Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East
In this paper I will present the assemblage of pottery vessels and objects of luxury dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods discovered in the Zarda Cave in Western Samaria, Israel. The context in which this assemblage was found is strongly reminiscent of other proto-historic depositions fou...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sciendo
2017-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Landscape Ecology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/jlecol-2017-0027 |
| _version_ | 1818668854094594048 |
|---|---|
| author | Freikman Michael |
| author_facet | Freikman Michael |
| author_sort | Freikman Michael |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper I will present the assemblage of pottery vessels and objects of luxury dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods discovered in the Zarda Cave in Western Samaria, Israel. The context in which this assemblage was found is strongly reminiscent of other proto-historic depositions found in Israel. As determent of objects of value found in the deep and dark caves cannot be explained by means of burial offerings or regular hoards one most provide this remarkable phenomenon by a different theory. In this paper, I claim that these depositions were ritual in nature. They bear physical evidence for rituals performed by specially chosen members of the society, which we call today shamans. These caves were chosen due to their physical properties to become scenes for rituals of rites of passage in the course of which they experienced altered states of consciousness. In the course of time these caves have accumulated considerable social power becoming liminal monuments on the fringes of social landscapes in the local cultures. We may understand deep and dark caves as an element of pre-urban cosmology embedded into the local landscape, traces of which can be detected in much later traditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T06:42:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d44a1e62493d456b89eb1f92b20929e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1805-4196 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T06:42:56Z |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Landscape Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d44a1e62493d456b89eb1f92b20929e82022-12-21T21:59:48ZengSciendoJournal of Landscape Ecology1805-41962017-12-01103819910.1515/jlecol-2017-0027jlecol-2017-0027Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near EastFreikman Michael0Ariel University, Ariel and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, JerusalemIn this paper I will present the assemblage of pottery vessels and objects of luxury dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods discovered in the Zarda Cave in Western Samaria, Israel. The context in which this assemblage was found is strongly reminiscent of other proto-historic depositions found in Israel. As determent of objects of value found in the deep and dark caves cannot be explained by means of burial offerings or regular hoards one most provide this remarkable phenomenon by a different theory. In this paper, I claim that these depositions were ritual in nature. They bear physical evidence for rituals performed by specially chosen members of the society, which we call today shamans. These caves were chosen due to their physical properties to become scenes for rituals of rites of passage in the course of which they experienced altered states of consciousness. In the course of time these caves have accumulated considerable social power becoming liminal monuments on the fringes of social landscapes in the local cultures. We may understand deep and dark caves as an element of pre-urban cosmology embedded into the local landscape, traces of which can be detected in much later traditions.https://doi.org/10.1515/jlecol-2017-0027neolithicchalcolithicdeep cavesalternative states of consciousnessisrael |
| spellingShingle | Freikman Michael Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East Journal of Landscape Ecology neolithic chalcolithic deep caves alternative states of consciousness israel |
| title | Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East |
| title_full | Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East |
| title_fullStr | Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East |
| title_full_unstemmed | Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East |
| title_short | Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East |
| title_sort | into the darkness deep caves in the ancient near east |
| topic | neolithic chalcolithic deep caves alternative states of consciousness israel |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/jlecol-2017-0027 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT freikmanmichael intothedarknessdeepcavesintheancientneareast |