The signs of the sacred: Identifying shamans using archaeological evidence Export

@article{citeulike:4278576, abstract = {Anthropologists have determined that shamanism is a robust cross-cultural pattern, but they still have many methodological and theoretical issues to resolve. Central to archaeological religious studies is the need to develop a general and rigorous methodology for identifying the presence and structure of shamanism. This discussion begins by discussing shamans as a polythetic class and proposes that shamans and priests as they are commonly defined do not represent dichotomous religious structures, but rather reflect two ends of a continuum. The paper then presents a methodology for identifying and studying shamanism based on cross-cultural regularities in shamanic tools (sacra) and shamanic experiences. The methodology is then applied to the Casas Grandes region and Pottery Mound, both from the North American Southwest, and indicates that shamanic ritual was likely present during the late prehistoric occupation of the region.}, author = {Vanpool, Christine S.}, citeulike-article-id = {4278576}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2009.02.003}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0278416509000154}, day = {26}, doi = {10.1016/j.jaa.2009.02.003}, issn = {02784165}, journal = {Journal of Anthropological Archaeology}, keywords = {multivalent, religion, ritual}, month = {June}, number = {2}, pages = {177--190}, posted-at = {2009-07-04 03:27:30}, priority = {2}, title = {The signs of the sacred: Identifying shamans using archaeological evidence}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2009.02.003}, volume = {28}, year = {2009} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:4278576 L3 - citeulike-article-id:4278576 N2 - Anthropologists have determined that shamanism is a robust cross-cultural pattern, but they still have many methodological and theoretical issues to resolve. Central to archaeological religious studies is the need to develop a general and rigorous methodology for identifying the presence and structure of shamanism. This discussion begins by discussing shamans as a polythetic class and proposes that shamans and priests as they are commonly defined do not represent dichotomous religious structures, but rather reflect two ends of a continuum. The paper then presents a methodology for identifying and studying shamanism based on cross-cultural regularities in shamanic tools (sacra) and shamanic experiences. The methodology is then applied to the Casas Grandes region and Pottery Mound, both from the North American Southwest, and indicates that shamanic ritual was likely present during the late prehistoric occupation of the region. IS - 2 JF - Journal of Anthropological Archaeology SN - 02784165 EP - 190 TI - The signs of the sacred: Identifying shamans using archaeological evidence VL - 28 SP - 177 KW - multivalent KW - religion KW - ritual AU - Vanpool, Christine PY - 2009/06/26/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2009.02.003 ER -