaeology of Shamanism

The Archaeology of Shamanism PDF Author: Neil Price
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134527691
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In this timely collection, Neil Price provides a general introduction to the archaeology of shamanism by bringing together recent archaeological thought on the subject. Blending theoretical discussion with detailed case studies, the issues addressed include shamanic material culture, responses to dying and the dead, shamanic soundscapes, the use of ritual architecture and shamanism in the context of other belief systems such as totemism. Following an intial orientation reviewing shamanism as an anthropological construct, the volume focuses on the Northern hemisphere with case studies from Greenland to Nepal, Siberia to Kazakhstan. The papers span a chronological range from Upper Palaeolithic to the present and explore such cross-cutting themes as gender and the body, identity, landscape, architecture, as well as shamanic interpretations of rock art and shamanism in the heritage and cultural identity of indigenous peoples. The volume also addresses the interpretation of shamanic beliefs in terms of cognitive neuroscience and the modern public perception of prehistoric shamanism.

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion PDF Author: Timothy Insoll
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019923244X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1135

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Book Description
A comprehensive overview, by period and region, of the archaeology of ritual and religion. The coverage is global, and extends from the earliest prehistory to modern times. Written by over sixty renowned specialists, the Handbook presents the very best in current scholarship, and will also stimulate further research.

Shamans/neo-Shamans

Shamans/neo-Shamans PDF Author: Robert J. Wallis
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415302029
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Robert J. Wallis explores the interface between the 'new' and prehistoric shamans of popular culture and anthropology, drawing on interviews with a variety of practitioners, particularly contemporary pagans in Britain and north America.

Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings

Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings PDF Author: E.C. Krupp
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
ISBN: 1620456052
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 580

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Book Description
Discover the celestial myths and cosmic rituals of ancient priests and kings . . . Drawing on intimate knowledge of the more than 1,300 ancient sites he has visited, E. C. Krupp, acclaimed writer and preeminent researcher, takes you to the world's essential sacred places and celestial shrines. Join him on a rich narrative journey to see where the rulers of old communed with the gods of the sky. "Highly recommended to everyone interested in the culture of astronomy and those peoples who practiced it in their own ways."-Sky & Telescope "A lively account of the ways in which our ancestors conceived of and used the heavens."-New Scientist "There can be no doubt that this imaginative and readable work by a widely read and widely traveled author will strike a chord in the minds of a great many modern readers."-Isis "The fact that the book is written by an expert in his field comes through on every page, as does his enthusiasm for the subject."-Astronomy Now "Krupp's indispensable volume is fascinating, well-illustrated, and covers much territory."-Parabola