Landscape Archaeology, Paganism, and the Interpretation of Megaliths
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v10i2.142Keywords:
Megaliths, landscapes, archaeology, phenomenology, paganism, epistemologyAbstract
Many varieties of contemporary Paganism share common methodologies and interests with the academic subfield of landscape archaeology, in particular with regard to their interpretation of megalithic architecture. While there are differences in the range of evidence considered, and the relative value placed on certain methodologies, there are more parallels than dissimilarities. In particular, reliance on intuition as a source of knowledge and a concern with reconstructing the sensory conditions of prehistoric built environments are shared. Space and place in many varieties of archaeology are viewed through a phenomenological perspective that is individual and not necessarily inter subjective. Despite the tensions between archaeologists and Pagans over access to and proper custodianship of megalithic architectural sites in Britain and elsewhere, opportunities exist for fruitful intellectual and social exchange between the two vocations.References
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Richards, Colin. “Monuments as Landscape: Creating the Centre of the World in Late Neolithic Orkney.” World Archaeology 28(1996):190-208
Rountree, Kathryn. “Performing The Divine: Neo-Pagan Pilgrimages and Embodiment at Sacred Sites.” Body & Society 12(2006): 95-115. doi:10.1177/1357034X06070886
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Strmiska, Michael. “Putting the Blood Back into Blót: The Revival of Animal Sacrifice in Modern Nordic Paganism.” The Pomegranate 9 (2007):154-189.
Thomas, Julian. “Monuments from the Inside: The Case of the Irish Megalithic Tombs.” World Archaeology 22(1990): 168-178.
Tilley, Christopher. A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments. Oxford: Berg, 1994.
Wallis, Robert J. and Jenny Blain. “Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past.” Journal of Material Culture. 9 no.3 (2004), 237-261. doi:10.1177/1359183504046893
———. “Sites, Sacredness, and Stories: Interactions of Archaeology and Contemporary Paganism.” Folklore. 114 no.3 (2003), 307–21. doi:10.1080/0015587032000145351
Watkins, Alfred. The Old Straight Track: Its Mounds, Beacons, Moats, Sites and Mark Stones. London: Garnstone Press, 1925.
Watson, Aaron. “Composing Avebury.” World Archaeology 33(2001): 296-314. doi:10.1080/00438240120079307
Blain, Jenny. “Shamans, Stones, Authenticity and Appropriation: Contestations Of Invention and Meaning.” In A Permeability of Boundaries: New Approaches to the Archaeology of art, Religion and Folklore, edited by Robert J. Wallis and Kenneth Lymer, 47-56. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 2001.
Bradley, Richard. The Significance of Monuments. London: Routledge, 1998.
Broadbent, Simon. “Simulating the Ley Hunter.” Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A (General) 143(1980): 109-140. doi:10.2307/2981985
Bruck, Joanna. “Monuments, Power and Personhood in the British Neolithic.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 7 (2001): 649-667.
Chapman, H.P. and B.R. Gearey. “Palaeoecology and the Perception of Prehistoric Landscapes: Some Comments on Visual Approaches to Phenomenology.” Antiquity 74(2000): 316-319.
Chapman, Robert. “Ten years After: Megaliths, Mortuary Practices, and the Territorial Model.” In Regional Approaches to Mortuary Analysis, edited by Lane A. Beck, 29-51. New York: Plenum Press, 1995.
Clifton, Chas S. and Graham Harvey, eds. The Paganism Reader. London, Routledge, 2004.
Cole, Susan Guettel. Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space: The Ancient Greek Experience. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.
Cooney, Gabriel. “Sacred and Secular Neolithic Landscapes in Ireland.” In Sacred Sites, Sacred Places, edited by David L. Carmichael, 32-43. London: Routledge, 1994.
Cummings, Vicki and Alasdair Whittle. “Tombs with a View: Landscape, Monuments and Trees. Antiquity 79(2002): 255-66.
Fleming, Andrew. “Post-processual Landscape Archaeology: A Critique.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal 16(2006): 267-280. doi:10.1017/S0959774306000163
Holtorf, Cornelius. From Stonehenge to Las Vegas: Archaeology as Popular Culture. Walnut Creek, Calif.: AltaMira Press, 2005.
Llobera, Marcos. “Reconstructing Visual Landscapes.” World Archaeology 39 (2007): 51-69.
Macmorgan, Kaatryn. Wicca 333: Advanced Topics in Wiccan Belief. New York : IUniverse, Inc, 2003.
Parker Pearson, Mike. “Placing the Physical and Incorporeal Dead: Stonehenge and the Changing Concepts of Ancestral Space in Neolithic Britain.” In The Space and Place of Death, edited by Helaine Silverman, David B. Smalls, and Lorraine V. Aragon, 145-160. Washington: American Anthropological Association, 2002.
Parker Pearson, Mike, Josh Pollard, Colin Richards, Julian Thomas, Christopher Tilley, Kate Welham, and Umberto Albarella. “Materializing Stonehenge: The Stonehenge Riverside Project and New Discoveries. Journal of Material Culture 11(2006): 227-261. doi:10.1177/1359183506063024
Patterson, Barry. “Finding Your Way in the Woods: The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci. In The Paganism Reader, edited by Chas S. Clifton and Graham Harvey, 354-64. London, Routledge: 2004.
Patterson, Thomas. “History and the Post-processual Archaeologies.” Man 24 no. 4 (1989): 555-66. 66. doi:10.2307/2804287
Renfrew, Colin. “Monuments, Mobilization and Social Organization in Neolithic Wessex.” In The Explanation of Culture Change: Models in Prehistory, edited by Colin Renfrew, 539-59. London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1973.
Richards, Colin. “Monuments as Landscape: Creating the Centre of the World in Late Neolithic Orkney.” World Archaeology 28(1996):190-208
Rountree, Kathryn. “Performing The Divine: Neo-Pagan Pilgrimages and Embodiment at Sacred Sites.” Body & Society 12(2006): 95-115. doi:10.1177/1357034X06070886
Russell, Miles. Monuments of the British Neolithic: The Roots of Architecture. Charleston: Tempus Publishing, 2002.
Strmiska, Michael. “Putting the Blood Back into Blót: The Revival of Animal Sacrifice in Modern Nordic Paganism.” The Pomegranate 9 (2007):154-189.
Thomas, Julian. “Monuments from the Inside: The Case of the Irish Megalithic Tombs.” World Archaeology 22(1990): 168-178.
Tilley, Christopher. A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments. Oxford: Berg, 1994.
Wallis, Robert J. and Jenny Blain. “Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Contemporary Pagan Engagements with the Past.” Journal of Material Culture. 9 no.3 (2004), 237-261. doi:10.1177/1359183504046893
———. “Sites, Sacredness, and Stories: Interactions of Archaeology and Contemporary Paganism.” Folklore. 114 no.3 (2003), 307–21. doi:10.1080/0015587032000145351
Watkins, Alfred. The Old Straight Track: Its Mounds, Beacons, Moats, Sites and Mark Stones. London: Garnstone Press, 1925.
Watson, Aaron. “Composing Avebury.” World Archaeology 33(2001): 296-314. doi:10.1080/00438240120079307
Published
2009-04-20
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Beck, J., & Chrisomalis, S. (2009). Landscape Archaeology, Paganism, and the Interpretation of Megaliths. Pomegranate, 10(2), 142-162. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v10i2.142
