Archaeology of Ritual

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.

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.

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).

Abstract: The Saussurian adagio according to which linguistics is "le patron général de la sémiologie" is well known. To a certain extent, the verbal and non-verbal may be subjected to a common, semiolinguistic scheme of investigation. For instance, a fundamental phenomenon in the history of cult(ure)s – the transition of collective expression patterns from sacer ludus to ludus aestheticus – may be described in a semiological metalanguage. Thus, we intend to illustrate, by resorting to a choreographic corpus, the relevance of certain semiological concepts, traditionally applied to verbal objects:
·        “desemantization”/ “resemantization”: a relevant opposition, in our opinion, for the transformation of the choreographic language along with other structures of society;
·        “mutability” and “immutability” of the sign: a paradoxical condition for the subsistence of not only verbal, but also choreographic language;
·        the Saussurean principle of “alteration through continuity”;

    Key-words: dance, desemantization, gesture, (im)mutability, language, resemantization, ritual, sign, Saussure, theatre.the Saussurean concept of “shifting” the semiotic relation; in our opinion, shifting the original relation (ritualistic, magic-religious) between the choreographic significant and signifier is a symptom of the gradual “aestheticization” or “theatricalization” of choreographic “language”.

One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. This article is an excerpt of pages 98-99 from the March 1990 National Geographic Magazine article "America's Ancient Skywatchers" by John B. Carlson with a numbered photographic arrangement of the Grolier Codex depicting the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  Carlson clarifies the identities of Venus deities depicted in the Grolier Codex from a comparison of images from the Cacaxtla murals and links the images of the Grolier Codex with ancient Maya astronomically timed ritual warfare and sacrifice. (Grolier Codex photographs: Enrico Ferorelli; Mural photograph: Bob Sacha)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

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.

Březnice near Bechyně (distr. Tábor, South Bohemia)
The Late Bronze Age settlement with trench-like features
Archaeological fieldwork in the prehistoric settlements in southern and western Bohemia and southern Germany have
repeatedly provided examples of an unusual type of settlement features (Fig. 1). These are long narrow pits or trenches,
mostly characteristic not only by their shape but also orientation according to cardinal points, their arrangement on the
site and contents of finds (e.g. Chvojka 2007; Chvojka/Šálková 2012; Metlička 2004; Schmotz 1988; Šálková 2010). The largest
number of these features in Bohemia was found in Březnice in south Bohemia; the aim of this paper is to provide information
about these findings and indicate the ways we intend to proceed in their interpretation.
The archaeological excavation in Březnice near Bechyně (Fig. 2) took place in 2005–2009. The reason was heavily
destructive ploughing, during which quantity of daub, ceramics and other artefacts, mostly noticeably burnt, appeared
on the surface of the field. Several trenchings (over the total area of 577 m2), with the primary aim to save the situations
from complete destruction had been performed (Chvojka/Šálková 2011). 10 oblong trenchlike features (Fig. 3), 1 storage pit,
1 (probably) oven, 3 separate sunken storage jars and 1 pottery hoard, 15 atypical sunken features and 22 scattered postholes
were recorded in the area. With one exception, these features do not interfere (there are no superpositions), which
may indicate that they came to being over a relatively short time span. The finds can be unambiguously dated to the Late
Bronze Age (in the Czech terminology, LBA), specifically to the Reinecke Ha A2 stage. This is in accordance with the radiocarbon
data acquired from the charred plant macroremains from features 1/07, 5/07, 6/07, and 3/09 (Tab. 1).
Trenches from Březnice have a typical recurring shape (Fig. 4). They are features with oblong groundplans, with
straight sides, usually 4–7 m long and 80–100 cm wide. In the longitudinal direction, the bottom is more or less straight,
whereas in the cross-section they have a bowllike shape; the depth of the features is usually up to 50 cm in subsoil layers.
Their identical orientation in the north-south direction is also apparent. No posthole structures have been found on the
site so far, therefore, we have no direct evidence for the assessment of the possible functional and spatial relationship of
the trenches to the above ground buildings.
One of the most apparent properties of the features is their rich find content consisting of pottery, daub, clay weights
and other artefacts (Fig. 5: A). The majority of artefacts displays signs of strong burning, which must have occurred elsewhere
than in the trenches themselves. The walls of the features did not show signs of burning. Burning of the contents
does not apply to all of the found items: in some cases, intentionally arranged fine vessels (bowls, buttons, Fig. 6) have
been found that were not burnt. Two of the trenches also contained accumulations of clay weights (Fig. 7), but without any
intentional arrangement.
Trenchlike features in Březnice have been analysed for macrobotanical material (Šálková 2010). From eight trenches,
1574.5 litres of filling have been analysed in 116 samples. The amount of macroremains varies within particular features;
nevertheless, the quantity is representative enough for interpretation. Variability both in the density of macrobotanical remains
and their composition has been attested. Generally, there are remains of barley, millet and other crops predominant
in the trenches. From the archaeobotanical point of view, the fillings have a refuse character and rubbish was intentionally
placed there, which, for some reason, had come into contact with fire.
Several hypotheses on the function of Late Bronze Age trenches have been suggested so far. German and Austrian literature
most often puts the trenches in context with textile production and considers them to be bedding trenches placed
under horizontal looms. Another interpretation of trenchlike features may be related to pottery production. Thousands
of vessel fragments may really indicate pottery production, but the trenches do not seem to be the place where this may
have happened since no exposition of the features to fire could be observed. Some other authors see the trenchlike features
and their fillings as evidence of cult activities. Finally, some archaeologists could see the trenches as refuse features (pits
used for the deposition of waste). Although the term “waste pit” as such is unsupportable (no pits in prehistory had the
function of depositing waste, even though they were often used for this purpose), the connection between the contents of
the pits and a specific type of settlement refuse is not entirely pointless. Majority of trenches in Březnice have uniform
fillings that were created during just one deposition event or over a very short period of time. This inference is supported
by joinable pottery fragments from different parts of features and/or levels of filling. The analysis of plant macroremains,
too, despite showing some minor variation identical for all layers, achieves the same result. However, a question appears
why the refuse was preferably put into the north-south oriented trenches rather than other settlement pits. The possible
answer may be that the trenches were (functional) parts of some buildings burnt down. Deposition or clearing the ruins
of the house after a fire could be accompanied by a number of ritual acts, which could include also depositing of complete
pottery vessels.
This model is, however, only a working one so far. Each of its individual parts will lead to articulating specific hypotheses,
which will be subsequently tested against the material, for instance, using deposition analysis of ceramics and
weights, examining the composition of plant macroremains, etc. Answering these questions will be subject to the grant
project in 2018–2020 (Czech Science Foundation, No. 18-10747S). In addition to the above-mentioned methods (deposition
analysis, archaeobotany), the methods of areal magnetometer survey with additional detailed magnetic susceptibility
measurements, typological-chronological analysis of artefacts and test piting will be also used.

Translated by Martin Brňovják

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.

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.

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.

"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."

Bárta, M.
2016 "Dummy mummification" in the Old Kingdom: a new intact case from the 5th Dynasty , Abusir. In Rich and Great. Studies in honour of Anthony J. Spalinger on the ocassion of his 70th Feast of Thoth edited by R. Landgráfová and J. Mynářová, pp. 15-17. Czech Institute of Egyptology, Prague.

The study deals with the burial of priest Neferinpu from the 24th century B.C., reign of Nyuserra - Djedkara which was found in Abusir South. His burial demonstrates that at this period dummy mummification was not a rare case. The general characteristics of his burial arrangement shows valuable details pertaining to the symbolism and rituals of the Ancient Egyptians and their perception of the afterlife prerequisites.

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.

The Grolier Codex is discussed in the context of the archaeoastronomy of the ancient Americas on pages 98-99 of the March 1990 National Geographic Magazine article "America's Ancient Skywatchers" by John B. Carlson. One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. A numbered photographic arrangement of the Grolier Codex depictes the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  Carlson clarifies the identities of Venus deities depicted in the Grolier Codex from a comparison of images from the Cacaxtla murals and links the images of the Grolier Codex with ancient Maya astronomically timed ritual warfare and sacrifice. (Grolier Codex photographs: Enrico Ferorelli; Other photos: Bob Sacha)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

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.

Attached: Introduction, Notes on Contributors.
This collection of articles is a thoughtful examination of the history, function and place of emerging rituals. The discussion goes beyond academic assessment and acknowledgement of the absence of meaningful ritual to focus on the different ways people are responding to the call for ‘new rituals’. It recognises the extent to which sincere ritualisation is essential to the physical, psychological and spiritual health of individuals, family groups, organisations and even society as a whole.
Contributors: 13 authors, 15 transdisciplinary fields:

- Ellen Dissanayake, hon. PhD, an independent scholar focusing on 'the anthropological exploration of art and culture’. Seattle, Washington, USA
- Matthieu Smyth, PhD, Ritual Anthropologist, Professor at the University of Strasbourg.
- Robert C. Scaer, M.D., Neurologist, Psychologist, currently retired from clinical medical practice. Louisville, Colorado, USA.
- Jeltje Gordon-Lennox, M.Div, Psychotherapist and Celebrant Trainer, Ashoka Association, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Andrés Allemand Smaller, journalist and secular celebrant in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Christine Behrend, marketing and consumer behaviour researcher and a secular celebrant in Pully, Switzerland.
- Isabel Russo, Head of Ceremonies at The British Humanist Association, London, UK.
- Michael Picucci, PhD, Psychologist, licensed psychotherapist, New York City, USA.
- Joanna Wojtkowiak, PhD, Cultural psychologist, Assistant professor at the University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
- Lindy Mechefske, journalist and food-writer in Kingston, Canada.
- Irene Stengs, PhD, Cultural Anthropologist, Senior Researcher Fellow at the Meertens Instituut, Co-editor of Anthropological Journal Etnofoor, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Gianpiero Vincenzo, MA, sociologist, islamist, art critic and novelist; Professor of sociology at the Fine Arts Academy of Catania in Sicily, Italy.
- Jacqueline Millner, PhD, is Associate Dean Research, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney
- Ida van der Lee, ritual artist, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Publication date: early 2017

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 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.

"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."

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.

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.

The Grolier Codex (Codice Maya de Mexico, CMM) is discussed in the context of the archaeoastronomy of the ancient Americas on pages 98-99 of the March 1990 National Geographic Magazine article "America's Ancient Skywatchers" by John B. Carlson. One of four known ancient Maya books, the Grolier Codex depicts different manifestations of the planet Venus; the column of glyphs on the left of each panel records days in a 104-year Venus almanac. These plaster-coated bark-paper pages, carbon-dated to the 13th century, represent only half of the 20-page original. A numbered photographic arrangement of the Grolier Codex depictes the author's discovery that Codex pages 10 and 11 are actually two parts of the same "page 10".  Carlson clarifies the identities of Venus deities depicted in the Grolier Codex from a comparison of images from the Cacaxtla murals and links the images of the Grolier Codex with ancient Maya astronomically timed ritual warfare and sacrifice. (Grolier Codex photographs: Enrico Ferorelli; Other photos: Bob Sacha)

This article has been posted on Academia.edu as part of the Grolier Codex Project of the Center for Archaeoastronomy under the directorship of John B. Carlson, Ph.D.  The Grolier Codex Project seeks to further advance the study of the Maya Grolier Codex.

The subject of 'magic' has long been considered peripheral and sensationalist, the word itself having become something of an academic taboo. However, beliefs in magic and the rituals that surround them are extensive - as are their material manifestations - and to avoid them is to ignore a prevalent aspect of cultures worldwide, from prehistory to the present day. The Materiality of Magic addresses the value of the material record as a resource in investigations into magic, ritual practices, and popular beliefs. The chronological and geographic focuses of the papers presented here vary from prehistory to the present day, including numinous interpretations of fossils and ritual deposits in Bronze Age Europe; apotropaic devices in Roman and Medieval Britain; the evolution of superstitions and ritual customs - from the 'voodoo doll' of Europe and Africa to a Scottish 'wishing-tree'; and an exploration of spatiality in Western healing practices.

The objectives of this collection of nine papers are two-fold. First, to provide a platform from which to showcase innovative research and theoretical approaches, and secondly to redress the neglect of this subject within archaeology and related disciplines.

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 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

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.

Two Migration period cult sites from Närke. Klas af Edholm

This paper deals with two sacred sites from the Migration period in Närke, Middle Sweden: Frösvi, Edsberg’s parish; and Hassle, Glanshammar’s parish. The aim of the paper is to understand these two sanctuaries through a deeper study and interpretation of the religious and ritual expressions at the cult sites. This has been absent from the earlier reports and papers in the subject. How are the places constructed and how can the similarities and differences between these two sanctuaries be explained? Which religious conceptions are expressed in the different elements of the cult sites, and how are they expressed? Which function have the sites filled within a social context?
It is clear that some structural similarities between the construction and the rituals performed at Frösvi and Hassle are present. But close study unveils great differences too. The differences probably depend on differences in the cult performed at the sites. The water, a rock or some now disappeared element can have been the objects through which the divine was experienced. The poles and a quern can have been ascribed cosmic allusions.