Archaeology of Religion: Cultures and their Beliefs in Worldwide Context

by Steadman,Sharon R

• ISBN13: 9781598741544
• ISBN10: 1598741543
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Steadman fills an empty niche in the offerings on how archaeology interprets past religions with this useful textbook. The book includes case studies from around the world, from the study of Upper Paleolithic religions and of shamans in foraging societies to formal religious structures in advanced complex societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and the Andes. Steadman also includes key contemporary religions—Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism, among others—to provide an historical and comparative context. This is an ideal text for a archaeology of religion courses and classes that include a significant component on past religions,” as well as an excellent guide for general readers.

Author Biography

Sharon R. Steadman is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Cortland in New York State. Her fieldwork has focused on Near Eastern archaeological work across the Middle East, with a focus on Turkey in the last fifteen years. She is the Field Director of the Ccidle;adir Houmlet;yuumlet;k archaeological project in central Turkey, and is the director of the Rozanne M. Brooks Ethnographic Museum at SUNY Cortland.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	p. 8
Acknowledgments	p. 11
Method, Theory, and the Study of Religion	p. 13
Introduction The Archaeology of Religion	p. 15
Why Archaeology and Why Religion?	p. 15
Ethics, Archaeology, and Religion	p. 17
Cultures and their Beliefs in Worldwide Context	p. 19
Anthropology and the Study of Religion	p. 21
Defining Religion	p. 21
Early Anthropology and the Origins of Religion	p. 23
New Views in the Twentieth Century	p. 28
Contemporary Anthropological Theories	p. 30
Interpreting Religion in the Archaeological Past	p. 36
Cosmology, Myth, and Ritual	p. 36
Supernatural Beings and Religious Specialists	p. 40
Method and Theory in the Archaeology of Religion	p. 45
Interpreting Beliefs in Worldwide Context	p. 47
Conclusion	p. 52
The Emergence of Religion in Human Culture	p. 53
The World of the Shaman	p. 55
The Nature of the Shaman	p. 55
The Shaman's Tools	p. 61
Finding Shamans in the Archaeological Record	p. 62
The First Spark of Religion: The Neanderthals	p. 68
Human Evolution: Homo Erectus, Neanderthals, and Modern Humans	p. 68
Who Were the Neanderthals?	p. 71
Neanderthal Sites in Europe and Western Asia: Rituals in Caves?	p. 73
Conclusion: Did the Neanderthals Really Have Religion?	p. 80
Rock Art and Ritual in Africa and Australia	p. 81
Cultures of the Kalahari	p. 81
Southern African Rock Art	p. 85
Religion and Rock Art in Australia	p. 88
Stone Monuments, Rock Art, and Dreamtime	p. 94
Engraved Rock Art	p. 99
Painted Rock Art of North and Northwestern Australia	p. 102
Conclusion	p. 105
Religions in the Americas	p. 107
The Mound-Building Cultures of North America	p. 109
Foraging, Agriculture, and Trade	p. 110
The Hopewell Culture	p. 112
The Mississippian Culture	p. 116
Conclusion	p. 122
Puebloan Cultures of the American Southwest	p. 123
The Hisatsinom (Anasazi)-Early Settlement	p. 124
Chaco Canyon and Pueblo Bonito	p. 125
Mesoamerica and the Religions of Empire	p. 135
Prelude to the Aztecs	p. 135
The Aztecs	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 150
Lords and Maidens: Religions of South America	p. 152
An Early Andean Center: Chavin De Huántar	p. 152
Precursor to the Inka: The Moche and the Nasca	p. 157
A Patchwork of Andean Kingdoms	p. 164
The Inka Empire	p. 165
Conclusion	p. 172
Religions in Europe	p. 173
Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic Europe: From Cave to Village	p. 175
Upper Paleolithic Cave Art	p. 176
Female Figurines in the Upper Paleolithic	p. 179
Neolithic Europe	p. 183
Conclusion	p. 187
Megaliths and Power in Ancient Western Europe	p. 189
Pre-Megalithic Northwestern Europe	p. 189
The Culture of Megaliths	p. 191
The Long Barrow Builders	p. 199
Why Build Megalithic Monuments?	p. 201
Conclusion	p. 202
Religions in South and Southeast Asia	p. 203
From Harappans to Hinduism and Beyond: Religions in South Asia	p. 205
South Asia Today	p. 205
The Harappan Civilization	p. 209
The End of Harappan Civilization and the Arrival of the Indo-Aryans	p. 218
Harappans, Indo-Aryans, and the Rise of Hinduism	p. 219
Classical-Period Hinduism and the Origins of Buddhism	p. 221
From Hunter-Gatherer to Empire: Religions in Southeast Asia	p. 226
Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers and Bronze Age Farmers	p. 226
The Arrival of Hinduism and Buddhism in Southeast Asia	p. 231
The Iron Age and the Rise of Empires	p. 232
The Khmer Empire: Royal Religion and the Power of Kings	p. 235
Religions in Africa and the Middle East	p. 243
Religion and Empire in Egypt and Great Zimbabwe	p. 245
Ancient Egypt	p. 245
The Great Zimbabwe Kingdom	p. 260
Ancient Sumer and Religions in Ancient Mesopotamia	p. 269
Ancient Sumer and the Religion of Mesopotamia	p. 269
The Akkadian Empire	p. 279
Sumer, Akkad, and the Power of Religion	p. 281
Levantine Religions and the Origins of Judaism	p. 282
The First Patriarchs Emerge	p. 282
Canaanite Religion and the Philistines	p. 289
The First Israelite Empire	p. 292
Conclusion	p. 297
Revitalizing the People: The Origins of Christianity and Islam	p. 298
The Roman Levant and the Origins of Christianity	p. 298
Muhammad and the Origins of Islam	p. 308
Conclusion	p. 312
References	p. 315
Index	p. 337
About the Author	p. 352
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