Product Description

In this timely collection, Neil Price provides a general introduction to the archaeology of shamanism by bringing together recent archaeological thought on the subject.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #630384 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
'Archaeologists have long needed a balanced and well researched introduction to shamanism, and at last they have it. This book is scholarly and carefully researched, but its conclusions are also exciting. It should provide the stimulus for a new generation of properly informed research.' - Richard Bradley, University of Reading

'Promises to be perhaps the most important contribution so far undertaken towards the task of organization and systemization of the social sciences ... makes us anticipate a library of masterpieces.' - Nature Journal

'More than an encyclopedia, or a series of monographs ... an heroic attempt to make modern research available for the guidance of the world.' - Manchester Guardian

'Composed by all the talents.' - Times Literary Supplement

From the Back Cover
The meaning of shamanism has been debated for almost three centuries, ever since the term was coined to describe the activities of those who attained altered states of consciousness in order to mediate between human beings and the supernatural world. The ritual practices that characterised these perceived contacts with other realities have left highly physical traces in the archaeological record of prehistoric peoples, and the potential for the recognition of shamanic belief systems in the past is now being realised as never before.
In this timely collection, Neil Price provides a general introduction to the archaeology of shamanism by bringing together recent work on the subject. Blending theoretical discussion with detailed case studies, the issues addressed include shamanic material culture, responses to dying and the dead, shamanic soundscapes, the use of ritual architecture and shamanism in the context of other belief systems. Following an initial orientation reviewing shamanism as an anthrop

About the Author
Neil Price is a Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He has written extensively on the Viking Age, and has conducted research projects in France, Iceland, Russia and Sápmi (Lappland).

Martin Appelt, Ekaterina Devlet, Thomas A. Dowson, Natalia Fedorova, Hans Christian Gull/ov, Sandra E. Hollimon, Peter Jordan, David Lewis-Williams, Martin Porr, Neil Price, Andrzej Rozwadowski, Patricia D. Sutherland, Robert Wallis, Damian Walter, Aaron Watson, Howard Williams.