Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East
December 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1515/jlecol-2017-0027 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Pottery and luxury objects from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods were found in Zarda Cave, Western Samaria, Israel. The assemblage resembles other proto-historic depositions in Israel. Because the valuables in deep, dark caves cannot be explained as burial offerings or ordinary hoards, the author argues these deposits were ritual in nature, performed by specially chosen members of society, likely shamans, during rites of passage involving altered states of consciousness. Over time, such caves became liminal monuments and elements of pre-urban cosmology, with traces detectable in later traditions.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Depositions of pottery and luxury objects in deep, dark caves like Zarda Cave were ritual in nature, performed by shamans during rites of passage, and these caves became liminal monuments in pre-urban cosmology. |
Abstract
Abstract 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.