Were-animals and shape-shifters: Shamanic cosmologies and ontologies of Native Americans and European prehistoric cave art

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Foreword

It is a great pleasure for me to have the possibility to introduce to the participants of the EAA 19th_{Annual Meeting (AM)}

perhaps the most important set of data connected with this event. The Abstract Book brings summaries of all the works submitted either in the form of paper or poster presentations by most of you. It is obviously the academic programme of a conference of this category which clearly indicates the way which archaeology in current Europe follows. Although the principal directions in the development of a discipline can properly be evaluated in the course of decades rather than individual years, there is a traceable variety of streams inside the sessions of this-year EAA AM framed into six thematic groups.

As you can see in this Abstracts Book the total number of sessions and papers submitted by applicants and accepted by the 2013 Annual Meeting’s Scientific Committee in cooperation with session organizers exceeds apparently their numbers in past years. For the Local Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee this was very surprising and challenging situation, as we had to carefully go through the decision-making process when evaluating every submis-sion. It was a positive finding that just a few sessions and papers (almost no poster) had to be declined. Anyway, it is now up to you to consider what the level of submitted papers/posters is about. Obviously, the quality of this congress (let me use this term due to the high number of participants) will be dependent first of all on the quality of papers, on how professionally you will be able to present your projects and discuss their results and conceptions with your col-leagues. I am almost sure that most papers are valuable, have the potential to contribute to the success of the con-gress and to indicate what, generally speaking, current archaeology through its variety is about.

Let me wish you to spend a nice time in Pilsen, to enjoy your visits of sessions you expect to attract you most, and to achieve a feeling that your own paper or poster presentations have contributed to the – hopefully high – level of the 2013 EAA Annual Meeting.

Martin Gojda Chair of the Scientific Committee EAA 19th_{Annual Meeting 2013 Pilsen}

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Preface by the editor

This year is the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists coming to the centre of Europe, to the region of West Bohemia and City of Pilsen.

The Pilsner basin is a lowland territory with tradition of continuous human settlement since the time of first farmers around the mid-6th _{Millennium BC. The forests surrounding Pilsen and in south-west Bohemia are hiding several}

Copper Age hill top sites, numerous barrow cemeteries of the middle/late Bronze Age and Hallstatt Period. The early medieval hill-forts are predecessors of the high medieval towns, such as Starý Plzenec (the Old Pilsen, founded in 10th

century AD for Pilsen (founded in 1295). The spectacular remains of the medieval City underground produced also incredibly rich data for reconstruction of the life of Pilsner burghers in high and late Middle Ages.

It is, however, not only the past that Pilsen can offer. The tradition of archaeological research in the region started already by forest survey and excavations of F. X. Franz (1838–1910) followed by Václav Čtrnáct (1884–1975), Marie Doubová (1912) and Antonín Beneš (1934–2011). Thanks to the long tradition of archaeological research and especially the booming development of Pilsner archaeology in the last decades, the City offers highly influential intellectual environment with solid foundations in both theoretical, as well as, heritage archaeology.

The Department of Archaeology at the University of West Bohemia is currently the national largest university centre for archaeological studies. It was founded by Professor Evžen Neustupný in 1998 and since then it represents a high profile institution of national and international impact. Neustupný established a fundamental paradigmatic profile of the Department that was always in contact with developments in Western archaeological theory. Amongst the main topics of his paradigm are: Settlement area theory, Theory of archaeological transformations, Archaeology of other-ness etc. As the first Head of the Pilsen Department of Archaeology he was always dealing with the key issues of theoretical archaeology and using the most advanced methods of research, and profoundly influenced a new genera-tion of Czech archaeologists. Currently he continues to supervise and teach students, just as he continues to publish influential papers and books on archaeological method (Method of Archaeology, 2007) and theory (Theory of Archae-ology 2010). It is symbolic that the EAA Annual Meeting is taking place in Pilsen, the City of Neustupný’s childhood and University career as he was also amongst the scholars who in 1993 founded the European Association of Archaeolo-gists.

Besides the regular EAA main themes: Interpreting the Archaeological Record; Archaeological Heritage Resource Management and Archaeological Science the EAA 2013 Scientific Committee introduced three new themes: Theory and paradigms in Archaeology; Public Archaeology; and Archaeology of food and drink. These themes reflect some of the current trends in European archaeology and research interests of the local archaeological community. Great importance is also given to the non-invasive methods of fieldwork, the conception of archaeological sources in their wider spatial context and towards the extensive interdisciplinary work and employment of natural sciences. The Pilsen Annual Meeting has grown into an unprecedentedly huge congress with over 1050 papers and 280 poster presentations. All this places a great demand on both the preparation of academic program and logistical organization of the congress. On this occasion I would like to thank the whole Organizing Team and Scientific Committee for the hard work in the implementation of this extraordinary scientific event.

We sincerely hope that your memories of the EAA Annual Meeting in Pilsen will not only include the beautiful natural and historical monuments of the region and the world-famous highest quality beer but mainly the remarkable scientific experience, inspiration and new friendships.

Enjoy the Pilsen 2013!

Jan Turek Secretary of the EAA 2013 Scientific Committee

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Scientific Committee

The chair

Martin Gojda University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

The members

Jaromír Beneš University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice

Dagmar Dreslerová Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague Martin Kuna Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague Jiří Macháček Masaryk University, Brno

Jan Mařík Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague Petr Šída University of Hradec Králové

Ladislav Šmejda University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

Jan Turek (secretary) Institute of Archaeological Heritage of Central Bohemia, Prague Monique van den Dries EAA representative

Ericka Engelstad EAA representative

Peter Biehl EAA representative

Mark Pearce EAA representative

Local Organising Committee

Martin Gojda University of West Bohemia, Pilsen Iva Hanušová GUARANT International spol. s r.o. Tereza Krištufová University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

Jan Turek Institute of Archaeological Heritage of Central Bohemia, Prague Magdalena Turková University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

Robert Vojtěch GUARANT International spol. s r.o. Dagmar Vokounová Franzeová University of West Bohemia, Pilsen

National Advisory Board

Jan Bouzek Charles University, Prague

Luboš Jiráň Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague Jan Klápště Charles University, Prague

Pavel Kouřil Institute of Archaeology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno Zdeněk Měřínský Masaryk University, Brno

Martin Oliva Moravian Museum, Brno

Martin Tomášek National Heritage Institute, Prague

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Annual Meeting Emblem

The Bronze Age shield of Sun and Crescent

Jan Turek & Marion Uckelmann

The true pride and enigma of the West Bohemian archaeology is the bronze shield from Pilsen Jíkalka, a copy of which is kindly loaned by the Museum of West Bohemia (MWB) and can be seen in the foyer of Building 1 at the University Campus – Bory. The original artefact is on display in the recently-opened main exhibition in the MWB. There are many yet unsolved questions about the Jíkalka shield, such as its precise date, its profane and sacred context and the sym-bolic meaning of its decoration. The shield represents an important artefact of social and cosmological significance connecting European Bronze Age communities from Ireland to the Near East. It is also presented as the main logo of the 19th_{EAA Annual Meeting.}

Discovery

It was found in 1896 during the house construction on the then outskirts of Pilsen (near the present day Bus Station) right next to another early Urnfield (Reinecke B C2 / B D) hoard that became eponymous for the Plzeň Jíkalka horizon of hoard deposits (Kytlicová 1986). The shield belongs to the group of Herzsprung type shields (named after 1844 discovery at Herzsprung in Brandenburg region).

Style and Distribution

With the end of the Middle Bronze Age and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, shields made of a single piece of bronze sheet come into use. About 86 of these metal shields are recorded from all over Europe, as well as two wooden and one leather shields and two wooden shield formers from Irish bogs. The main distribution is in the British Isles and Ireland, followed by a larger group in southern Scandinavia and more scattered finds from Germany, Poland, Czech Republic and the Carpathian basin but in similar forms known in depictions as far as in southwest of the Iberian Penin-sula in the west and Cyprus and Assyria in the east.

Original round shields of organic material were part of the Atlantic warrior panoply already since the mid Second Millennium BC. The Herzsprung type probably developed in Iberia and Ireland and spread eastwards between 1300– 900 BC.

Marion Uckelmann (2012, 73 ff., nos. 86.–88.) classified the find as belonging to the Plzeň group, which is closely related to the Herzsprung type of shields characterised by similar decorative motifs on the three currently known shields. Another two shields are unprovenanced, but come most likely from Denmark. The shields are of oval form, and through decoration related to the Herzsprung Type. The diameters are between 51 × 48 cm and 68 × 61 cm. The metal thickness is 1–1.3 mm which explains the relatively heavy weight of 2.4–3.4 kg for the shields. The integrating element in the decoration with the shield from Pilsen is the circular notch in the central shield boss, the rest of the shield body is rather plain, and adorned only with ribs or boss rows. The handle and tabs are all fitted in different ways. The Plzeň-Jíkalka shield shows at least in this aspect some resemblance to the Nipperwiese Type shields. The U-notch of the Jíkalka shield creates a very specific, almost crescent shape, similar to that of the horseshoe/crescent-like razors of the Urnfield period. It may be well possible that the shaping of both artefacts has something to do with the representation of the Moon and its role in the Bronze Age Cosmology (cf. the Nebra Disc).

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Chronology

The dating of the shields was till recently quite problematic, since most of them are isolated finds or they were found in association only with other shields. The fragments of shields found in the Carpathian hoards are well dated through their associations and belong to the 13th century BC (BzD/HaA1/2). A late date of such shield comes from a hoard in Skydebjerg, Denmark (Period V. c. 925–800 BC), where a fragment of a Type Herzsprung shield was found, but it seems most likely that this piece was deposited already old. The close resemblance with some of the shield images on the Iberian stelae and the early dating of the Irish organic shields (with new dates: eg Uckelmann 2012, 158 ff. Fig. 27) make it possible that the Type Herzsprung origins are as early as the late 13th_{century BC. The long discussion on the}

Plzeň-Jíkalka shield can now be seen as resolved since a new radiocarbon determinations for the shield (from pieces of wood in the bronze handle) dates it to: 1387–1127calBC (GR-40666: 3005±40BP). This suggests a position near the beginning of metal shield production, as its form and technology might also imply (Uckelmann 2012, no. 86). Combined with the evidence of the Carpathian hoard associations, it therefore appears that the small number of metal shields known from Central Europe belong somewhere within the mid-14th_{to mid-11}th_{centuries BC, essentially the earlier half}

of the Urnfield period.

Interpretation

The evidence of Iberian rock art emphasizes the ritual and social meaning of shields in the warriors’ symbolism (Harri-son 2004; 124–134). Some shields are so thin and delicate that they could hardly be used as defensive armour, some other exemplars are more substantial and the show clear lozenge-shaped perforations made by a weapon and perhaps inflicted in a combat. Such symbolism may be connected with ceremonial warfare as it is presumed for the early prehistoric society (Neustupný 1998, 27–30). But some of the shields clearly were used in combat and were able to protect the bearer. One of those shields was the heavy shield from Pilsen even though it does not show weapon inflicted damage.

The decoration motifs and shape of shields are related to the Sun and Moon symbolism that was the centre point of European Bronze Age cosmology (Kristiansen – Larson 2005).

References

Bouzek, J. 1965: Štít z Plzně Jíkalky, Archeologické studijní materiály 2, Archeologický ústav ČSAV, Praha, 93–95. Harrison, R. J. 2004: Symbols and Warriors. Images of the European Bronze Age, WASP, Bristol. Kristiansen, K. – Larson, T. B. 2005: The Rise of Bronze Age Society. Travels, Transmissions and Transformations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kytlicová, O. 1986: Der Schild und der Depotfund aus Plzeň-Jíkalka, Památky Archeologické 77, 413–454.

Neustupný, E. 1998: Structures and events: The theoretical basis of spatial archaeology, in: Evžen Neustupný (ed.): Space in Prehistoric Bohemia, Institute of Archaeology, Praha, 9–44.

Uckelmann, M. 2012: Die Schilde der Bronzezeit in Nord-, West- und Zentraleuropa. PBF II, 4. Steiner, Stuttgart.

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Session schedule

Thursday, 5 September 2013

ROOM 8:30–10:30 11:00–13:00 14:00–16:00 16:30–18:30

1 EP 130

When the potters make the story:

what can pottery tell us about the people who made and used it? (A46) 2

EP 120 Some Assembly Required: Assembling People, Objects, Discourses, and Landscapes in Archaeology (A35) 3

UP 108 New digital developments in heritage management and research (B13) 4

EP 110

Built environments and human use of space: theories, methods and case studies (A07)

Humanity and Creation (C07) 5

EP 208 Bodies of Clay – On prehistoric humanized pottery (A06)

6 UP 101

Thinking about health and diseases in archaeology

(A39)

Where east meets west: the impact of the

Mongol invasions on the landscapes of Central and Eastern Europe – integrating science, archaeology and history (F09) 7

UP 104 Social dimension of burial mounds (A34)

Cold War in Context: Excavating the Contemporary World (A10)

8

UU 108 Archaeology of religion: methodological issues (C02)

The use and percep-tion of caves and rock

shelters in Early Medieval Europe (400–1200 AD) (A43) 9

UU 407

Public Archaeology from the Ground Up (Round Table D04)

Persistent economic ways of living – Production, Distribution, and Consumption in the Iron Age and

Early Medieval Period (A31)

10 EP 206

Something out of the ordinary? Interpreting the diversity in the uniformity of the Early Neolithic LBK in Central and Western Europe (A36)

The roles and benefits of professional associa-tions in Europe and

beyond (B14) 11

UU 307 Collapse and regeneration of past societies (C04)

Deciphering agricultural footprints: New multidisciplinary studies of

human-environment interactions (F02) 12

UP 115

East-West: the role of Central Europe in the Iron Age (A14)

Gendered violence in the past: Materialities and corporealities (A19) 13

UU 405

Indigenous Communities in Conquered Landscapes (A21)

Interregional contacts during the first millenium B. C. in the Europe (A22) 14

EU 102

Animal utilized, processed, depicted: large mammal exploitation by prehistoric

hunter-gatherers (A02)

Mesolithic survivals: Origins and perpetuation of wild resource use (E04) 15

EU 104 Fortified settlements of the 7

th_–10th_{centuries AD in different regions of Europe (A16)}

16 EU 106

New Perspectives on Lithic Scatters and Landscapes: Different scales,

different approaches? (A27)

Barrow Landscapes and GIS approaches (A05)

17 EU 108

What should a PhD in Archaeology be all about?

(A45) Meat as food, offering and identity (E02)

18 EU 109

Archaeological Sites in Forests – Strategies for their Protection (B02)

Identity and Heritage: Contemporary Challenges in a Globalizing World (B09)

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Friday, 6 September 2013

ROOM 8:30–10:30 11:00–13:00 14:00–16:00 16:30–18:30

1

EP 130 Children in the Prehistorica and Historical Societes (A09) 2

EP 120 Landscapes of complexity in Bronze Age central Europe (A23) 3

UP 108 General session (G02)

4

EP 110 Archaeological aspects of shamanism: iconography, artefacts, technology, and spiritual landscapes (A03)

5 EP 208

Managing lithic tools: The contribution of technological and functional studies to the understanding of stone tool management during the Neolithic (A25)

Testing time: new approaches to archaeological chronologies, radiocarbon dating, and 14 C data (F07)

6

UP 101 Archaeological Perspectives on the Thirty Years' War (A04)

Orders of knowledge. Disciplinary Powers in the Archaeological Discourse (Round Table C08) 7 UP 104 Mission accomplished – what may Archae-ology expect from the

new CAP after 2014? (Round Table B12) 8

UU 108 EAA Executive Board Sponsored session (F03)

9 UU 407

Partners – Rivals – Enemies. Archaeological record of interaction between two differently structured entities and its interpretation variability (A30)

Archaeological Sites as Space for Modern Spiritual Practice (D01) 10

EP 206

Creating Landscape Visions: managing the past while imagining the future (B06)

Archaeology meets modern art: artists’ approaches to prehistoric data (D02) 11

UU 307

Biography and Histories of Archaeology: present state and future scopes (C03)

Gender identities in the making – prehistoric dress and network patterns in a supraregional

perspec-tive (A18) 12

UP 115

Comparative Perspectives

on Paleolithic Socioecodynamics (A12) Garbage and (Non)humans (A17) 13

UU 405

Studies on settlement archaeology in the eastern area of distribution of the Bandkeramic (A37)

Salt of the Earth: an invisible past in European Archaeology (E05)

14 EU 102

The Archaeology and Heritage of the Prisoner of War experience: researching and managing a fragile resource (B05)

Digital heritage: cross cultural conversations or nationally embedded soliloquies? (D03)

15 EU 104

Taking on the transition: new perspectives on continuity and change between the Late Bronze

Age and Iron Age in Europe (A38)

Stuff or words? The interdisciplinary study of Medieval Material Culture,

a theoretical debate (C09) 16

EU 106

The life of lithic tools in the palaeolithic: Identification and interpretation (A24)

Far From the Madding Crowd – Interpreting the Ephemeral Evidence for Rural Life

(Round Table A15) 17

EU 108

Outstanding Biographies: The Life of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age,

Roman and Medieval Europe (A29)

Medieval and early modern glass as seen through the context of dining (E03) 18

EU 109 Heritage Issues in Europe's Historic Cities (B08)

The bioarchaeology of the neolithic Carpatian Basin (F01)

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Saturday, 7 September 2013

ROOM 8:30–10:30 11:00–13:00 14:00–16:00 16:30–18:30

1 EP 130

Deliberate fragmentation revisited.

Assessing social and material agency in the archaeological record (A13) 2

EP 120 EAA Student Session (G01)

3 UP 108

What’s for Dinner?:

Archaeological evidence of food production and consumption (E06) Gender in flux (C06)

4 EP 110

An Archaeologist at the Centre of Europe: A Symposium in Honour of Evžen Neustupný

(C01)

Towards new horizons. Advances in provenance methods and their

repercussions in archaeology (F08) 5

EP 208 4000 years of world career – amber from the Neolithic to Iron Age (A01) 6

UP 101 Examining Social Complexity within Bronze Age Steppe Societies (C05) 7

UP 104 Comparative Perspectives on Hunter–Gatherer Archaeology of Northeast Eurasia (A11) 8

UU 108

What is Changing and When – Post-LBK Life in Central Europe (A44)

Adding technology: the multidisciplinary study of historical buildings (B01) 9

UU 407

“Transversal World” – Focus on the Early Middle Ages in Central Europe (ca AD 600–1050) (A41)

Iron and change in Europe the first 2000 years (F05)

10

EP 206 The many faces of gravettian (A26)

Towards a real repre-sentation and interpretation of spatio-temporal data in Archaeological Record (A40) 11

UU 307 Transfer of Knowledge in Archaeology (C10)

Sediment stratigraphy as the record of human impact (F06)

12 UP 115

Discovering the Archaeologists of Europe ... and of the World (Round Table B07)

Relative vs. Absolute Chronology of the Neolithic of the Carpathian Basin

and South Eastern Europe (A32) 13

UU 405

Social archaeology of death in the Roman world:

new data and perspectives (A33) Geophysics in the studies of late Prehistory (A20)

14 EU 102

Nobility versus artisans? The multiple identities of elites and ‘commoners’ viewed through the lens of materials and technologies during the European Bronze and the Iron Ages (A28)

Human DNA and Archaeology (F04)

15 EU 104

Integrating non-destructive methods of archaeological resources prospection: implications for research and protection (B10)

Archaeology and cultural heritage during and after armed conflict (B03)

16

EU 106 Unexplained archaeological off-site features (A42)

Chains of Citation: re-contextualization in

the Viking Age (A08)

17 EU 108

Methodology in Preventive Archaeology: Mechanization in evaluations and excavations

(B11)

Archaeology and heritage management in Europe after two decades of the Valletta

convention (Round Table B04) 18

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A: Interpreting the Archaeological Record

Session A01

4000 years of world career – amber from the Neolithic to Iron Age

Saturday, 7 September 2013, 08:30–18:30

Room: EP 208 (Building 1, 1st floor)

Organisers: Janusz Czebreszuk (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland), Mateusz Jaeger (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland) and Aleksandar Palavestra (University of Belgrade, Serbia)

It is well known that amber was an extremely important raw material distributed over vast areas of prehistoric Europe. Amber deposits of varying richness are found practically in all regions of the Old World. From the point of view of cultural significance, however, sources stretching along the southern Baltic coastland were the most important. Suc-cinite extracted in Jutlandian and Sambian centers dominated Neolithic and Metal Ages trade. Throughout the centu-ries a dense network of amber distribution in Europe was developed.

The aim of the planned session is to summarise the state of research on prehistoric amber and to spell out the most significant scientific questions for the near future. We hope to integrate specialists from different sciences working on prehistoric amber.

A01.01: Amber from the Single Grave Culture

by Palle Siemen (Sydvestjyske Museer, Denmark)

Amber is well known from the graves in the Single Grave Culture of Jutland (app. 2900–2400 B.C.) and together with battle axes and pottery it forms the most characteristic material elements of this specific culture, although abundant in artifacts it is very uniform in expression. The quantity and variation of amber in the graves cannot be accidental but must be the last phase in a series of different incidents such as collection, work up, distribution and use. The material consists of single pendants, string of beads, trimming, discs and rings, which are used in different ways in the social system. The paper will discuss the different phases the amber passes from sea to the grave where some such as collection and work design demands certain knowledge and skill of the local people, other a system of exchange and conventions about use and deposition.

A01.02: Amber finds from Stone Age sites in the Vologda region, Northwest Russia

by Nadezhda Nedomolkina (Vologda State Museum, Russian Federation)

In the Vologda region in the forest zone of North-Eastern Europe, amber artifacts have been found on ten archaeologi-cal monuments. The collection of amber finds from funerary complexes have more objects, while the finds found in the settlements rare and singular. All amber objects can be divided into four types: pendants, rings, disk and beads, which include buttons. The sites where amber objects came to light in the Vologda region date back to the third millennium BC and correspond to the porous ceramic complex of the Volosovo culture. All amber finds from the Vologda region belong to the group of Eastern Baltic amber jewelry. Sets of amber artifacts indicate, that at least at different times 3 large batches of amber reached the Vologda region from the Eastern Baltic sources which are situated approximately 1000 kilometers further west. The objects thus testify for long distance relations across the northern part of Eastern Europe in the Later Stone Age.

A01.03: Amber in the Bronze Age Societies in the East Baltic region

by Agnė Čivilytė (Lithuanian Institute of History, Lithuania)

Bronze Age in the eastern Baltic region began when the first imported goods appeared. The first wave of imported objects in the graves appear only in the middle Bronze Age in so called Sambian Barrow Culture graves. This phenome-non is traditionally explained by the intense amber trade, “the Sambian sphere of exchange.” The same situation was in the Late Bronze Age, when the local production of bronze has firmly established. The Barrow culture continued to be the dominant player of the trade network. However, it remains an open question how significant was amber to Bronze Age societies. Compared to the Late Neolithic, it looks like as though amber objects would have been altogether absent from human life in the Bronze Age. How to interpret the disappearance of amber from graves and hoards – is it related to the natural decrease in raw amber supply, or maybe amber was being saved, and it was tabu to put it to graves? This phenomenon reveals the relationship between raw materials and consumers in prehistoric societies. However is it

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possible, by analyzing the spread of bronze objects in the Eastern Baltic region graves and hoards, to trace patterns of social change associated with the amber trade?

A01.04: Archaeological Traces along the “Austro-Bohemian Amber Trail”

by Henry Dosedla (CINDIS – Center of Interdisciplinary Studies, Austria)

Regarding the course of the trans-continental Amber Trail there is a marked separation into two different branches both crossing a Central European region of particular relevance for centuries during the historical development of the Czech Republic and Austria since they remained the basic traffic veins in later periods including the whole Middle Ages. Generally the eastern Moravian branch along the Morava river was considered as the main route and thus became well documented, whereas the western branch along the Vltava/Moldau river until recently was rather neglected by archaeological research. This applied the most to the section passing the vast Bohemian granite plateau between the Czech border and the Danube. Showing an apparent abundance of distinct sites of the Slavic period of which just a few have shortly been documented this fringe region finally is capable of becoming an increasing challenge of bilateral excavation activities.

A01.05: Tears of the Sun: Amber Spacer Plates from Bronze Age Britain and Europe

by Kate Verkooijen (University of Exeter, UK)

The amber spacers (Bernsteinschiebers, plaquettes d’espacement) are some of the most iconic artefacts of the Euro-pean Bronze Age; not for their undoubted original beauty, but because of what they may be able to tell us about the cultural and chronological relationships between North-west and Central Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean during the 2nd millennium BC. In 1940 Merhart first drew attention to the similarities between the spacers found at Kakovatos in Mycenaean Greece with those from the Bavarian site of Asenkofen. He illustrated these beads, along with several others from the South German Tumulus Culture, demonstrating their variety of perforation patterns. Compari-son of these patterns between the three regions has been at the heart of the interpretation of the relationships of these cultural areas and of the spacers themselves. However, the present condition of the amber means that it is difficult to determine these patterns with certainty. In 1993 Harding expressed the view that this situation could only be remedied by x-raying the beads. Obtaining these x-rays has been one focus of the speaker’s recent PhD and she presents here the results of that research.

A01.06: Amber in Czech Únětice (Aunjetitz) culture – on the origin of the Amber Route

by Michal Ernée (Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic)

About 4,000 amber artefacts from more than 100 Early Bronze Age sites are known in Bohemia. The majority are cemeteries (82 %). Approximately 3,600 (90 %) of the amber artefacts were found in 304 graves at 87 cemeteries. These were beads with a simple hole (97.6 %), which were typically parts of necklaces. Also found were so-called “Schieber” or “Abstandhalter” (24 artefacts from 18 graves at 12 cemeteries), rings and disks, a button or amber as a part of a bronze dagger. The greatest concentration of finds is from central Bohemia. The richest grave (Mikulovice, no. 1963) contained more than 430 amber beads and six Bernsteinschieber. We date the vast majority of the finds to the classic Aunjetitz culture (ca. 2000–1800 BC). All analyses confirmed the Baltic origin of the amber. Bohemia is far richer in amber than all of the surrounding territories and was the main target area for amber trade in the Central Europe. If it is possible to speak of an “Amber Route” in the Early Bronze Age, it would have run from the Polish Baltic coast to Bohemia. The massive influx of amber into Bohemia stops abruptly with the end of the classic Aunjetitz culture.

A01.07: Amber finds in Slovakia and cultural-territorial specifics of its occurance in the Early and beginning of the Middle Bronze Age

by Klára Marková (Archeologcký ústav SAV, Slovak Republic)

Amber finds in Slovakia show general similarity, when it comes to their form, to those in Hungary and adjacent parts of Romania, as it is shown in present stage of research. The paper will point out formal/typological differences of those finds in comparison to amber items from neighbouring territories.

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A01.08: Between the Aegean and Baltic Seas – Amber in the Bronze Age Carpathian Basin

by Mateusz Jaeger (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland)

It is broadly accepted opinion that amber was one of the most important raw materials circulating over vast territories of Bronze Age Europe. During the first half of the second millenium BC amber from the Baltic Sea has been extensively traded and reached the Aegean zone. Since decades spectacular finds of Otomani-Füzesabony culture in Slovakia and some other sites spread across Carpathian Basin are interpreted as evidence of contacts linking Central Europe with highly developed civilization of Mycenaean culture. The long-distance exchange was supposed to be a key factor in development of Carpathian Bronze Age societies. The author will try to discuss above mentioned hypothesis and show importance of other levels and directions of exchange and their role in forming the Carpathian Bronze Age.

A01.09: Amber routes only? – to the memory of Curt W. Beck

by Jan Bouzek (Charles University, Czech Republic)

Amber was valuable and admired substance in antiquity notably in areas distant from its natural outcome in the Baltic Sea, which until nowadays is its basic source. Several main amber routes were considered, the western over the Tin Islands notably for the Shaft Grave time, the best known Oder/Morava and along the Eastern Alps for LB and EIA, the eastern one between the Baltic and Black Seas. In 5th_{century BC the Central European Amber Route marked by}

south-ern imports moved to the west, but not completely. Gold and tin were of similar importance as amber (Herod. III, 115); salt and salted fish were commodities whose share in long-distance trade was much higher. Salt routes were appar-ently also used for amber, whose price and weight enabled, however, that one single porter with rucksack could carry a fortune even outside the main routes.

A01.10: Adriatic branch of the amber road in the Bronze Age: current state of knowledge and research perspectives

by Mateusz Cwaliński (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland)

The issue of succinite items import to the areas of Southern Europe has been the subject of an ongoing discourse among archaeologists for a long time. The result of this discussion is a number of concepts describing methods and routes of the aforementioned source inflow from the Baltic shore to the centers of Bronze Age civilizations located in Italy and Greece. Traditionally, these ways are called “amber routes” from which their over-Adriatic variant, in the opinion of many scholars, was the most important from the perspective of prehistory, as well as, historic times. The paper will give possibly the most complete description of current state of knowledge about Bronze Age amber finds from the areas surrounding Adriatic Sea. Attention will mainly be paid to the range and structure of the distribution of amber artifacts, as well as their context. Moreover typological variation of the products and their functional aspect will be discussed. With regard to all above mentioned elements current theories and interpretations developed by individ-ual scholars will be presented. Finally, as the part of summary, research perspectives and possibilities will be discussed in order to help understand better the specifics of Adriatic amber route and events that it holds.

A01.11: The North Aegean at the Crossroads: Patterns of Distribution for Amber and Other Valuable Objects

by Magda Pieniążek (German Archaeological Institute, Turkey)

Without a doubt, amber counted among the most desirable luxury materials in the entire Aegean, throughout the 2nd millennium BC. Together with other exotica such as ostrich eggs, faience, and semi-precious stones, it formed an important part of chiefly graves during the time of the Shaft Graves. Its popularity among the Mycenaean elites was most likely due to its foreignness, as well as its special physical and aesthetic features. It is usually assumed that the importance of amber diminished gradually during the Bronze Age, and that by the time it reached the North Aegean in the 13th_–11th_{century BC it had become less of a “luxury” and more widely accessible. Most of the previous studies on}

amber have concentrated on objects coming from the important southern Aegean centres. In this presentation I would like to focus on the problematic of amber in the North Aegean: I will look at its shapes, find contexts and patterns of distribution, and compare it with other important objects such as metal jewellery, glass and faience beads, or violin bow fibulae.

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A01.12: Amber in the Mycenaean culture. Some general remarks.

by Janusz Czebreszuk (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland)

One of the features which distinguish the Mycenaean culture from other East-Mediterranean centers was the pres-ence of amber in a great number of finds. Furthermore, basing on physic-chemical analysis, most of them were Baltic amber. Current level of our knowledge shows us that sources of Baltic amber are known from many regions (not only Baltic area), which are situated in the north comparing with Aegean. In the presentation the most important questions concerning presence of amber in Mycenaean culture will be discussed. From where did amber come to the culture? Other issues are: the typology of amber artifacts in the Mycenaean culture, its distribution in regions and dynamics of its appearance in Mycenaean world.

A01.13: Late Bronze Age Amber Workshop in Campestrin (Veneto-Italy)

by Paolo Bellintani (Ufficio beni archeologici della Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Italy), Luciano Salzani (Soprinten-denza per i Beni Archeologici del Veneto, Italy), Marilena Leis (University of Ferrara, Italy), Carmela Vaccaro (University of Ferrara, Italy), Ivana Angelini (University of Padua, Italy), Ursula Thun Hohenstein (University of Ferrara, Italy)

The site of Campestrin, currently dated XIII-XII century b.c., was discovered in 2007, 10 km east from Frattesina. Thanks to early research carried out by L. Salzani in collaboration with the Museum of Grandi Fiumi, Rovigo, evidences of the most ancient amber processing workshop has been recovered south of the Alps and, at the present state of knowl-edge, in the whole Mediterranean Region. Preliminary excavations have revealed quadrangular beaten-soil platforms closed to an impressive quantity of sub-centimeter amber-waste. Among the artifacts, the presence of Tiryns beads, well-known markers of amber trade that linked northern Adriatic and the eastern Mediterranean, deserve to be highlighted. We report the preliminary results, carried out by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), aimed to recognize the processing traces and use-wear, on lumps with cortex, semi-finished products at various processing stages, finished products. A set of samples was selected for the infrared analyses (DRIFT) in order to investigate the amber provenience, comparing the data with an internal database of European amber. Micro-Raman and TGA analy-ses, were conducted with the aim to detect the presence of any residual metal or natural fibers used for the frame, and oily substances linked to polishing or use of ointments/balms.

A01.14: From the Source – Amber Trading During the Early Iron Age

by Jutta Kneisel (Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany)

The Baltic coast is the richest source of amber. During the Early Iron Age, a shift between concentration of amber and imported finds seems to be changed. The site Komorowo (Poland) with a high amount of raw amber and the cemetery of Gorszewice (Poland) nearby with its imports of southern orogin, seemed to play an important role in the amber trade during Ha C phase. This changed in Ha D period and domination of Pomeranian culture in the area around the Bay of Gdańsk. Even if amber rarely appears in the graves of the Pomeranian culture, the imports now also reach the coast (during Ha D-Lt A). Grave goods like cowry shell from the Pacific shows that the trade now reached the source and not any longer was an in-between trade. Further analysis of the ornamentation of lids from this culture show instead of clusters, linear distribution patterns, which reach over the Kashubian Lake land to the Baltic Sea. These lines could be interpret as trade routes and could be understand as the starting point of the amber routes.

A01.15: Figured amber of pre-Roman Italy. A proposal for classification.

by Andrea Celestino Montanaro (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy)

The “Italic” amber, and those figured in particular, are a typical example of a class of materials for a long time consid-ered minor and examined in isolation, just as a testimony of a subordinate taste compared to the great artistic tradi-tion. Brought back to their archaeological and historical context, they reveal themselves instead increasingly as a constitutive element of a tissue of “luxury” production in the center of the social life of Italic peoples. In this perspec-tive, the purpose of this paper is a re-interpretation of the problem concerning working of amber figured in terms of stylistic and typological studies, in the light of the latest finds, by proposing a classification useful to framework for the different productions.

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A01.16: Amber finds from China

by Marta Zuchowska (University of Warsaw, Poland)

Amber objects are relatively rare among other finds in China, however, quite a representative group of over one thousand such artefacts were found in the contexts related to the period up to the beginning of the 2nd_millennium

A.D. The earliest known amber bead from China is dated to the Shang dynasty (2nd millennium BC), but only during the reign of the Han (206 BC – AD 220) and Jin (AD 265–420) dynasties did such objects become more popular. Being made of imported raw materials, amber objects offer a unique opportunity to investigate the distribution patterns, exchange and communication networks and their changes in a long-term perspective. Amber finds from China are usually associated to the trade with Roman Empire, but chronological and geographical distribution of artefacts on the terri-tory of present PRCh suggests that such explanation is far from being satisfacterri-tory.

POSTER

A01.01-P-3: Amber finds from the Bronze Age settlement of Roca (Lecce – Italy)

by Veronica Garra (Università del Salento, Italy), Riccardo Guglielmino (Università del Salento, Italy)

The archaeological research in the protohistoric settlement of Roca had brought to light an exceptional collection of documents datable from the beginning of local Middle Bronze Age to the end of Final Bronze Age. The overshadowing quantity of discoveries, including several categories of exotica like Aegean pottery, ivory, glass, gold and amber, high-lights the strategic importance of this site in the circulation of raw materials, finished artifacts, technologies as well as people and ideas in the Southern Adriatic area during the II millennium B.C. In all, eight amber beads, including one sample of the “Tiryns-type” and another of the “Allumiere-type”, plus two semifinished amber products come from Recent and Final Bronze Age levels. Infrared spectroscopy analyses are currently underway on all the samples.

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Session A02

Animal utilized, processed, depicted: large mammal exploitation by prehistoric

hunter-gatherers

Thursday, 5 September 2013, 08:30–13:00 Room: EU 102 (Building 1, ground floor)

Organisers: Martina Lazničková-Galetová (Moravian Museum, Czech Republic), Stéphane Péan (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, France) and Mietje Germonpré (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium)

The general issue is to identify management modes of large mammal resources by prehistoric hunter-gatherers through subsistence, technical and symbolic approaches. The methods explored include zooarchaeological analyses of raw osteological remains, typo-technological studies of osseous artefacts (from bone, ivory or cervid antlers) in mobil-iary art and personal ornaments and studies of symbolic representations. Finally, it should bring into light the status of animals, from dietary and technical use to symbolic depiction.

A02.01: The fearless ice age beasts killers. Central European Gravettian hunters of large mammals.

by Piotr Wojtal (Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland), Jarosław

Wilczyński (Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland)

Gravettian technocomplex arose about 28 thousand years BP, and by next millennia, extended over various parts of Europe, from Pyrenees to Ural. In the Central Europe are located several well known Gravettian open-air sites in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland. The Gravettian technocomplex includes, among others, the earlier Pavlovian stage (e.g. sites: Pavlov I, Dolní Vĕstonice I), and the later Willendorf-Kostienkian stage (e.g. sites: Wilendorf II, Petrkovice, Moravany, Kraków Spadzista Street). In Czech the most famous early Gravettian sites are located in the roots of Pavlovské (Palava) Hills, e.g. Pavlov I or Dolní Vĕstonice I and II. During next millennia hunter-gatherers moved into new places of residence e.g., Vah river valley (Slovakia) and south Poland (Kraków region).

Zooarchaeological studies allow us to reconstruct and compare animal food resources from different periods of the Gravettian. The oldest Gravettian sites: Pavlov I and Dolní Vĕstonice II were inhabited during many seasons and did not show clear hunting specialization. The younger Gravettian sites from Poland and Slovakia: Kraków Spadzista Street and Moravany Lopata, were occupied for a shorter period of time. At these sites, could be observed mammoths and reindeer hunting specialization features.

A02.02: The hunters from Trenčianske Bohuslavice-Pod Tureckom site, one of the most important Gravettian open-air sites in western Slovakia.

by Martin Vlačiky (State Geological Institute of Dionýz Štúr, Slovak Republic), Ondrej Žaár (Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Republic), Michaela Polanská (Université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institut d'Art et d'Archéologie, France)

The archaeological research in Trenčianske Bohuslavice-Pod Tureckom site was realized in the years 1981–1986. The small revisory research in 2008 discovered three Gravettian occupational levels in superposition: in the depth of 25–35 cm (layer I – ~27 ka), 55–75 cm (layer II – ~28 ka) and of 85–125 cm (layer III – 29.5 ka). The most commonly hunted animal in the locality was reindeer, followed by mammoth and horse. People from site were most probably active mammoth hunters. Carnivores were hunted mainly for fur. The 1981–1986 collection includes 9043 lithic artefacts. The most used raw materials are local radiolarites and non-local erratic silicites. The group of tools consist mainly of blades and points. Interesting finds are lots of microlithic backed blades. Minor numbers of leaf points were also found, as well as unique group of 16 drilled quartz pebble pendants. The lithic industry from the locality is currently under review. Typologically it does not match with classic localities assigned to the younger phase of Middle Danube Gravettian. One of the most interesting typological features is the occurrence of original microliths with double transverse retouch, which can be after a detailed analysis denoted as fossiles directeurs of younger phase of Gravettian.

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A02.03: An interdisciplinary study of Elk (Alces, alces) exploitation in a multi-layer peat bog site in the Central Russia at Zamostje 2 (Moscow oblast, Russia)

by Charlotte Leduc (UMR7041, France), Julien Treuillot (University Panthéon-Sorbonne (ED112), UMR7041 Prehistoric ethnology, France)

Excavated since 1989, the Zamostje 2 site, located in the Russian plain, is yielding very rich Mesolithic and Neolithic occupation layers. Situated on the left bank of the Dubna River, in wet boggy context, the site is characterized by very good preservation of organic remains such as bone and wood. The faunal assemblages, composed of thousands specimen in each identified layer, are dominated by Elk (Alces alces) which is the first hunted species and the dominant species supplying raw material for bone tool production. This diversified osseous industry, made from elk bones and antler, yielded thousands of pieces and waste, pointing to debitage and manufacture activities on the spot. Thus, the exploitation of elk seems to be clearly devoted to the acquisition of dietary products and raw material. The integrated zooarchaeological and technological analysis of Elk remains was recently undertaken. This interdisciplinary analysis, still in preliminary state, raises some important methodological issues, such as the question of identifying the waste from the diverse activities involved (butchery, debitage…). However, It will allow to reconstruct the total exploitation pat-terns of elk, from hunting (selective or not?) to butchering process to selection of raw material to manufacture of bone equipment.

A02.04: Hunting animals in Mesolithic mobile art and tool decoration (sample of Zamostje 2 site)

by Vladimir Lozovski (Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Federa-tion), Olga Lozovskaya (Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Fed-eration)

Osseous materials from numerous Mesolithic and Early Neolithic forest zone sites in Russia indicate the elk as the main game animal. Great value of this animal is registered in all material spheres of the ancient population. In faunal series elk's remains show numerous cut marks from disarticulating, there are a large series of tools made from elk bones and antler, as well as various objects of mobile art representing elk head or its full body. The Mesolithic layers of Zamostje 2 site (Central Russia) reveal many examples of elk's symbolic representation, including two head sculptures produced in a stylized manner and decorated with a geometric ornament. A series of bone knives and pins have handles decorated with elk “ears” or a bird profile. Besides, there are a large series of animal figurines from bone, antler, and wood (birds, snake, wild boar, etc.). Personal adornment is represented by numerous beads made from elk and beaver teeth. So, a large variety of symbolic objects associated with animals indicates the importance and complexity of hunting practices in the societies of hunters-gatherers.

A02.05: Geographic and Temporal Variability in Cis-Baikal’s Holocene Red Deer: Exploring Canines from Mortuary Contexts

by Robert Losey (University of Alberta, Canada), Tatiana Nomokonova (University of British Columbia, Canada)

Red deer appear to have been one of the most important subsistence resources for Holocene foragers living in the Lake Baikal area of Siberia. Only a few habitation sites here are well dated and have been studied with modern zooar-chaeological methods. Conversely, cemeteries in Cis-Baikal are abundant and most are well dated. Numerous graves here contain red deer canine pendants. We explore variability in red deer through metric analyses of these canine teeth. Study of modern red deer in this region indicates the presence of at least two morphotypes, with a smaller group of red deer being predominant in arid regions and a larger one in wetter areas. We also examine temporal variability in red deer tooth size through time, and assess its relationship with Middle Holocene climate change.

A02.06: Processed cattle bones from Eneolithic cultures of Vučedol site (Croatia)

by Tajana Trbojević Vukičević (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia), Ivan Alić (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia), Snježana Kužir (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb, Croatia)

From a large sample of bones, teeth and horns from the Vučedol archaeological site, which belong to Eneolithic cultures, approximately 1.100 cattle remains were separated and analysed. Among those cattle remains, there is 6.45% (71 samples) of processed bone or bones with visible beginnings or traces in terms of tool manufacture. The most numerous are lower jaws (23 samples), all of which are modified in a similar way: the lateral and medial surface of the body of the mandible are smooth and shining, while behind last molar is a U or V shaped notch. All teeth are worn, and

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based on a very sharp occlusal surface, it is certainly a question of an artificial wearing. Jaws processed in this way were probably used for scraping the subcutaneous tissue during skin processing.

The traces of bone processing are visible on 10 metacarpal and 5 metatarsal bones, where treatment is in either early stage, or it is a question of waste from treatment process and therefore it can’t be certain for what purpose could they serve. Five ulnas were distally narrowed and formed into more obtuse or sharper spike and have probably served as an awl or even a larger needle.

A02.07: Large Feline Representations on Chalcolithic Pottery (Cucuteni-Tripolye Civilisation)

by Luminita Bejenaru (Romanian Academy – Iaşi Branch, Romania), Dan Monah (Romanian Academy – Iaşi Branch, Romania)

Depictions of large felines on Chalcolithic pottery (Cucuteni and Tripolye cultures) are described in terms of morphol-ogy and symbolism. In the settlements of the Cucuteni and Tripolye cultures there have been discovered few feline representations, and yet we consider that in the people imagery these animals seem to occupy an important position. The lion skeletal remains are missing in the Cucuteni-Tripolye archaeozoological assemblages, and are extremely rare in samples of contemporary sites in the neighbourhood (e.g. Usatovo – Ukraine, Karanovo VI – Bulgaria).

Cucuteni-Tripolye feline representations are not painted realistically enough that we can identify with accuracy the specie/s; the painters represented rather fantastic stylised animals illustrating cosmogonic beliefs. The lion depictions on pottery could represent solar and/or power symbols.

This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS – UEFISCDI, project number PN-II-ID-PCE-2011-3-0885.

A02.08: Objects produced in “animal style” in early Sakes period from Asian part of Eurasia.

by Vlada Rechkalova (South Ural State University, Russian Federation)

The Scythian-Sakas objects which made in “animal style” were analyzed. These objects were found in different sites such as Arjan 2 Kichigino 1, South Tagisken, Uygarak, Tasmola V, Taldy. The purpose of this abstract is attempt of find traits and regularity of images of animals which were produced in VII-VI centuries BC. First all artifacts I divided in classes: predators, herbivores, and birds. After that I made some typological tables. At the end I get follow conclusions. Images of predators are often representing in two positions: standing and lying. The herbivorous group concludes sagas, horses, and stags. On the objects of herbivorous group were showed only animal heads. Furthermore, the group artifacts with images of birds had complicated and abstract shapes and consisted of geometrical figures. In conclusion I want notice what the objects from different sites are resemble. Style, canonical poses, forms and technique of made of objects also same. All these facts allow me to conclude what nomadic tribes in early Sakes period had common ideol-ogy and the level of development of live.

A02.09: Minoan and Mycenaean Ivories: Objects and Workshops

by Angeliki Liveri (Greek Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, Greece)

The focus of this paper will be a selection of objects made of ivory which are found in various Minoan and Mycenaean sites in Greece produced in the Bronze Age, notably in the second millennium B.C. The art of ivory carving developed mainly in the Late Bronze Age, after the 1600 B.C.

These finds, mainly found in graves, including idols of human figures or animals, seals, cosmetic boxes or decorating furniture, vases, doors and other luxury objects like hair combs, sceptres and mirrors. Some workshops are developed in Crete, Peloponnese, Sterea Hellas and Cyprus. Often they are located inside of the palaces and thus they are disap-peared after their destruction. The artists decorate the ivories with motives of the Minoan or Mycenaean art. Some-times they used new themes which show Egyptian or Syrian-Palestinian influences. The opposite can also be observed at the end of the Mycenaean period. That must have been the result of the commercial exchange between these regions and indicate the origin of the row material as well.

The aim of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences between the various local workshops concerning their iconography, style and technical processing of the material.

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Session A03

Archaeological aspects of shamanism: iconography, artefacts, technology, and

spiri-tual landscapes

Friday, 6 September 2013, 08:30–18:30 Room: EP 110 (Building 1, ground floor)

Organisers: Emilia Pasztor (SEAC, Hungary), Herman Bender (Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology and Cultural Landscape Studies, USA), Dragoş Gheorghiu (National University of Arts Bucharest, Romania) and George Nash (Spiru Haret University, Romania and University of Bristol, UK)

As ethnographic evidence shows, shamanistic activity represents a complex phenomenon, extremely diversified, its spiritual activity possessing a large variety of materializations in material culture.

In the archaeological record of all prehistoric and historic periods there are a series of visual representations and objects that could be ascribed to these different worldviews, therefore to a shamanistic cognition and activity. From the representations of the terrestrial world, to those of the outer worlds, mythical beings, decorations of geo-morphs or objects, or closed complexes, the material culture of shamanism reveals itself to the world as a multifaceted human spiritual and material activity.

Representation of the outer worlds and the cosmos frequently abound. Congruent with the cosmos, spiritual land-scapes are manifest in the cultural context of both the real and spiritual realms of existence. Shamanistic practices and/or ceremonies were performed in a distinctive location, a place where the individual person intervenes, thus becoming a spiritual landscape, one blended into the physical world by producing a numinous experience for those open to it.

A rich iconography supports these practices, to cite only the abstract figures, the images of humans and animals, or the male and female sexuality. In the archaeological record there is evidence of organic materials that can produce altered states of consciousness; the best example is the fossil remains of opium poppy.

Last, but not least a subject that can bring significant data on the shamanistic behaviour in technologies, especially on those in relation with fire.

An important topic of this session refers to the modes of representation of the experientiality of the archaeologist facing shamanistic material culture. Since we believe that the theme of the present session could be a fertile subject for research, we invite archaeologists and anthropologists to contribute to the session and to take part in the discussions.

A03.01: Deux sites chamaniques solutréens: un ciel

by Chantal Jègues-Wolkiewiez (NICE Sophia Antipolis, France)

Each culture offers a different setting to the personal visions through which a shaman’s internal experience is con-veyed. However, a vertical axis always places the world of divinities at the top, with the human world in the middle and the world of monsters below.

The initiate to shamanism as well as the shaman follow practically identical ways to reach another cosmic zone. The tree and the mountain, the ascending axis, symbolize for all ethnic groups the link between Man and the sky. The ways of access passing between two domains on a cosmographic axis often have a cave, a tunnel crossing a mountain, a source that springs up from the “earth’s belly”.

Already during the Solutrean period, two natural sites in the Dordogne, real refuges of serenity, allowing “ecstasy”, present not only the indispensable natural characteristics named above, but have kept traces of these shamanic and cultural activities facing the same stars in the middle of the sky from this period: Le puits de Lascaux au centre de la Terre (The Well of Lascaux at the centre of the Earth), and le Fourneau du Diable (Devil’s Oven), which seems to be right up in the sky.

A03.02: Cave Art and social landscapes: the symbolic significance of Nalón river basin decorated caves (Northern Spain)

by Alejandro Garcia-Moreno (MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behaviour Evolu-tion, Germany), Miguel Ángel Fano Martínez (Universidad de La Rioja, Spain), Diego Garate-Maidagan (Université de Toulouse-Le Mirail, France)

Palaeolithic rock-wall paintings have often been related with chamanism or sympathetic magic, although these ap-proaches have been largely contested during the last decades (la crítica al segundo enfoque – magia s. – es más anti-gua, no?), due to their subjectivity. However, no matter the meaning beyond those representations, it is assumed that

Were-animals and shape-shifters: Shamanic cosmologies and ontologies of Native Americans and European prehistoric cave art

Foreword

Preface by the editor

Scientific Committee

Local Organising Committee

National Advisory Board

Annual Meeting Emblem

Session schedule

Thursday, 5 September 2013

Friday, 6 September 2013

Saturday, 7 September 2013

Contents

A: Interpreting the Archaeological Record

Session A01

4000 years of world career – amber from the Neolithic to Iron Age

Session A02

Animal utilized, processed, depicted: large mammal exploitation by prehistoric

hunter-gatherers

Session A03

Archaeological aspects of shamanism: iconography, artefacts, technology, and

spiri-tual landscapes