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2015, Archaeological Journal
The recognition of ritual and ritualized practices within the setting of Middle Bronze Age settlements has undoubtedly provided a useful way of interpreting archaeological deposits. There is, however, a danger that now that ritual has become widely accepted, the application of ‘meta’ or generic paradigms for explaining the archaeological record will lead to a loss of subtlety in interpretation, and that variation and diversity between settlements will be overlooked. This article addresses the evidence for the ritualized behaviour which has emerged from large-scale excavations of a Middle Bronze Age settlement at Scarcewater in mid-Cornwall and its adjacent surroundings. The character of overtly ritual and more subtle ritualized activity within the settlement, as well as the surrounding landscape will be considered for its individual character, and linked to a discussion of the influence of the ‘past’ upon Middle Bronze Age ritual traditions.
Acceptance of ritual as a valid interpretation of Mesolithic behaviour has slowly emerged over the past decade; the 'silly season' heralded by Mellars (Antiquity 83:502–517, 2009) has not materialised, though in Ireland and Britain difficulties persist in defining what might constitute 'ritual' away from the graveside. New discoveries from both the development-led and academic sectors enable Mesolithic archaeologists to better establish which elements of the archaeological record can be interpreted as ritual. This paper seeks to identify further strands of ritual behaviour , incorporating evidence from sites without organic remains. We consider the evidence for ritual at the site and feature scales, and in the special treatment of objects—an often overlooked body of data in understanding ritual. Thus the material signature of ritual will be questioned, and ways in which Mesolithic ritual can be rehabilitated and expanded will be explored.
This thesis develops a new perspective on Late Bronze Age (LBA) Ireland by identifying and analysing patterns of ritual practice in the archaeological record, as well as determining how distinct ritual practices relate to each other, their immediate environment and wider landscape, and the social contexts within which they were carried out. Ritual practices find expression in a range of contexts which can be studied separately; however, they belong in, and thus require, an over-arching, integrated ritual system to contextualise and attempt to understand their broader purpose. Consequently, this project centres on the question: Can an investigation of the practices of ritual feasting, death ritual, ritual deposition and fertility ritual, as situated within their broader socio-cultural contexts, yield fresh perspectives on the Irish LBA socio-cultural system? A more nuanced understanding of the social context of LBA ritual practice in Ireland is thus developed, thereby putting a human face on a body of scholarship previously dominated by studies of monument and artefact types. By applying anthropological analysis and a contextually focused theoretical framework to the large body of data this thesis examines aspects of LBA ritual practice and society not consistently engaged with by previous studies.
Cornish Archaeology
Settlement and Ceremony; Archaeological Investigations at Stannon Down, St Breward, Cornwall, Cornish Archaeology, 43-44, 2004-5-1-1412005 •
Between 1998 and 2000 three seasons of archaeological recording were carried out by Cornwall Archaeological Unit within Imerys’ Stannon China Clay Works. The first two seasons of fieldwork focused on excavation of an Early Bronze Age cairn group and Middle Bronze Age and Middle Iron Age settlement activity. The third season was evaluative, designed to confirm the existence of a number of cairns and a field system and to sample palaeoenvironmental sites on the Northern Downs. The cairn group comprised three ring cairns and two ‘tailed’ cairns. One ring cairn, Site 9 was reused as a ceremonial monument in the Middle Bronze Age and again in the Iron Age as a house site. An artefactual assemblage including Bronze and Iron Age pottery and stonework was recovered. Three beads, one of faience, one of amber and another of glass, were also found. Twelve radiocarbon determinations spanning the Early to Middle Bronze Age and two Iron Age determinations were obtained from three of the excavated cairns. Two pollen columns on the Northern Downs were also dated, one of which provided environmental information from the Mesolithic to the early medieval period. The dating revealed that significant impact on the vegetation of the Down commenced during the Neolithic, with more extensive clearance during the Bronze Age. Widespread open grassland was in evidence by the Middle Bronze Age. The results from analyses of charred environmental material produced only limited evidence for cereal cultivation and the palynological evidence suggests that the economy in the Middle Bronze Age was based on pastoralism. It is suggested that the cairns formed a coherent group of monuments which were part of a wider landscape cosmology, which involved the grouping of particular monument types and the referencing of prominent rocks and tors.
This study characterises deposition practices in the Middle Thames Valley, England, from the late Mesolithic to early Bronze Age. All available in situ contexts of deposition are considered, such as pits, tree-throw holes, middens, rivers and various monument forms. The study highlights variations in the formality of deposition within contemporary contexts and considers how this relates to ritual activity. Developments in deposition practices are also considered through time from the late Mesolithic to early Bronze Age and processes of ritualisation are explored. This contextual analysis is used as a basis to explore several pertinent issues in Neolithic studies. Deposition practices are used to explore chronological changes in the temporal rhythms of occupation and economy and also variation and developments in funerary and mortuary activity. The use and perception of landscapes in the Middle Thames Valley during the Neolithic are also considered and distinct conceptual changes in relation to these landscapes are highlighted. Deposition practices in the Middle Thames Valley are contrasted with surrounding regions to demonstrate distinct regional patterns. It is argued that differences in deposition practices reflect how aspects of the environment were perceived and the role they held in achieving social reproduction.
TRAC 2012: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Oxford: Oxbow Books (2013)
Beyond the Grave. New Perspectives on Barrows
Digging Deeper Into Barrow Ditches: investigating the making of Early Bronze Age memories in Cornwall2007 •
By examining the roles barrow ditches may play in the performances of rites and ceremonies enacted on Bronze Age barrows, we may enhance our understanding of the complex architecture of these sites and their potential as mechanisms for the construction of community histories and the making of memories. This paper was originally presented at TAG in 2003. It looks at three case studies of barrows excavated in Cornwall in the past 30 years - Watch Hill, Little Gaverigan Barrow and Trelowthas Barrow. At all three sites, ditches play a key role in event-making and show that ditches are more than just physical markers and they have the capacity to host and archive a community's precious ancestry as a major resource.
2011 •
In this paper, we discuss the ritual practices and ritualization in the Bronze Age society on Got-land based on archaeological investigations of cairn milieus and stone ship contexts. We explore whether erected stones and demarcations on the south to southwest side of the Bronze Age cairns are the norm and whether this phenomenon occurred during the Bronze Age. We also discuss whether our archaeological research can support long-term use of cairn milieus for ritual purposes.
The archaeological record of the Neolithic period in Europe potentially provides rich raw material for the student of prehistoric ritual and religion. This includes megalithic tombs associated with protracted funerary practices, complex artefacts which imply symbolic significance, ceremonial monuments which could enclose groups of participants, and ambiguous, highly formalized types of visual expression such as figurines and megalithic art. Accordingly, the Neolithic has provided a focus for debates on the archaeology of ritual in recent years (e.g. Barrett 1991; Bradley 2005; Shanks and Tilley 1982; Thomas 2004, inter alia). Yet as Timothy Insoll has pointed out, the same period has seen a surprising reluctance on the part of archaeologists to explicitly address questions of religion (Insoll 2004a: 1; 2004b: 77). Insoll suggests a number of reasons why this might be the case: the embedding of archaeologists within a secular contemporary culture; concerns over the generality of the term ‘religion’; the evanescence of religious meanings. In this contribution, I will attempt to explain the decline of debate on Neolithic religion, and suggest ways in which the field might be revitalized, before turning to the question of ritual through a specific example.
The majority of ritually deposited Irish Bronze Age artefacts do not have recorded contexts of discovery. It is unusual to find grouped artefacts carefully arranged as part of the deposition ritual even from dryland sites. However, there are some clear examples which highlight this practice. For instance, the Early Bronze Age ‘hoard’ from a river channel at Carhan, Co. Kerry, where 10-11 axes were arranged in a circle, cutting-edges facing outwards, around a deposit of wood ash and deer bone fragments. This paper will suggest a ritual intention is communicated through the precise placement of objects relative to each other in these types of Irish Bronze Age deliberate deposits and that these practices are enacted on the basis of specific ritual knowledge.
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