Navigating Dichotomies and Labels: Identifying and Interpreting Ritual Artefacts in Prehistory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21301/eap.v20i3.5Keywords:
ritual, prehistory, archaeological theory, ritual technology, LevantAbstract
Ritual artefacts are reported in most archaeological excavations from the Epipalaeolithic period of the Levant onwards. However, the topic of ritual remains a contentious issue in archaeology, especially regarding what it means for an artefact to be labelled as ritual. On the one hand, there is a pervasive sense that there is a shared, largely implicit, idea of what is expected from such artefacts. On the other hand, there is extensive archaeological theory devoted to ritual practices, which often falls short when applied to the archaeological record. The aim of this paper, which uses examples from the Levantine Chalcolithic period, is to bridge this divide by applying the concept of ritual technology, which offers tangible ways of discussing ritual behaviour in relation to the material record it leaves behind, without drawing a clear line between concepts of ritual and utilitarian in the sense found in contemporary cultures.
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