Overview

In Untangling the Intangible a diverse group of authors focuses on new and rigorous ways to approach religion, beliefs, and ideology in archaeology. Reconstructing the human experience from archaeologically recovered materials is a complex task that can only benefit by making use of all available avenues of inquiry. To that end, the authors of this volume model inclusive discussions that recognize the inherent overlap, intersectionality, and co-constitutive relationship among the widely considered ""intangibles"" of culture: ideas, beliefs, ideology, and religion. The material and tangible aspects of these related elements inform human behavior and should not be treated independently because they constitute different and equal parts of a cognitive mosaic that forms the basis of the human experience. The chapters encompass an array of research topics, geographical settings (Crete, Eurasia, the eastern Mediterranean, Madagascar, Mexico, and Mongolia), and temporal periods and highlight how practices associated with religious and ideological beliefs have shaped human societies across space and time. By focusing on multiple scales of inquiry and novel ways of accessing the material expressions of cultural phenomena and addressing underrepresented themes this book challenges existing approaches and perspectives on the topic and directs future researchers to grapple with these elements as integral to researching the past. Emphasizing a more comprehensive study of religious and ideological aspects of material culture, Untangling the Intangible highlights the potential for a more holistic understanding of the past and for approaching the very aspects that make us human through archaeology.

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9781646428397

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Kathryn MacFarland is manager of the Archaeological Repository for the Arizona State Museum. Her research focuses on identifying continental-scale symbolic systems that are indicative of ideological and religious beliefs in an analysis method developed to study material culture from north central Eurasia of the first millennium BCE. She also has research interests related to the intersection of archaeological and museological theory and practice and is dedicated to addressing long-term curation concerns associated with archaeological legacy collections and repatriation issues and directing internship opportunities focusing on collections management. Erik G. Johannesson is partner and senior project archaeologist at Lifeways of Canada Limited in Calgary. He has conducted research focused on mortuary archaeology and funerary practice centering on ritual spaces and social memory and how mortuary ritual enacts cosmological beliefs in Mongolia, Central Asia, Greece, and Egypt. Erik has worked as a professional archaeologist in the American South, the Arctic, and Western Canada and has taught archaeology at several North American universities.

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