The Marriage Well at Teltown: holy well ritual at royal cult sites and the rite of temporary marriage

This article discusses Lag an Aonaigh, the ‘Marriage Well’ of Teltown, and the unusual temporary marriage ritual that once took place there during the annual Lughnasa festival. The relationship of Lag an Aonaigh to the modern and ancient fairs (aonach and óenach), and to the broader cult of holy wells is considered, which it is suggested largely represents the local adoption of the Mediterranean healing-spring cult. The article investigates the possibility that this marriage rite was informed by lore of a divine wedding at Teltown, and by the inaugurations carried out at many royal centres that entailed the matrimonial symbolism of the king marrying the Goddess of the land. The relationship of this site to the broader landscape of Teltown, especially to the nearby Knockans linear earthwork is explored. This relationship is then used to analyse the landscapes of the other main ‘royal’ sites, where linear earthworks similar to the Knockans that terminate near springs or ponds are also found. It is considered that all of these earthworks may have been used in ritual processions involving the springs, or even as devices to segregate young men and women at these assemblies, and lead them to the spring to start their own ‘Teltown weddings’.     

A Gāthic Rite? A Critique of the Cosmological Interpretation of the Gāthās I

In the last few decades ritual interpretation of the Gāthās has replaced the biblical one as the dominant paradigm. The emphasis on the central role of ritual in the Avesta is well justified. This realization has given rise to the question of the role and meaning of ritual in the Gāthās. Marijan Molé had tried to argue that the Gāthās in fact describe and accompany a rite whose purpose was the preservation/renovation of the cosmic order. Students of the Gāthās working within the new paradigm have taken up Molé’s general frame. They have tried to show that the Gāthās, collectively or individually, is the text of a particular rite that served, among others, to preserve the cosmic order, especially the daily rise of the sun. The article questions the validity of this thesis. Its focus is on the version of the thesis we find in a number of recent publications by Jean Kellens. He tries to show that the first Gāthā (Ahunauuaitī) describes a unitary pre-dawn ritual that comprised a haoma rite and an animal sacrifice, and had cosmological and eschatological pretensions. His textual analyses and arguments are examined in some detail. The article concludes that Kellens's attempt must be deemed unsuccessful.     

The Evolution of the Contemporary Blackening

‘The blackening’ is a pre-nuptial rite of passage for men and women that takes the form of capturing, dirtying, and cleansing the bride and groom. I show that it evolved from an older ritual called the feet-washing. Scottish in origin, widespread as a feet-washing ritual, both in urban and rural settings, the blackening is now a predominantly rural tradition. Although it can and does occur for men anywhere in the country, it is mainly confined to northern and, particularly, north-east Scotland for women, and it is women who are the main focus of this article. I describe the contemporary blackening, before tracing its evolution. I then consider the form and function of blackening’s predecessor, the feet-washing, before discussing how and why it evolved to become the ritual it is today.     

齐侯壶新研

齐侯壶记载了齐侯越礼而为陈氏服丧的事情,其礼直比诸侯。这一记载有助于我们理解为何海阳嘴子前墓葬会使用七鼎殉葬。铭文中的"二天子",与楚简中的"二天子"相同,指舜之二妃,都与陈国祭祀有关。从陈与齐、陈与楚的关系入手,可以理清这一问题。     

Being Ritual in Mesolithic Britain and Ireland: Identifying Ritual Behaviour Within an Ephemeral Material Record

Acceptance of ritual as a valid interpretation of Mesolithic behaviour has slowly emerged over the past decade; the ‘silly season’ heralded by Mellars (Antiquity 83:502–517, 2009) has not materialised, though in Ireland and Britain difficulties persist in defining what might constitute ‘ritual’ away from the graveside. New discoveries from both the development-led and academic sectors enable Mesolithic archaeologists to better establish which elements of the archaeological record can be interpreted as ritual. This paper seeks to identify further strands of ritual behaviour, incorporating evidence from sites without organic remains. We consider the evidence for ritual at the site and feature scales, and in the special treatment of objects—an often overlooked body of data in understanding ritual. Thus the material signature of ritual will be questioned, and ways in which Mesolithic ritual can be rehabilitated and expanded will be explored.     

The Poetics of the Crocodile: Changing Cultural Perspectives in Ambonwari

ABSTRACT Ambonwari people from the East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, had a rich repertoire of song‐dances, each of which was associated with specific events and the birth of something new. Together they represented the entire human life cycle as well as the cosmology at large. Visual, verbal and tactile modalities of singing and dancing were tightly interwoven; images and symbols were enacted by the dancers, in their decoration, arrangement, movements and in the whole ceremony and were firmly situated in their landscape. Accordingly, song‐dances were also an important practice in male initiation ritual. The first song‐dance of the ritual was the crocodile song‐dance. This article analyses different transpositions of images and meanings which can be decoded from the dance, from the objects that were part of the initiation rite, and from the parallelism and rich allegory of verses. These transpositions operate at different levels until they converge upon the existential facts of birth and death. In the new millennium and under the influence of a Catholic charismatic movement, however, Ambonwari broke off their relationships with spirits, abandoned the men's houses and stopped talking about male initiation ritual. Along with other traditional song‐dances the crocodile song‐dance has been taken over by the song‐dances of the Holy Spirit. These changes in social and cultural perspectives, which are still taking place, are at the same time products and producers of the changes in their relationship to ‘space’ and ‘time’ which are at the same time changes in visual and auditory perception and expression of their life‐world. All these changes should not be seen merely in some abstract or symbolic terms but as tangible processes generated by people's action.     

The Dancers Who Became Transformed into Wood: the mai masks of the Iatmul,Papua New Guinea

Borrowing, exchanging, and violent appropriation of ritual artefacts have been actions that have contributed to the development of cultural diversity within a particular frame of variations in the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. The mai masks of the Iatmul, already mentioned by Bateson, are the well‐documented result of a violent appropriation, as indigenous evidence shows. However, the ‘model’ which served for the mai were ritual dancers captured in the Alexander Mountains. These dancers displayed heavily painted faces (but no masks) and rich body decoration. In the process of making the powerful ‘model’ into one of their own, the Iatmul artists transformed the painted faces into carvings according to their preferred material of artistic expressions, wood, and their predilection for the interplay of elevated and deepened surfaces. As this article shows, the creation of mai as (enlivened) persons needs the establishment of socio‐cosmological relationships in which ancestral spirits and ‘natural’ substances are crucially involved. Thus, apart from sculpting as making, actions of growing are essential for turning the masks into beings endowed with ancestral power.     

Bleached broilers and divine fowls: The ritual economy of chickens in a South Indian city

Commercial poultry operations are booming as demand for chicken soars in 21st-century India. The industry relies on the models familiar from industrial countries: birds pumped with growth hormones and antibiotics designed to ensure rapid, standardized egg production and broiler meat. Nevertheless, during my fieldwork in India, locals insisted that broiler chickens were rarely used for ritual purposes. They explained that the gods were far more discerning and should only be offered the ‘country chicken’ (Natu kodi). The distinctive appearance of these ‘rural’ birds was seen to make them appropriate for ritual sacrifices, with transformative potential. Even urban dwellers seemed to prefer these much costlier indigenous birds – untouched by the homogenizing logic of industrial livestock production – especially for rituals. As I show in this essay, the ritual economy of chickens illustrates the process of ‘metabolic’ transformations, toxic entanglements and more-than-human encounters, as much as it reveals that of mutualism, with its vital and varied meanings tied to social relations and ecological sensibilities.     

Date,Rituals and Socio‐Cultural Identity in the North‐Western Roman Provinces

This article explores issues of socio‐cultural identity in the north‐western Roman provinces, using all the available archaeobotanical evidence of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.). This fruit does not conform to the general social distribution pattern of other Roman exotic food plant imports in this area, but instead indicates a strong ceremonial connection. Through an in‐depth contextual approach the role of date in both domestic and ceremonial sites is investigated to reach beyond the simple ‘date‐Roman‐ritual’ association. The results suggest strong temporal, spatial and contextual patterning and an overall rare occurrence and selective use of the fruit in certain rituals and mystic cults. Date may have been employed not necessarily as a food, and was probably an affordable luxury for some in their ritual pursuits. As such, date can now be regarded as part of specific ceremonial expressions rather than a standard ingredient of a normative ceremonial or ‘Roman’ identity.     

POCKETS FULL OF MISTAKES: THE PERSONAL CONSEQUENCES OF RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN A TORAJA VILLAGE

This paper analyses the personal consequences of religious change in a Toraja village, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It describes how Toraja villagers traditionally define and respond to wrongdoing and then examines their ambivalent reactions to alternatives suggested by Christianity. The paper argues that studies which attempt to evaluate the relative costs and benefits of religious change should specify the subjectively perceived ‘fit’ between old and new religious conceptions and should examine the manner in which individuals use cultural symbols and institutions to order and make sense of their everyday experience.     

Drinking to Mana and Ethnicity: Trajectories of Yaqona Practice and Symbolism in Eastern Fiji

This paper sets out a transformational history of yaqona use in Fiji from first contact with Europeans to present times. Trying to transcend the familiar history/structure dichotomy, two relatively separate trajectories of Fijian practice are identified, both incorporating enduring cultural premises, both logically and historically transformative. In the older of these trajectories, yaqona drinking is transformed ritually to promote or block the circulation of mana in embodied Fijian ‘lands’. In the younger pathway, by contrast, secular variants of yaqona ceremonial are invented to ethnic effect as one particular transformation of a modern structure that, against the grain of ritual practice, tends to detach ethnic Fijians from ancestral powers. It is suggested that, whilst, in appropriate spaces, contemporary ethnic objectifications of yaqona are formulated in opposition to other ethnic presences as expressions of ‘authentic’ Fijian‐ness, the underlying ritual transformations of yaqona produce a range of Fijian states that exceed this authenticity and challenge the otherwise hegemonic claims of ethnicity.     

The Ritual Year of Athena: The Agricultural Cycle of the Olive,Girls' Rites of Passage,and Official Ideology

Through the ritual year of ancient Athens, many festivals were dedicated to Athena. The Panathenaia was the most important festival. It has been regarded as a political festival, but the importance of agriculture is also illustrated through the offerings and rituals carried out during this main festival dedicated to the Goddess of the olive crop. All Athena's festivals were related to the olive, the third main crop of the Athenians, and protected by her, as her festivals were celebrated in the crucial period for the olive crop, from the flowering of the olive tree, growing period of the fruit, until the gathering in winter. The summer festivals, particularly, may be related to the importance of securing the dew for the growing fruit. Many rituals during the festivals reflect the daily activities of women, several rituals are also important to the rite of passage undergone by girls at puberty to prepare them for marriage.     

Branded Axes,Thrown into a Pool? The Hoogeloon Hoard and the Shape‐Based Bronze Economy of the North‐West European Bronze Age

One of the biggest challenges for students of the European Bronze Age is to understand the reason behind the massive deposition of large amounts of recyclable metal in non‐metalliferous regions. Such depositions are particularly puzzling when material was buried in a manner which directly seems to denote trade itself, in so‐called ‘trade hoards’. Based on observations on a recent find of such a hoard, in Hoogeloon (NL), we move to an overview of Bronze Age metalwork economy in general and the deposition of trade stock in particular. We argue that Middle Bronze Age metalwork circulation in North‐west Europe may be understood as an aes formatum system, with the serially produced axes in hoards displaying a koiné having a particular social evaluation: a ‘brand’. We suggest that objects were selected by brands for their deposition in the landscape and that this ‘ritual’ act was integral to the ‘practical’ economy of circulation.     

Death and the Sacrifice of Signs: ‘Measuring’ the Dead in Tana Toraja

Suggesting the existence of an intrinsic connection between sacrifice and embodiment, this article considers the meaning and symbolism of traditional mortuary rituals among the Sa'dan Toraja of Indonesia. Manifesting different ways of being, these rituals engender different ways of dying. Focusing on the sacrificial patterns of their engenderment, I discuss these differences and the way in which they are thought to ‘emerge from the body’.     

康熙皇帝首次南巡与文武价值观念之间的对立

本文以1684年春季所发生的朝廷辩论为切入点,探讨康熙皇帝在1684年秋季首次巡幸山东和江苏两省的多元象征意义。有的朝臣倡导把康熙皇帝的这些巡幸活动视为告成之礼。有的支持把它视为行使仁义文治之任务。本文认为,此次礼仪争论揭示了清廷政治文化中文武价值观念之间的对立。还有,1684年东巡与南巡途中,一旦圣驾接近和行经某些有重大象征意义和文化意义的地方时,这种意识形态上的紧张对立极其尖锐而明显,尤其体现在汉文本起居注的记载中。据此可知,清王朝统治的合法性是永远不会彻底完成的,是一个没有尽头、不断进行的历史过程。     

The South Sulawesi group and neighbouring languages

The languages of the genetically based South Sulawesi (SSul.) group share many specific substantial and structural features with other languages of Southern and Central Sulawesi. Among the non‐SSul. languages of the area, it is the so‐called Highland Toraja languages that bear the strongest resemblance to the SSul. group. Within the last‐named group, the northern languages show more numerous Toraja (esp. Highland Toraja) characteristics than the southern ones. This pattern of isoglosses must be explained as due to areal contacts. In all likelihoo'd, during the greatest part of the history of the SSul. group its languages have been subject to deep influence of old local languages (which were probably similar to present‐day Highland Toraja idioms).     

Art and Procreative Illusion in the Sepik: Comparing the Abelam and the Arapesh

This essay extends Anthony Forge's ideas about the ‘unspoken meanings’ of Abelam ritual art, by testing them against cognate forms among the neighboring Ilahita Arapesh, and by invoking L.R. Hiatt's insights into ‘pseudo-procreation rites’ among Australian Aborigines. It is argued that the meanings of Abelam visual art and Arapesh myth are comparably ineffable, and that in both cases this non-verbal quality conduces to the expression of ideas that are cognitively, socially, or emotionally unacceptable to consciousness. The conclusions are, first, that veiled, ritual and aesthetic expressions of ‘procreation’ permit the men to enact a fantasy of male parthenogenesis; and, secondly, that the cult-sponsored tricks and illusions surrounding these expressions have the effect of surreptitiously appropriating female procreative power to the concealed goals of male ritual.     

Black man's Burden: some South African parallels with North America

ABSTRACT

Muthi, intelezi and associated rituals have played an important role in the lives of Africans for many centuries. For almost everything they do, muthi and rituals are applied, more so during times of war. Controversy around the use of intelezi, muthi, ritual killing and the role of izinyanga in, prior to and during the colonial period, is well documented. This paper, first, challenges the Comaroffian analysis of the subject which purports to contextualise the ‘deployment, real or imagined, of magical means for material ends’. They add that the discourse is entirely about ‘modernity’ and ‘neoliberalism’. Here I fundamentally disagree with this explanation; I indicate that it is a cultural continuity. The paper contends that ritual killing and muthi use continues into the present and was prevalent during the political violence in KwaZulu-Natal during the 1980s and 1990s. Secondly, the paper will discuss the centrality of the use of muthi during the violence. I reason that izinyanga played a clandestine but powerful role in this violence. In this, they were at the core of the violence and of the rise of warlords to power in the region. In this paper, I will also present reasons (or offer recommendations) why historians should pay attention to these practices in the recent past, as well as in colonial times. For one thing, they are a means of understanding the present. However, in many ways, because of its reliance on oral histories and insider content, this paper is neither history nor ethnography, but could be described as historical ethnography.     

Reassessing the Oppida: The Role of Power and Religion

For a long time, the origins and development of Late Iron Age oppida were viewed from predominantly economic perspectives and as dependent on contacts with the Mediterranean world. However, advances in research in recent decades make it necessary to qualify and reassess many of the traditional interpretations of the genesis and functions of these centres, one of the most striking phenomena of the last two centuries BC. This article emphasizes the political and religious role of continental European oppida, understanding them as a new ‘technology of power’, which enabled a more hierarchical and centralizing ideology to be articulated. Moreover, new evidence suggests that many oppida may have had their origin in spaces for ritual gatherings. The result is a new interpretation of the genesis and characteristics of Late Iron Age centralization processes.     

REVIEW

Feasts of Honour. Ritual and Change in the Toraja Highlands. By Toby Alice Volkman Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 1985. Pp. xii + 216. Maps, photographs.