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Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference 2020 (TAG2020), Leicester University December
Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference 2020 (TAG2020)
Leicester University December
Session: Life in the land of the dead: skyscape archaeology and the ontology of other worlds
Lionel Sims Department of Anthropology, University of East London
Fabio Silva Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, Bournemouth University
Tim Darvill Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, Bournemouth University
Several prehistoric monuments of western Europe are frequently interpreted through sepulchral models and more generally as places for rites of passage. Many monuments appear to have been designed either to be seen on the horizon or to prescribe views towards a point on a horizon – at the intersection of land and sky. Any monument alignments will bracket these monuments with the settings and risings of Moon, Sun, stars and/or particular horizon features. In a stationary ‘flat’-earth ontology any settings and risings may therefore have been understood as portals to other worlds, such as the underworld or the vault of the heavens. Selected celestial bodies would visit the dead below, and/or ascended above or may have been sacred entities in other worlds. Skyscape archaeology, by revealing the relational links between the structure and periodicity of celestial bodies and the archaeological record, can inform interpretive narratives for the contents of prehistoric rituals by which returning from the dead, for example, allowed renewal for the living. This session will explore how life may be seen as particular types of transition between states of being and provide insights into the mutability of life between organic and inorganic domains. Proposals for paper abstracts are invited which, by adopting the ontological turn, aim to reveal some of the hidden meanings in the intersections between material culture and skyscape and landscape archaeology for understanding life in this and other worlds.
Announcement of an important conference:
Life in the land of the dead: skyscape archaeology and the ontology of other worlds
Proposals for papers are invited for the session ‘Life in the land of the dead’ at the Theoretical Archaeology Group 42 at Leicester University, 18-20 December. If Covid 19 disallows it for this year, it will take place in 2021 – so ensure you send abstracts by the end of August 2020 if you want to offer papers for either date.
