Description
Book Synopsis By bringing together in one place specific objects, materials, and features indicating ritual, religious, or magical belief used by people around the world and through time, this tool will assist archaeologists in identifying evidence of belief-related behaviors and broadening their understanding of how those behaviors may also be seen through less obvious evidential lines. Instruction and templates for recording, typologizing, classifying, and analyzing ritual or magico-religious material culture are also provided to guide researchers in the survey, collection, and cataloging processes. The bulleted formatting and topical range make this a highly accessible work, while providing an incredible wealth of information in a single volume.
Trade Review “While Augé addresses her volume to archaeologists, it seems to me that it has value also for those involved more tangentially, such as researchers in material culture studies, epigraphers, historic site interpreters, and members of the general public with interests in the spiritual side of the material world.” • American Journal of Archaeology
“This is a valuable contribution to a relatively recent shift towards the study of the material culture of ritual and magic. Ritual interpretations that were previously either avoided or resorted to by default are now being thoroughly engaged with, and this Field Manual offers an accessible, concise but comprehensive guide to tackling this fascinating subject in archaeological contexts.” • Ceri Houlbrook, University of Hertfordshire
Table of Contents List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Basics: What Everyone Should Know
Most Common Ritualistic, Religious, and Magical Tropes
Common Attributes of Ritualistic, Religious, and Magical Material Culture
Chapter One: Defining Ritual, Religion, and Magic
Definitions
Magical Agency
Chapter Two: Classification and Typology
Creating classification systems
Criteria for Identifying Ritual in Archaeological Contexts
Criteria for Identifying Magic in Archaeological Contexts
Witch Bottle Typology
Concealed Cat Typology
Concealed Footwear Typology
Gender and Ascribing Usage
Chapter Three: Ritual, Religion, and Magic Functions and Devices
Divination
Fertility
Healing
Love and Marriage
Maleficium
Mortuary
Propitiation/Immolation
Protection
Success
Treasure Hunting
Chapter Four: Ritual, Religion, and Magic by Ethnicity and Religion
African/African American
Ancient World
Arctic-Subarctic/Pacific Northwest
Asian
Australian/South Pacific
European/American
Latin/Mesoamerican
Mediterranean/Classical
Middle Eastern/Indian
Native American
Scandinavian
Buddhism
Candomblé
Christianity
Confucianism
Daoism
Hinduism
Islam
Jainism
Judaism
Mormonism
Rastafarianism
Santería-Regla de Ocha
Shinto
Sikhism
Voudou
Zoroastrianism
Ritual and Magical Practitioners
Chapter Five: Ritual, Religion, and Magic at Particular Site Types
Ceremonial (feasting, food procurement, initiation, military, political)
Conflict (battlefields, fortifications, jails/prisons, prisoner camps/detention centers)
Monumental (burials, cultural markers, guardian statuary, memorials)
Mortuary (burials, cemeteries, cenotaphs)
Mundane/Secular (commercial, domestic, institutional, occupational, public)
Sacred (pilgrimage, religious features, religious structures, sacrifice)
Underwater (inundated sites, plane wrecks and shipwrecks)
Chapter Six: Ritualistic, Sacred, and Magical Landscapes
Astronomical Associations and Structures
Cosmological Modeling
Culturally Modified Ecofacts (CMEs)
Directional Orientation
Elementals
Flora & Fauna
Geological, Geographical, and Other Natural Markers
Light/Dark
Seasonality
Soundscapes
Travel Corridors
Viewsheds
Vertical/Horizontal Associations
Chapter Seven: Ritualistic, Religious, and Magical Material Culture by Material Type and Attribute
Ceramic
Color
Fauna
Flora
Glass
Metal
Mineral/Lithic/Soil
Numbers
Symbols, Designs, and Images
Textiles and Clothing
Chapter Eight: Sensory Elements in Ritual, Religion, and Magic
Affective
Auditory
Gustatory (Taste)
Olfactory
Tactility/Haptic
Vestibular
Vision
Chapter Nine: Forms and Templates
Burial Site Survey Form
Burial Recordation Form
Conflict and Battlefield Recordation Form
Individual Figurine/Statuary/Figural Vessel Recordation Form
Intentionally Concealed Object (ICO) Recordation Form
Plant Recordation and Collection Form
Quotidian and Occupational Site Recordation Form
Religious, Ceremonial, and Formal Ritual Building Recordation Form
Ritual Landscape Recordation Form
Ritual/Magic Assemblage Recordation Form
Rock Art Recordation Form
Censors
Crosses
Figurines
Chapter Ten: Technologies, Methodologies, and Analyses
3-D Scanning
Accessibility Analysis
Botanical Analysis
Chemical Residue and DNA Analysis
Geophysical Survey
Mapping
Measuring
Photography
Chapter Eleven: Resources
Databases
Researchers
Museums & Archives
Glossaries
Glossary of Ritualistic, Religious, and Magical Gems and Other Stones
Glossary of Ritualistic, Religious, and Magical Plants
Glossary of Ritualistic, Religious, and Magical Terms
For Further Reading
Attribute Analysis
Ethnic Studies
Artifact Material Types
Sensory and Landscape Studies
Mortuary Studies
Ritual and Magic Theory
General Sources
Index
