The Archaeology of Shamanism

Neil Price0415252555, 9780415252553

The meaning of ‘shamanism’ has been debated for almost three centuries, ever since the termwas coined to describe the activities of those who attained altered states of consciousness inorder to mediate between human beings and the supernatural world. The ritual practices thatcharacterised these perceived contacts with other realities have left highly physical traces in thearchaeological record of prehistoric peoples, and the potential for the recognition of shamanicbelief systems in the past is now being realised as never before.In this timely collection, Neil Price provides a general introduction to the archaeology ofshamanism by bringing together recent work on the subject. Blending theoretical discussionwith detailed case studies, the issues addressed include shamanic material culture, responses todying and the dead, shamanic soundscapes, the use of ritual architecture and shamanism in thecontext of other belief systems. Following an initial orientation reviewing shamanism as ananthropological construct, the volume focuses on the Northern hemisphere with case studiesfrom Greenland to Nepal, Siberia to Kazakhstan. The chapters span a chronological range fromthe Upper Palaeolithic to the present and explore such cross-cutting themes as gender and thebody, identity, landscape, the social perception of animals, prehistoric ‘art’, and shamanism inthe heritage and cultural identity of indigenous peoples. The volume also addresses theinterpretation of shamanic beliefs in terms of cognitive neuroscience and the modern publicperception of shamanism in the past.