Altered states of consciousness and ritual in late Bronze Age Cyprus

Ritual and religion are increasingly recognized as central to the development of complex societies in the ancient world, especially in the East Mediterranean during the Bronze Age (c. 3000-1200 BC), where rulers often held supernatural status and ritual buildings were linked to storage and craft production. However, the role of altered states of consciousness (ASCs) in these rituals has been largely ignored, despite their widespread use in ethnographically and historically documented cultures. This paper addresses that gap by using an anthropological approach to analyze published Cypriot evidence for opium consumption, investigating whether ASCs were utilized in Bronze Age East Mediterranean ritual.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Ritual and religion are increasingly being accorded a central role in the development of complex societies throughout the ancient world, particularly in understanding how social and political authority were established and legitimized (Aldenderfer 1993; Hayden 2003, 347-79; Marcus and Flannery 2004; Schachner 2001; Trigger 2003, 79-91). This relationship is particularly evident in the East Mediterranean (encompassing the Aegean, Anatolia, Cyprus, the Levant, Mesopotamia and Egypt) during the Bronze Age (c. 3000-1200 BC1), as suggested by the supernatural status commonly attributed to rulers and the repeated association of ritual buildings with the storage of agricultural surplus and craft industry (Bard 1992; Driessen 2002; Gesell 1987; Hitchcock 2000; Hood 1987; Kyriakides 2001; Knapp 1986; Platon 1983; Rehak 1995; Webb 1999; Wiersma 2007). While the role of ritual practice and religious ideology (Giddens 1979, 6) in this process of socio-political development is frequently emphasized (Bard 1992; Bauer1996; Braithwaite 1984; Demarest 1989; Knapp 1986; 1988; 1996; Miller and Tilley 1984; Parker Pearson 1984; 1984a; Shanks and Tilley 1982; Shennan 1982; Webb 1999; 2005), certain aspects of the ways in which archaeologically detectable ritual practices and religious symbolism might reinforce or challenge such ideologies have received little attention. That is to say, some aspects of the archaeological record with the potential to represent material correlates of ideology or religion, and thereby elucidate ancient cognitive processes, remain seriously understudied. In particular, the employment of ‘altered states of consciousness’ (hereafter ASCs) within Bronze Age East Mediterranean ritual has been largely ignored to date, despite the frequently observed ritual use of such phenomena throughout ethnographically and historically documented cultures (Bourguignon 1973). This paper seeks to address this lacuna by utilizing an anthropologically informed approach to the study of ASCs, to analyse previously published Cypriot evidence for the consumption of opium to investigate the possibility that such mental phenomena may have been utilized in this context.