Brit Solli: Seid. Myter,sjamanisme og kjønn i vikingenes tid. Pax Forlag A/S,Oslo, 2002. 327 pp. ISBN 82‐530‐2403‐7

This article develops the idea that the emergence of the Neolithic world was closely linked to discovering and becoming aware of new aspects and dimensions of reality. Practices such as pottery making and cultivation promoted attentiveness to new aspects of things and the environment, which in turn generated a new kind of lived world that was, in a sense, richer, larger and deeper than before. It is proposed that new forms of material culture and new material practices – new ways of engaging with the material world – expanded people’s horizons of perception and thinking. This cultivation of perception was an important mechanism through which new ways of life and thought associated with the Neolithic came into being.     

The Indo‐European mirror: Monotheism and polytheism (J.G. Herder,E. Renan,A. Pictet,F.M. Müller and R.F. Grau)

Some authors assigned the Indo‐Europeans a mirror‐like role which allowed them to understand their own position with respect to contemporary Christian values. After dealing briefly with the writings of J.G. Herder, I shall evoke a certain number of questions which oriented the research of E. Renan, F.M. Müller, A. Pictet and R.F. Grau. The works of the latter authors expounded fabulous genealogies, organizing them into explanatory systems that radically opposed Hebrew monotheists to Indo‐European polytheists. Thus, depending on whether they had used the Semites or the Indo‐Europeans as their starting‐point, they concluded that monotheism or polytheism, respectively, was the archaic source of human thought. The goal on their horizon was a ressuscitated West, forever in the forefront of progress, often simultaneously Christian and scientific. If this type of historiographic analysis is urgently needed at the present time, its purpose is not to provide a grid for distinguishing “truth”; from “falsehood,”; but rather to grasp a set of scholarly traditions within its own channels of transmission.     

Anders Hagen: Et arkeologisk liv. Primitive tider,Oslo, 2002. 225 pp. ISSN 1501‐0430

Archaeologies of identity have enriched our interpretations of the past in the last 20 years; however, despite interest in the social construction of age there has been little consideration of the later part of the life span. This is rooted in a mixture of methodological difficulties and social attitudes to old age in present-day societies. This article explores the ways in which old age can be constructed on both a physical and social level, and asks how this might be relevant to archaeological examples. In addition, it proposes a new way of understanding skeletal changes with age which allows us to explore the specific way that old age is constructed in particular archaeological contexts. In this way, it becomes possible to explore the relationship between the ageing process and social change. This is explored using a case study from Early Bronze Age Austria.     

Zum astronomischen papyrus‐fragment pap.osl.73

The Phaedrus is taken to be a portrayal of how individual souls struggle for their own salvation. Generally overlooked, however, is the fact that Plato here invites us to explore soul not as a principle of individuality, but of community and of an identity over and above individuality. The article argues for the presence and importance of non-individuality of soul in the Phaedrus by considering the roles in the text of erôs, the structure of the myth, arguments concerning soul as mover, tripartition of soul, the motif of Hestia, and central dramatic and rhetorical features.     

Middle‐east,Midwest

Barbara C. Asward, ed. Arabic‐Speaking Communities in American Cities. New York: A joint publication of the Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc., and the Association of Arab‐American University Graduates, Inc., 1974. vii + 191 pp. Appendix.     

The Obelized Amicē: Horace,Carm. 3. 2. 1

The author defends amice (“in a friendly way”, “showing goodwill”) discussing the use of the adverb amice elsewhere and especially the problem of its reference.     

Numitorius’ Parody of Vergil,Ecl. 3. 1–2.

Numitorius’ line should be read: non, verum Aegones nostri sic rure locuntur (instead of Aegonis), i.e. a generic plural ‘(people like our Aegon’).