Over at Spiegel, Matthias Schulz reports on a “sensational” archaeological find in Northern Germany. In 808 CE, King Gottrik of Denmark ordered the construction of the longest earthwork in Europe. It was approximately 19 miles long and had only a single gate (the “Danevirke”), which archaeologists are now excavating.
This was a turbulent time in Europe, [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Archaeology and Religion'
Viking Gate & Pagan Berserkers
August 28th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, History of Religions, Pagans and Polytheism
Tags:berserkers·Charlemagne·Clash of the Gods·Danevirke·Denmark·Franks·King Gottrik·Loki·Matthis Schulz·Molly Hatchet·Norse pagans·Norse religion·Northern Germany·Scandanavia·Thor·Thor and the Fall of Paganism·Vikings
Acoustic Archaeology & Spiritual Soundscapes
August 27th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Ritual and Religion, Shamans and Shamanism
Over at the New Scientist, Trevor Price has written a splendid article about the relatively new and somewhat controversial field of acoustic archaeology. Although it is easy to see how acoustical interpretations might run amok, the basic ideas are sound (sorry but I just had to) and thought provoking. It hardly beggars the imagination to [...]
Tags:acoustic archaeology·acoustical archaeology·Bruno Fazenda·burial chambers·David Lubman·Gregorian chanting·Iegor Reznikoff·Julian Thomas·Mayan temples·Nicole Boivin·Paul Devereux·prehistoric soundscape·resonating chambers·resonating fields·ritual chanting·Rupert Till·sound symbolism·Stonehenge·supernatural sounds·Trevor Price
Astronomy & Paleolithic Cave Paintings
August 23rd, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Hunter-Gatherers and Religion, Shamans and Shamanism
Over at Seed, Holly Capelo provides a helpful survey of the various ways in which the famous Upper Paleolithic cave paintings — found primarily in France and Spain — have been interpreted over the last several decades. The occasion for her survey, which strangely omits mention of David Lewis-Williams’ contention that the paintings were the [...]
Tags:altered states of consciousness·archaeoastronomy·aurochs·bovids·bull mythology·cave paintings·cyclical time·David Lewis-Williams·entoptic images·Hall of Bulls·Holly Capelo·Lascaux·linear time·lunar time·Magdalenian·Michael Rappengluck·Occams razor·paleolithic graffiti·parsimony·seasonal hunting·star time·Taurus constellation·time-keeping system·Upper Paleolithic
Bourdieu & Symbolic Power: The Archaeology of Proto-Religion
August 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Cognition and Religion, History of Religions, Shamans and Shamanism
I just finished reading David Swartz’s superb article, “Bridging the Study of Culture and Religion: Pierre Bourdieu’s Political Economy of Symbolic Power” (open access), and must recommend it not only to cultural theorists but to archaeologists as well. Several aspects of Bourdieu’s thought lend themselves readily to novel interpretations of what otherwise might appear to [...]
Tags:archaeological theory·behavorial modernity·Bridging the Study of Culture and Religion·cultural theory·David Swartz·embodiment·Foucault·Marx·materialist history·Nietzsche·paleolithic hominids·Pierre Bourdieu·political economy·ritual objects·sociology of religion·spiritualist history·symbolic power·symbolism·Weber
Stone Age Sharia Execution
August 18th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Archaeology and Religion, Axial Age Religions, Morality and Religion
Over at the NYT, Rob Nordlund chillingly reports on the execution by stoning of a young couple in Afghanistan who had fallen in love and eloped. The details are disgusting:
Mr. Khan said that as a Taliban mullah prepared to read the judgment of a religious court, the lovers, a 25-year-old man named Khayyam and a [...]
Tags:Afghanistan·death by stoning·execution by stoning·Islam·mullahs·osteology·religious court·religious crimes·Sharia law·Shariah law·social crimes·Taliban
The Art of Perception
August 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Cognition and Religion, Hunter-Gatherers and Religion, Shamans and Shamanism
How we perceive the external world is a fascinating subject that has long attracted the attention of great thinkers from Kant to Nietzsche. Kant knew that we possessed some sort of interior filter that enables us to perceive the world and Nietzsche knew that this filtered perception was always an interpretation of the world. Modern [...]
Tags:aesthetics·Altamira·altered states of consciousness·American Indian·Ansel Adams·cave paintings·color symbolism·dichromatic·Edge of Perception·Edward Curtis·exteriority·external world·Greg Boustad·interiority·internal world·Kant·Lascaux·Luke Jerram·Nietzsche·perception·perspective·plant acoustics·scientific constructions·scientific perceptions·sensory perception·the art of science·tobacco·tobacco shamanism
John the Baptist’s Remains Allegedly Found
August 10th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, History of Religions, Ritual and Religion
The world of biblical archaeology and Christendom is all atwitter over the alleged discovery of John the Baptist’s remains, or at least a few of them. As reported by Teresa Shipley at Discovery, the sparse remains consist of skull and hand fragments and a tooth. They were found buried beneath the floor of a 5th [...]
Tags:biblical archaeology·Black Sea monastery·Bulgaria·Christendom·dating techniques·DNA testing·isotope analysis·Jerusalem·John the Baptist·Judean desert·June 24·Matt Sponheimer·Orthodox Church·pilgrimage tourism·radiocarbon dating·relics·reliquary box·remains·sacred objects·shrines·St. John·The Vatican
The Ancient Astronaut Religion
August 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, Daily Devolutions, Recent and New Religions
I have attempted to watch every episode of the History Channel’s series on Ancient Astronauts. Invariably, a time will come when I have to stop watching an episode because the commentary becomes so bizarre, speculative, and ridiculous that I just cannot take it any longer.
It is truly unfortunate that the so-called “History” Channel chooses to [...]
Tags:academic archaeology·aliens·ancient astronaut theorists·ancient astronaut theory·ancient astronauts·conspiracy theorists·History Channel·hypotheses·mainstream archaeology·theories

Gallo-Roman Temple Complex Discovered
August 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology and Religion, History of Religions, Pagans and Polytheism, Ritual and Religion
Over at The Guardian, Pierre Le Hir reports on the discovery of an “enormous religious site” or temple complex in the French countryside near Le Mans, which during the first through third centuries common era (C.E.) was known as Vindunum. As viewers of HBO’s spectacular but short-lived series “Rome” and readers of Julius Caesar’s Commentarii [...]
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Tags:Celtic·Celtic gods·celts·Commentaries on the Gallic Wars·Commentarii de Bello Gallico·exclusivism·Gallic·Gallic gods·Gauls·intolerance·Julius Caesar·Le Mans·Mars Mullo·Mithras·Muslim·mystery cult·Obama·pagan pantheon·pagans·Persian deity·Pierre Le Hir·religious site·ritual offerings·Roman·Roman gods·Rome·salvage archaeology·syncretic·syncretism·temple complex·tolerance·Vindunum