Reassessing Shamanism and Animism in the Art and Archaeology of Ancient Mesoamerica
Eleanor Harrison-buck, D. Freidel
Religions May 28, 2021 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.3390/rel12060394 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Shamanism and animism are useful but problematic cross-cultural concepts rooted in social evolutionary theory, criticized for homogenizing nonwestern peoples and romanticizing them as ahistorical. This article reassesses these terms from a relational or ontological perspective, arguing they represent distinct ways of knowing the world. Using ethnographic and archaeological evidence from Mesoamerica, it examines masked spirit impersonations and reflective materials like mirrors used in divination, highlighting both the productive and dangerous aspects of these enchanted materials.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Shamanism and animism are best understood as distinct ways of knowing the world, with specific archaeological examples from Mesoamerica revealing both productive and dangerous aspects of enchanted materials in divinatory practices. |
Abstract
Shamanism and animism have proven to be useful cross-cultural analytical tools for anthropology, particularly in religious studies. However, both concepts root in reductionist, social evolutionary theory and have been criticized for their vague and homogenizing rubric, an overly romanticized idealism, and the tendency to ‘other’ nonwestern peoples as ahistorical, apolitical, and irrational. The alternative has been a largely secular view of religion, favoring materialist processes of rationalization and “disenchantment.” Like any cross-cultural frame of reference, such terms are only informative when explicitly defined in local contexts using specific case studies. Here, we consider shamanism and animism in terms of ethnographic and archaeological evidence from Mesoamerica. We trace the intellectual history of these concepts and reassess shamanism and animism from a relational or ontological perspective, concluding that these terms are best understood as distinct ways of knowing the world and acquiring knowledge. We examine specific archaeological examples of masked spirit impersonations, as well as mirrors and other reflective materials used in divination. We consider not only the productive and affective energies of these enchanted materials, but also the potentially dangerous, negative, or contested aspects of vital matter wielded in divinatory practices.