Biscay and Beyond? Prehistoric Voyaging between Two Finisterres

The Atlantic peninsulas of western Europe present intriguing cultural parallels that reach back into later prehistory. Furthermore, direct evidence of interconnections from the fifth millennium BC is revealed by the movement of specific materials such as Iberian variscite. Brittany and Galicia were key nodes within this potential network of maritime interaction, but debate continues as to the routes that were chosen and the navigational abilities involved. Did early seafarers keep close to the coast and did long journeys involve many intermediate landfalls? Or did crews venture direct crossings of the Bay of Biscay? In the absence of surviving evidence for the kinds of vessel likely to have been used by Neolithic seaborne navigators, modern wind and current data are here used to generate models indicating journey times for small sea‐going craft powered only by oars, following the coastal or the direct route. The results are discussed within the context of selected material flows (jadeitite, variscite, copper, Beakers) and against a background of potentially changing maritime technology.     

Fields,Ritual and Religion: Holistic Approaches to the Rural Landscape in Long‐Term Perspective (c.1500 BC–AD 1086)

This paper discusses the relationship between agricultural activity and ritualized/religious practices in England from the middle Bronze Age to the early medieval period (c.1500 BC–AD 1086). It is written in the context of the ERC‐funded, Oxford‐based ‘English Landscapes and Identities project’ (EngLaId), which involved the compilation of an extensive spatial database of archaeological ‘monuments’, finds and other related data to chart change and continuity during this period. Drawing on this database alongside documentary and onomastic evidence, we analyze the changing relationship between fields, ritual and religion in England. We identify four moments of change, around the start of the middle Bronze Age (c.1500 BC), in the late Bronze Age (c.1150 BC), the late Iron Age (c.150 BC) and the middle/late Anglo‐Saxon period (c.800 AD). However, despite changes in both agricultural and ritual/religious practices during this extensive timeframe, a clear link between them can be observed throughout.     

The fragility of Europe's Willkommenskultur

In this guest editorial Chris Hann considers the refugee route via the Balkans to Germany that opened up in a big way in the summer of 2015. The influx of ‘economic migrants’, as most newcomers are widely perceived, is polarizing opinion throughout the member states of the European Union. Hann also detects a renewal of the old east‐west moral geographies, due in part to legacies of the socialist era in eastern Europe and the semi‐peripheral condition of the region today for European capitalism. Whereas most anthropologists tend to favor unconstrained mobility and hence call for the abolition of frontiers, Hann suggests that the solution cannot be so simple. Focusing on the interplay of economic and ethical factors, he urges empathy not only with all categories of refugees/migrants but also with the dispossessed in the societies that offer them a ‘welcome’.     

Don't be a Drag,Just be a Priest: The Clothing and Identity of the Galli of Cybele in the Roman Republic and Empire

This paper explores the clothing and representation of the galli priests of Cybele in late Republican and early Imperial Rome. The galli were male-bodied, but practiced self-castration and wore traditionally feminine clothing and makeup, which the article argues placed them outside any expected gender binary and allowed them to inhabit a non-binary identity. The article applies contemporary drag theory and the relationship between clothing and identity, particularly in respect of (assumed) incongruity, to explore the ways in which the galli's identity is visible in the Roman world. In the final section, a case study is made of the way the galli are represented in Lucian of Samosata's On the Syrian Goddess.