Overview

Caves have been used in various ways across human society, but despite the persistence within popular culture of the iconic caveman, deep caves were never used primarily as habitation sites for early humans. Rather, in both ancient and contemporary contexts, caves have served primarily as ritual spaces. In Sacred Darkness, contributors use archaeological evidence as well as ethnographic studies of modern ritual practices to envision the cave as place of spiritual and ideological power that emerges as a potent venue for ritual practice. Covering the ritual use of caves in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Mesoamerica, and the US Southwest and Eastern woodlands, this book brings together case studies by prominent scholars whose research spans from the Paleolithic period to the present day. These contributions demonstrate that cave sites are as fruitful as surface contexts in promoting the understanding of both ancient and modern religious beliefs and practices. This state-of-the-art survey of ritual cave use will be one of the most valuable resources for understanding the role of caves in studies of religion, sacred landscape, or cosmology and a must-read for any archaeologist interested in caves.

Full Product Details

9781607323600

Table of Contents

Reviews

An excellent start to the cross-cultural study of the ritual use of caves. Ruth Whitehouse, American Anthropologist . . . it preserves the enthusiasm for cave spaces and rituals while debunking some of the more popular and pernicious stereotypes about caves and cave users. Anthropologists interested in religion or in spatial aspects of culture . . . will find much to appreciate in this collection, and the extensive reference lists following each chapter offer many directions for future research. Jack David Eller, Anthropology Review Database

An excellent start to the cross-cultural study of the ritual use of caves. --Ruth Whitehouse, American Anthropologist . . . it preserves the enthusiasm for cave spaces and rituals while debunking some of the more popular and pernicious stereotypes about caves and cave users. Anthropologists interested in religion or in spatial aspects of culture . . . will find much to appreciate in this collection, and the extensive reference lists following each chapter offer many directions for future research. --Jack David Eller, Anthropology Review Database

. . . an impressive and laudable compendium of archaeological, ethnographic, and cognitive studies of human ritual and religious practice conducted within caves or similar natural and constructed features. --Myles R. Miller, SAS Bulletin

Author Information

Holley Moyes is an associate professor of anthropology and affiliate member of cognitive and information sciences at the University of California, Merced.

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