The Archaeology of Semiotics and the Social Order of Things 9781407303178, 9781407333328

Citation preview

BAR S1833 2008

The Archaeology of Semiotics and the Social Order of Things

NASH & CHILDREN (Eds)

Edited by

George Nash George Children

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS

BAR International Series 1833 2008 B A R

The Archaeology of Semiotics and the Social Order of Things Edited by

George Nash George Children

BAR International Series 1833 2008

ISBN 9781407303178 paperback ISBN 9781407333328 e-format DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781407303178 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

BAR

PUBLISHING

Contents Preface The Archaeology of Semiotics and the Social Order of Things George Nash & George Children ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 Rock-Art and Material Culture: Stone Age Symbol Systems in Central Norway K. J. Sognnes ...................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 The Association of Prehistoric Rock-Art and Rock Selection with Acoustically Significant Landscape Locations Paul Devereux .................................................................................................................................................................. 19 Chapter 3 Following Arianna’s Thread: Symbolic Figures at Female Rock Art Sites at Naquane and In Valle, Valcamonica, Italy Angelo Fossati .................................................................................................................................................................. 31 Chapter 4 Seeking Place: Living on and Learning from the Cultural Landscape Herman E. Bender ............................................................................................................................................................ 45 Chapter 5 Stone Thresholds: Stone Arrangements as Signposts or Shrines Matthew Kelleher ............................................................................................................................................................. 71 Chapter 6 Prehistoric Mandalas: The Semiosis of Landscape and the Emergence of Stratified Society in the South-Eastern European Chalcolithic Dragos Gheorghiu ............................................................................................................................................................ 85 Chapter 7 Places for the Living, Places for the Dead and Places in Between: Hillforts and the Semiotics of the Iron Age Landscape in Central Slovenia Phil Mason........................................................................................................................................................................ 97 Chapter 8 A Hunter’s Perspective of Rock-Art: The Rock-Art Paintings in Central Norway May-Tove Smieth ............................................................................................................................................................ 107 Chapter 9 Landscape, Semiotics and Rock-Art in Ku-Ring-Gai Chase John Clegg ...................................................................................................................................................................... 113 Chapter 10 Accenting the Landscape: Interpreting the Oley Hills Site Norman E. Muller ........................................................................................................................................................... 129 Chapter 11 A New Proposal for the Chronology of Atlantic Rock Art in Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula) Manuel Santos Estévez ................................................................................................................................................... 141 Chapter 12 Sacred Landscapes, Sacred Seasons: A Jungian Ecopsychological Perspective D. L. Merritt.................................................................................................................................................................... 153

i

Chapter 13 The Experience of Rock-Art; How the same motif can be found in different landscapes Eva Skeie ........................................................................................................................................................................ 171 Chapter 14 Encoding a grammar within a Neolithic landscape: The distribution of burial monuments along Strumble Head, South-west Wales George Nash ................................................................................................................................................................... 181 Chapter 15 Interpreting Bashō’s Narrow Road to the Interior as a Journey to the Depths of Being Thomas Heyd .................................................................................................................................................................. 195

ii

Contributors and their Affiliations Herman Bender Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology and Cultural Landscape Studies, Inc. & America Septen History Company (ASHCO) Email: [email protected] George Children Border Archaeology, Leominster, Herefordshire, England Email: [email protected] John Clegg 24 Waterview Street, Balmain, NSW 2041 Australia Email: [email protected] Paul Devereux Research Associate, Royal College of Art and Independent Scholar Email: [email protected] Angelo Fossati Catholic University of Brescia and Cooperativa Archeologica "Le Orme dell'Uomo" 25040 CERVENO (BS), Italy Email: [email protected] Dragos Gheorghiu Department of Postgraduate Studies, National University of Arts in Bucharest, Romania Email: [email protected] Thomas Heyd Department of Philosophy, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Email: [email protected] Matthew Kelleher Kelleher Nightingale Consulting Pty Ltd., Suite 604, Level 6, 267-277 Castlereagh St, Sydney, NSW 2000 Email: [email protected] Phil Mason Zavod za varstvo kulturne dediščine Slovenije, OE Novo mesto, Skalickega 1, 8000 Novo mesto, Slovenia Email: [email protected] D. L. Merritt The Integral Psychology Center, 1619 Monroe St., Madison, Wisconsin 53711 Email: [email protected] Norman E. Muller Conservator; Princeton University Art Museum; Princeton, NJ 08544-1018. USA Email: [email protected] George Nash Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Bristol & SLR Consulting, Shrewsbury, England Email: [email protected] Manuel Santos Estévez Laboratorio de Arqueoloxía da Paisaxe, Instituto de Estudos Galegos Padre Sarmiento, Rúa San Roque 2, 15704, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain Email: [email protected] Eva Skeie Department of Archaeology, University of Oslo, Norway Email: [email protected]

iii

May-Tove Smiseth The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway Email: [email protected] Kalle Sognnes The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway Email: [email protected]

iv

The Archaeology of Semiotics and the Social Order of Things George Nash & George Children landscape, an idea that is echoed in the chapters that follow. According to the structural anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss (1958), the natural environment, as interpreted by the human mind, is bound-up in myth. Rock outcrops metamorphose into beasts, humans and inanimate objects and intricate stories are created of a world before the present. In many stories of the Australian Aboriginal ‘dreamtime’, such features have a relationship with the artist and the audience. The categorisation of landscape features establishes a map specifying areas that are public, private and taboo. The anthropological and ethnographic evidence for such categorisation is abundant but identifying this process in the archaeological record is far more problematic. Landscapes can evoke a sense of foreboding, especially when obscured by cloud or fog or when the light changes. On a visit to the upland Neolithic burial site of Cashtal yn Ard on the Isle of Man in 2002, one of the authors experienced such an effect, as the mountainous area – Snaefell – gradually became enveloped by dense cloud (Plate 1). The eastern ridges were completely obscured and, within minutes, the mountains had disappeared. Such a powerful visual experience would have created a lasting image in the minds of the people who constructed and used this monument some 5,500 years ago. Even from the standpoint of the contemporary, science-based world, where most natural phenomena can be explained, the event created a feeling of unease and foreboding.

Semiotics Revisited In January 1997, one of the authors edited a book entitled Semiotics and Landscape: Archaeology of Mind (Nash 1997). This volume included a series of detailed case studies concerned mainly with the relationship between monument/site and landscape but was somewhat naive in structure and content. Although semiotics was the intended ‘flavour’, some chapters (including those by Nash) had little focus and the book as a whole suffered from a lack of editorial control. Before this, however, there had been little discussion of grammar and landscape and the application of semiotics to archaeology had been largely ignored. True, philosophical approaches had been adopted by researchers such as Christopher Tilley (and later by Vicky Cummings and Alistair Whittle 2004) and Julian Thomas (hermeneutics) and the element of narrative and personal observation that they introduced did much to reshape traditional views of landscape archaeology. What Tilley, in particular, tried to say – albeit in a rather complex way – was that his mindset, when walking through an ancient landscape, was very much the same as that of the people who inhabited and manipulated that landscape some 6,000 years ago. Arguably, people experience the same needs and aspirations regardless of where or when they live, but Tilley’s approach to the prehistoric landscape is that of the passive onlooker. In many respects, semiotics and the way that it can interact with the landscape is also passive. From our 21st century standpoint, we have the arrogance to suppose that prehistoric people constructed landscapes based upon grammatical rules relating to, for example, the location of burial monuments and the alignment of chambers and passages. Of course, the archaeological record promotes such a perception, but understanding the encoding of landscape is a very different matter and perhaps phenomenology helps, in part, to explain why ancient people constructed monuments in a particular way. It is apparent from the chapters presented in this volume that an underlying grammar of landscape can indeed be identified.

A series of Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape zones have been identified in Breconshire, mid Wales (Children & Nash 2001). Breconshire’s 18 known Neolithic monuments occupy the intermediate slopes of the fertile valleys and hinterlands of the Black Mountains: no monument, ritual or otherwise, lies within the mountains themselves. An identical pattern is evident within the Preseli Mountains of southwest Wales (Children & Nash 1997) and at Rhossili Down on the Gower Peninsula and recurs elsewhere in western Britain (Plate 2). However, this rule appears to be challenged during the Late Neolithic, from around 2,750 cal. BC onwards (see Nash, this volume), when a shift from the intermediate slopes to upland plateaux and valley floors occurs. Monuments of this period, typically forming large ritual complexes, are not hidden within the landscape but are conspicuous and austere (e.g. Stonehenge [Plate 3]).1 This change in

What can landscape grammar offer? A landscape composed of physical features such as mountains, rivers, streams, spurs and woodland is perceived in different ways by different people; no two individuals fully agree on what a landscape represents (Children and Nash 1997, 1). Landscape is thus constructed, controlled and manipulated by the individual rather than as a bilateral state of mind, although in general terms encoding at a base level is universally recognised.

1 Pollen evidence from the Marlborough Downs suggests that large swathes of the Stonehenge landscape were inhabited by dense brush, in particular corylus [hazel] (Hill 1961, 490). Clegg (pers comm.) therefore suggests that the Stonehenge monument could have only have been viewed from strategic points within the immediate landscape. Clegg goes on to suggest that the contemporary British landscape is very much the result of sheep and the plough and therefore does not reflect the mindset of the ancients; contemporary phenomenological principles surely cannot apply.

The grammar of landscape is reliant on human interaction, in particular the ancestral geography of 1

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

htal yn Ard, Issle of Man (M Man 1) and thee surrounding Plate 1. The Neolithic stallled burial chaambered monnument of Cash mountainoous landscape of Snaefell.

d landscappes of the Neoolithic and Bro onze Age; Sweeynes Howe N North (Gower Peninsula, Plates 2 & 3. Up and down South Wales)) & Stoneheng ge (Wiltshire)

2

PREFACE

Figure 1. Constituents of communication, devised by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver encoded landscape grammar is repeated throughout Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Britain.

neighbours, for example, or working with groups of people, the rhetoric of signs is paramount.

Tilley (1994, 2005), Cummings & Whittle (2004) and Nash (2006) have applied geographic and philosophical approaches to the study of prehistoric landscapes. In Phenomenology of Landscape (1994) and, later, The Materiality of Stone (2005), Tilley deconstructs landscape using the phenomenological perspective developed by Husserl and Merleau-Ponty. Tilley experiences grammar classification and uses (his) knowledge to deconstruct landscape. This knowledge may be accumulated as Tilley (or anyone else) moves through the landscape but familiarisation with a landscape inevitably creates a pattern of behaviour, especially when viewing monuments/sites. Predictability arises partly from the manner in which people understand and perceive the world and the things that operate within it. Within this world, phenomenology assists in describing the conceptual processes and structures that control and manipulate our world. However, these processes are governed by experience and intentionality, such as the intimacy of an excavation or field project whereby the excavator becomes familiar with his or her landscape (e.g. Bender, Hamilton & Tilley 2007).

The late 19th century American semiologist Charles Sanders Peirce looked at a unique way of theorising signs; he considered that ‘we only think in signs’. Due to his unstable social life, much of his pioneering work of the mid to late 19th century was not published (and edited) until 1931 and after (also 1958). Throughout his academic life, Peirce continuously updated his ideas (e.g. in unpublished papers dated to 1867-8; 1903; 1906-10). His paper – On a new list of categories (1867 [1931-36; 1958]) used a triadic theory of signs starting with the representamen (representation or, in the words of Peirce ‘proper significate effect’ [i.e. the sign]) which related to the object [material culture or reference] which itself related to an interpretant [meaning]. This simple approach contrasted significantly with that of Saussure, which relied on a self-contained dyad (signified [mental concept]/signifier [material concept]). This approach allows an object to undergo a linear or staged process whereby the sign or object is grammatically formulated, described and then interpreted. The simplicity of Peirce’s (primary) sign system has inadvertently assisted in what we, in our modern lives, view and interpret commercial and commodity symbols such as the golden ‘M’ of McDonalds, the Nike tick or the apple symbol of Apple Macintosh; these signs are recognised universally and transcend western and non-western societies. Interestingly, the apple symbol does not represent food but computers! And, in the words of Peirce: 'Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign,’ (1931). However, with signs one has to consider memory, repetition and recognition.

The intentionality involved in replicating monument location and mound orientation, and in deciding whether one monument should be intervisible with another, is unclear. Of course, we cannot replicate the ancient mindset with any degree of certainty, although, in structuralist and post-structuralist terms, the same universal rules can apply to both the ancient and modern mindset. Of course, within the factional world of semiotics, different schools apply different approaches when trying to make sense of the world in which we live. Arguably, semiotics analyses the process of communication: the conveying of meaning in one form or another to different social agencies. Language is generally taken to be the foremost of all human semiotic systems (Jakobson 1970, 455) but semiotics is broadly concerned with “everything that can be taken as a sign” (Eco 1976, 7). Indeed, most communication is non-verbal and although primarily based on sight and hearing can involve all five senses. Architecture, furniture, the wearing of clothes, cooking, music, gesture, indeed all of the non-verbal dimensions of culture, incorporate coded information in a manner analogous to verbal language (Leach 1976, 10). Sign systems are fundamental to the way in which we live our daily lives: when dealing with

The American political scientist Harold Lasswell in 1948 made one of the most important statements in the postwar world when he remarked: “who says what, in which channel, to whom with what effect” (c.f. Trahair 1981, 171). This economic formula, in response to the post-war economic climate, supported the idea that prosperity was dependent on clear and direct channels of communication. Shannon and Weaver’s well-known communication model (Figure 1) was aimed at mathematical signal transmission; however, Weaver considered that it could reveal the complexities of human communication and therefore assist in the transmission of signs. The basic transmission model of communication was also adopted 3

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS by Saussure,, who developped his own version of it.. The structuralist linguist Rom man Jakobsonn, however, went r expplicitly to thhe encoding and further in referring decoding of messages. Foor Jakobson, the t code is onne of the ‘constituutive factorss’ of verball communicaation; however, he views codes as ‘multiform m’ rather than fixed f and uniform,, with a ‘hieraarchy of diverrse subcodes freely chosen by the speaker with regardd to the varriable functions off the messagee, to its addrressee, and too the ween the intterlocutors’ (1971d, 719). His relation betw model of communication c n also incluuded referencce to context: bothh code and conntext must be known in ordder to grasp the meessage. Although seemiotics devveloped withhin the fieldd of linguistics, its wider application has long been S himself stated thaat “by considering recognised. Saussure rites, custom ms etc. as signss, it will be poossible, we bellieve, to see them m in a new perspective”” (1983, 17) and Jakobson obbserved in resspect of archhitecture that “any edifice is siimultaneouslyy some sort of refuge annd a certain kind of message”” (1968, 703). Semiotics raises r r of signn systems inn the our awareneess of the role construction of (social) reeality and reveeals that signss can s serve ideologgical functionns in presentiing existing social arrangementss as natural annd universal. g we argued a in 1997 that landscaape is In terms of grammar, socially consstructed and thhat it is reliannt on the cognnitive processes of perceptiion, recognnition and the acknowledgiing of certainn phenomenaa (1997, 1). The recognisable or familiar feeels comfortabble: the unfam miliar ween signals dangger. The stagged signallingg process betw perceiving annd perceptionn instantly info forms us whetther a landscape iss safe or threeatening. Thhe difference may involve little more than a change c in weaather conditioons or s the contrast between lighht and dark. Consider a street wded scene: duringg daylight hoours when the street is crow and the shopps are busy thhe feeling is one of reassuuring familiarity; however, expperiencing thhe same spacce at w closed shhops and an em mpty night can be unsettling, with street batheed in artificiial light - the ambiencce is completely different. d Assuuming landsccape is a cognnitive social consstruct, assem mbled from visual siggnals, perception annd experiencee, the street aftter dark becom mes a different landdscape. The same s can be said s of places from our distant past. p In botth instances, ambience crreates different meaanings and expperiences.

ates 4 & 5. Siimilar street sscenes, different ambience Pla me were highh that people usingg the monumeent at that tim us individualss possessing a knowledge and view off statu the world that made m them ddifferent from m others. Thee expeerience wouldd have been suublime, inspiriing terror andd fascination, as eacch space was eencountered. Architecturall traits, such as thee constricted passage, the doorway andd thresshold, and thhe kink in tthe passage, would havee restrricted the viisuality betw ween the façade and thee cham mber. The amount a of nnatural light would havee dimiinished alongg the passagge towards the t chamber,, furth her restrictingg visual accesss from the faççade area. Alll such h physical and ambientt elements would havee estab blished an inntense gramm mar extending g beyond thee mon nument. Arguably, and deppendent on th he physicalityy of place, p such grammar g wass experienced d with otherr mon numents. Thhe medieval church or cathedral, c forr

h probably come c In experientiial terms, Micchael Shanks has close in atttempting to understand u a ambience andd the rhetoric of sppace (1992). Shanks’ retroospective accoounts of visiting thhe Cotswold--Severn monuuments of Maaes y Felin and Tinkinswoood in Souuth Wales and Dunstanburggh Castle inn Northumbberland are both personal annd subjective. He encounnters thoughh, an incomplete past, p a pasticche of preconnceived ideass that affords a casual glimpse of o the present. The experiennce of approaching and entering the monumennt would have been d duriing the Neollithic. One can somewhat different assume, baseed on ethnograaphic and histtorical evidencce, 4

PREFACEE example, exttended their physical p preseence deep intoo the heart of the community; here, physicaal place becam me a g of thhe monumentt - its metaphysicall entity. The grammar intricate andd secret spacees, the conceealment of ceertain areas from public view w, and the mystique off its h helped to support the architecture - would have o Howeever, these coomponents aree not established order. just confinedd to ritual-sym mbolic monum ments.

The present voluume is arrannged in 15 chapters, thee ority of whichh focus on the grammar of landscape l as a majo deviice for organissing different spaces. Alth hough there iss a div versity of pappers, the organnisation of plaace and spacee prov vides a comm mon theme. In terms of graammar, placess are organised acccording to their position n within thee dscape, orienntation, archiitecture and constructionn land meth hodology. Thhe re-use orr utilisation of a naturall land dscape is discuussed in the first chapter. Kalle K Sognness conssiders Stone Age A rock art aand portable art a as materiall cultu ure, suggestinng that both aart forms estaablish a seriess of symbol s systeems. His daata are taken n from Latee Messolithic and Neeolithic Centrral Norway an nd he attemptss to esstablish a linkk with ethniciity and shamaanism. Can a gram mmar be estabblished? According to So ognnes, theree are inherent i probllems. Firstly,, rock art, in particular, p hass been n incorporatedd into a geneeral discoursee and has forr man ny years beeen consideredd an archaeo ological sub-discipline. Furthhermore, rock art has also been b difficultt gy betweenn to date and establishingg chronolog ghbouring sitees has thus pproved almosst impossible.. neig Fund damentally, prehistoric p rocck art from this t region off Norw way can be divided d into tw wo themes: hu unting art andd farm ming art. Hoowever, sub-ddividing thesee themes intoo ethn nic groups baased on figuraative style is problematic.. Usin ng a number of o theoretical aapproaches, Sognnes enterss the formidable deebate of sham manism. In discussing d thee k of Lewis-W Williams (19881) and Lewiss-Williams & work Dow wson (1988) inn southern Affrica, as well as a research byy Zinttgraff & Turpin (1992) andd Whitley (20 000), Sognness intro oduces a posssible shamannistic model for northernn Scan ndinavian rockk art.

m of The recent declassificattion under the Freedom W buildings and Information Act (2000) of Cold War ws that manyy of the probbable installations clearly show o the mechanisms recognised inn burial-ritual monuments of Neolithic aree also associated with theese enigmaticc and sometimes siinister monum ments, such ass restricted acccess, strategic loccation of installations annd replicationn of architecture. The recenttly (1993) deeclassified nuuclear bunker at Haack Green in Cheshire, noorth-west Enggland, was a Regionnal Governmeent Headquartters in the eveent of a nuclear attack on Britain B (Platee 6). Prioor to ments decommissiooning, this annd other secrret establishm were mannedd by a small workforce who had signedd the Official Secrrets Act (19111). The site was w rebuilt duuring the early 1980s at a cost of £32 million and compprised two subterraanean levels: Level 1 houused the reggional government headquarterss, administraation centre and w Levell 2 housed the technical deepartments whilst communicatiion centre, a BBC B studio, government g offfices and life suppport apparatuus. The uppeer, above groound, level was enncased in a blast-proof b conncrete bunkerr and was used to house a comm munication ceentre. Until 1993, 1 only a small group of peoople knew thee internal layoout of c to a the site, thiis restricted knowledge contributing grammar of space. s

i also concerned with rock r art andd Paull Devereux is land dscape. He appplies the concept of acousttics, which, itt is becoming apparent, playedd an importan nt part in thee mmissioning, execution annd use of ro ock art. Thiss com sugg gests that rocck art formedd only part of o a ritual orr sym mbolic packagee; some rockk art sites werre chosen forr theirr distinctive acoustic a propeerties. Deverreux providess an overview o for the developm ment of arch haeoacoustics,, whicch, incidentallly, is still inn an embryon nic stage, andd givees examples off sites that he has recently studied. s ying with a prehistoric rockk art theme, Angelo A Fossatii Stay discu usses symbolls in the rockk art of Valccamonica, ann alpin ne valley sysstem in northhern Italy. According A too Fosssati, this is one o of the m most importan nt petroglyphh com mplexes in Eurrope with arouund 300,000 fiigures locatedd main nly on interrmediate vallley slopes. The laterr preh historic figuress belong to thee Iron Age (1sst millennium m BC), which is allso the most variable of phases p in thee rupeestrian traditioon. This rock art imagery was probablyy conn nected with innitiation ritess of the noblee and warriorr youtth. Artists are concerneed with carv ving duelling,, danccing, horse-annd-wagon and hunting sccenes. Otherr figurres, present elsewhere iin Europe, include i non-representative dessigns, such as swastikas, wheels, w spirals,, yrinths and whhat are termed by scholarss as solar andd laby starss figures. Asssociated withh representatiive and non-representative figgures are cupm marks. From this t enormouss pus, Fossati chharts the histoory of researcch in this areaa corp

Plate 6. Upper sectionn of the Hack Green Nucleaar B Bunker Despite the authors’ criiticisms of thhe 1997 vollume, reviews weree favourable. If the book achieved a anytthing, it made reseaarchers think about how laandscapes couuld be constructed, as well as providing a pllatform for deebate and discourse, and this prompted us to consider a seecond volume.

5

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS and attempts to establish a generic interpretation of the figure types that are present on panels of Iron Age date. As the reader will witness, temporal as well as spatial patterns emerge.

grammatically encoded. Such approaches establish icons or special places within a landscape. Such grammar uses cultivation and settlement distribution, as well as natural phenomena. In order to control the landscape grammar, Gheorghiu suggests that fire and clay play an integral role, establishing a clear semiotic pattern.

Herman Bender concentrates on Native American tribal traditions and discusses the meaning of cultural landscapes. According to Bender, Native American people perceive natural landscape features and boundaries (e.g. hills, rock ledges, rivers, marshes, springs, lakes and upland areas) as an integral part of everyday life. By living on the land for generations, people gained a familiarity with the landscape and established ‘place’ (as opposed to space). In this context, people used place in a number of ways: to live, to gather food, for communication and interaction with neighbours and to pray (i.e. place and sacred space). In many nonwestern societies, prominences and vistas seem to have held special ritual and ceremonial importance. Such locations offered views towards the horizon and other ceremonial sites or key landmarks. Bender discusses in detail the functionality and form of the only known ‘medicine wheel’ or sun circle east of the Mississippi River. This entity, named Na Na Wi Gwan by its present Native American owners, clearly indicates the importance of sacred place reflecting a cosmology that mirrored the earth with the sky.

Within the same region, Philip Mason discusses the relationship between different types of place, focusing on the grammar of Iron Age hillforts within the landscape of Central Slovenia. Mason considers their symbolic role, particularly construction methodology in the 8th century BC. This period marks a break with the Late Bronze Age tradition of extensive open settlements and flat cremation cemeteries in river valleys. From this period, the hillfort centre, defined by ramparts, occupies a prominent position in the landscape. Associated with these centres were barrow groups and ironworking/smelting zones. These would have been controlled by an emerging elite whose world would have been bound up in (symbolic) ritual and the role of the ancestors. Archaeological evidence suggests that the symbolic elements can be traced in the spatial organisation of many hillfort centres in the region, suggesting that the hillfort, with its architectural paraphernalia, is representative not only of the living community but also of a community of the dead. The hillfort, according to Mason is approached along a defined route, often beginning at a barrow group, and separating the two zones is an area of ironworking or smelting activity, which Mason refers to as a zone of transformation, mediating the passage from the world of the living to the world of the ancestors (and beyond).

In a similar vein, Matthew Kelleher discusses the significance of stone arrangements or alignments in the native lands of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales. These often difficult recorded sites form significant patterns within the landscape. Lithic assemblages and rock art are usually found close by. Are they connected? Kelleher suggests that lithics, such as geometric microliths and homogeneous track engravings, form a unique pattern in relation to the stone arrangements. This pattern may be deliberate. Kelleher’s detailed spatial analysis, encompassing both geographical and archaeological variables, suggests that the stone arrangements represent a threshold change between the more mundane and selective archaeological activities. This liminality appears to indicate the graduated separation characteristic of religious behaviour and indicates a clear divide between the mundane and the symbolic. The stone arrangements are thus highly sacred locations. The patterns identified by Kelleher provide an insight into how these stone arrangements functioned, and were perceived by, Aboriginal people.

The way ancient and modern Norwegian hunters approach their sometimes intimate landscapes is considered by May-Tove Smieth. Smieth talks to present-day hunters on the Tingvoll Peninsula, Western Norway, where the hunter/fisher rock art panels of Hinna and Honnhammeren are located. Both panels stand some 30m above a dramatic deep fjord but during prehistory were at the water’s edge. It is clear from this record that the modern hunter is aware of all the intricacies of the natural landscape. According to Smieth, a similar approach would have been experienced by prehistoric hunter/fisher/gatherers, in particular those who also produced rock art. Smieth suggests that the mind of the artist and hunter would have been focused on a specific rock art panel and what it symbolised. Both the prehistoric and modern hunter would have encountered the same landscape: but what of the different mindsets? It is problematic for the academic who has never experienced hunting but is content to write about huntergatherer group semiotics. Smieth therefore asks the pertinent question: are we (as academics) capable of capturing the essence of the (hunting) rock art and the surrounding landscape?

Dragos Gheorghiu studies the landscapes of the southeast European Chalcolithic, in particular, those groups occupying the Lower River Danube region. The emergence of elite groups in the Lower Danube Chalcolithic society can be seen through the new sociopolitical and technological strategies of modelling the landscape. The evidence for this is seen through the ordered, geometric, spatial organization of the tellsettlement’s space. In this study, Gheorghiu discusses the cultural process of formation, or what is termed the semiosis of landscape. This approach, similar to the technological process of constructing, say, an object, is

Staying with ethnographies, Australia-based researcher John Clegg discusses the rock art and landscape grammar in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in New South Wales. Fundamentally, (semiotic) information deals with the transfer of meaning from one or more senders to 6

PREFACE receivers, usually through some mediating material(s) (i.e. objects) and/or process(es) (grammar). Landscape, rock art and stone arrangements, for example, interact semiotically with people and their agencies at many different scales. Clegg provides examples of a series of semiotic processes that involve the manipulation of location, topography, landscape relief, geology and geomorphology, vegetation, food resources and processes of depiction and recognition. Using this exhaustive list of landscape agencies, Clegg presents a narrative account of the Aboriginal rock art site of Elvina track, West Head.

the philosophical discourses associated with sacred landscapes and sacred seasons. For this, Merrit uses the ideas of Carl Jung, particularly ecopsychology, which explores the dysfunctional relationship between people and the environment and explores ways of deepening our connection to the land. The post-modernist thinker and astronomer Carl Sagan believes that unless we can regain a sense of what is sacred about the environment our species will destroy it. A similar, yet distinct stance was taken by Carl Jung, who maintained that the spiritual dimension of the human psyche was paramount and postulated that a person not in tune with his or her landscape was neurotic.

A similar approach is taken by Norman E. Muller, who discusses in detail the Native American site of Oley Hills in Eastern Pennsylvania. This site comprises an unusual assemblage of carefully laid, dry masonry stonework forming a series of monumental cairns, meandering walls, a platform and a terrace. Archaeologists and historians have interpreted this site as colonial, suggesting that the indigenous American Indians did not work with stone before the contact period of the 17th century. Muller begins with a review of the available evidence, suggesting that there is nothing to support the idea that these structures were constructed by the farming population, who have owned the land since 1751. According to Muller, there is no accurate way to date stone but it is unlikely these structures were constructed by the farming population. The way these monuments occupy the landscape and witnessing the relationship between them and various landscape features, it soon became clear that a large, free-standing boulder (or tor) on the summit ridge was the focus of the site, and that the imposing stonework seemed to be constructed in response to this natural feature. The evidence for the idea that this site was indeed constructed and used by an indigenous Native American population was further supported by the discovery of quartz cobbles and pieces of cinder-like material in and around a feature called the Terrace. The landscape assessment that involved focusing the contemporary eye onto various landscape features, including the tor, proposes a much-changed view on what the Oley Hills site represents.

Merrit suggests that Jung’s symbolic perspective offers a holistic framework for examining and understanding the relationship between people and landscapes and the seasons. Merrit’s chapter extends beyond the histoarchaeological discourse and suggests that Jung’s framework can assist in psychotherapy where patients and non-patients can connect to nature and the landscape in which they live and work. According to Merrit, dreams and sacred sites connect us to the land and seasons and establish a deep sense of place, what phenomenologists would term our being-in-the-world. From this, a developed understanding and appreciation of ancient sacred sites forms the basis for protecting the remaining sites. Although contrary to this, America’s early pioneers entering into these once sacred places would have stamped their own mark on a sacred site, which in many ways is their sacredness! A more conventional, but nonetheless experiential, approach is offered by the Norwegian scholar Eva Marit Skeie, who explores the hunting rock art of south-east Norway. In her chapter, Skeie looks at three rock art sites, all of which have carved elks, but the landscapes in which these panels are located are different. In order to experience each site, Skeie suggests the need to move around each one in different ways. By so doing, one is forced to act differently at each site. The cliff site of Drotten, for example, has seven elks, each moving towards a river nearby. Conversely, the site of Stein has more carvings and is situated by the large lake of Mjøsa. Here, the rock panel is enormous and the carvings cover all areas of the panel. In order to read the panel, one has to move around it so that all the images can be read. The third site, Ekeberg, is coastal and is again carved with elk imagery along with an animal trap and a bird. This site is located in a narrow valley inlet leading down to the present coastal shoreline. With all three sites, elk carving appears to be the binding element. However, why is the same animal carved into the rock in different landscapes? To answer this fundamental question, Skeie focuses on how elk designs differ but are, at the same time, generically similar.

Within the north-west Iberian Peninsula, rock art scholar Manuel Santos Estévez proposes a new chronology for the dating of Atlantic-style rock art. This is based on the results of an archaeological excavation conducted at the base of a rock panel possessing a carved cup and ring, concentric circles, stags, hunting scenes, footprints and human figures. The excavation uncovered a layer with evidence possibly directly relating to the rock carvings. A series of radiocarbon dates from this layer was taken which gave a late Bronze Age date (8th to 9th century cal. BC). Based on this data, Manuel Santos Estévez argues that rock art in this region has a long history, ranging between the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age and the first phase of the Iron Age. His excavation results also show that ritual activity other than carving images onto rock was in operation.

In the penultimate chapter, George Nash discusses the architectural traits of each of the monuments located on Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire, and explores the concept of linearity, a theme that is common in the European Bronze Age in connection with the positioning of

American scholar Dennis Merrit, following on the arguments of Bender and Muller (this volume), looks at 7

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS barrows and cairns but limited in the distribution of Neolithic ritual/burial monuments. It is clear that there is intentionality regarding their distribution, utilising a series of jagged peaks along the uplands that straddle Strumble Head. According to scholars working in this area of research, the location of monuments is rooted in ancestry dating to the Mesolithic, if not earlier. Excavation at the Neolithic burial monument of Gwernvale in Breconshire, mid Wales, for example, has shown that the site was in use from the Upper Palaeolithic. The location of monuments along Strumble Head is deliberate and each monument appears to offer visual control of certain parts of this upland landscape. There is no intervisibility between monuments; however, the monument architecture, landscape position and orientation are similar, suggesting that a construction blueprint was in operation. Outside the Strumble Head group, Nash has identified a number of Neolithic burial monument clusters that appear to conform to similar architectural and landscape rules (Children & Nash 2001; Nash 2006). Nash has recognised that elements from the Strumble Head group form a linear distribution that embraces 10 or more monuments, each probably dating to the Late Neolithic. He suggests that Early Bronze Age traits to associated with monument location occurs. Further, he advocates that the Strumble Head group display a society that is in transition.

Cummings, V. and Whittle, A. 2004. Places of special virtue: megaliths in the Neolithic landscapes of Wales. Oxford: Oxbow. Eco, U. 1976. A Theory of Semiotics, Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press/London: Macmillan Hill, P.A. 1961. The Sarsens of Stonehenge: The Problem of Their Transportation. The Geographical Journal, Vol. 127, No. 4 (Dec., 1961), pp. 488-492. Jakobson, R. 1968. ‘Language in Relation to Other Communication Systems’, in Jakobson 1971b Selected Writings Volume 2, The Hague: Mouton pp 697-708 Jakobson, R. 1970. ‘Linguistics in Relation to Other Sciences’, in 1990 On Language (Eds. L.R. Waugh and M. Monville-Burston) Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press pp 451-88. Leach, E. 1976. Culture and Communication: An Introduction to the Use of Structuralist Analysis in Social Anthropology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lévi-Strauss, C. 1958. Structural Anthropology, The Penguin Press. Lewis-Williams, J. D. 1981. Believing and Seeing: Symbolic Meanings in Southern San Rock Paintings. London: Academic Press. Lewis-Williams, J. D. & Dowson, T. A. 1988. ‘Signs of all time: entoptic phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic art’. Current Anthropology 29: 201-217, 239-245. Nash, G.H. 1997. Semiotics of Landscape: Archaeology of Mind. BAR International Series 661. Nash, G.H. 2006. The Architecture of Death: The Neolithic Chambered Tombs of Wales. Hereford: Logaston Press. Peirce, C.S. 1931–36. The Collected Papers. Volumes 1– 6. Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss (eds.). Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Peirce, C.S. 1958. The Collected Papers. Volumes 7 & 8. Arthur Burks (ed.). Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Saussure, F. de 1916/1983 Course in General Linguistics (trans. Roy Harris), London: Duckworth Shanks, M. 1992. Experiencing the Past. London: Routledge. Tilley, C. 1994. A Phenomenology of Landscape, London: Berg Tilley, C. 2005. Materiality of Stone, London: Berg. Trahair, R.C.S. 1981. ‘Elton Mayo and the Early Political Psychology of Harold D. Lasswell’, Political Psychology, Vol. 3, No. 3/4 (Oct. 1, 1981), pp. 170188 Whitley, D. S. 2000. L’art des chamanes de Californie: le monde des amérindiens. Paris: Éditions du Seuil. Zintgraff, J. & Turpin, S. 1992. Pecos River Rock Art: a Photographic Essay. San Antonio (Texas), Sandy McPherson Publishing.

In the final chapter, Thomas Heyd takes on the topic of interpretation of landscapes, though in a somewhat different context from the other papers in this volume. Heyd seeks to grasp the meaning of a landscape in Japan, as experienced by a 17th century poet-traveller, Matsuo Bashō. Heyd addresses a puzzle in the travel diary of this wandering poet. Various commentators have claimed that Bashō’s poetical travel account has a unity, but, by most accounts, this unity remains elusive. Heyd takes the reader through a narrative, supported by textual and geographical analysis, in order to show that this text indeed has a well-founded meaning. He makes use of theories of pilgrimage and vision questing, in a combination of structuralist and post-structuralist analysis, to reveal the deep meaning of both text and landscape as seen by this Japanese wanderer and poet. On his reading, Bashō’s text may be considered an invitation to accompany him, virtually, on a visit to the depths of Japanese landscape. Heyd’s approach could very well serve as a model for rock art, and other archaeological studies of the semiotics of landscape. References Bender, B, Hamilton, S. & Tilley, C. 2007. Stones Worlds: Narrative and Reflexivity in Landscape Archaeology. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press. Children, G. & Nash, G.H. 1997. Establishing a discourse: The language of landscape, in G.H. Nash (ed.) Semiotics of Landscape: Archaeology of Mind. BAR International Series 661, pp. 1-4. Children, G. & Nash, G.H. 2001. The Prehistory of Breconshire. Hereford: Logaston Press. 8

Chapter 1

Rock-Art and Material Culture: Stone Age Symbol Systems in Central Norway K. J. Sognnes Introduction

traditions – Arctic and South Scandinavian rock-art. This division was based on motifs and geographical distributions. It was, however, soon recognised that they also were chronologically separated (Brøgger 1906); the Arctic rock-art was dated to the Stone Age and the South Scandinavian tradition to the Bronze Age. This division during the 20th century became a central part of the prehistory paradigm in Norway.

This presentation deals with the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic of Central Norway – between c. 63° and 66° 30’ N – based on rock-art but also on portable art and artefacts (mostly points and knives). In an ongoing project on the Arctic rock-art in this region, I look at a number of aspects, two of which I discuss here. Here I explore whether new theoretical studies might have any bearing for these particular issues, which may relate to ethnicity and shamanism. These issues were on the agenda in early 20th century Norwegian archaeology and have recently been brought back into the archaeological discourse (e.g. Jenkins 1997 and Jones 1997 for ethnicity and Price 2001 for Shamanism).

Hansen interpreted these two genres from an ethnic – or rather a linguistic – perspective. South Scandinavian rock-art, he claimed, was made by the Aryan-speaking ancestors of the Norwegians, the Arctic rock-art by a non-Aryan speaking indigenous population in northern Scandinavia. Archaeologists did not, however, accept this hypothesis and the ethnicity question never became part of mainstream archaeology.

For more than a century, rock-art research in Scandinavia has been incorporated in the general discourse – as an archaeological sub-discipline. At the same time, there has been a strong tendency for this sub-discipline to be something of its own, focusing on publishing new discoveries and particularistic interpretations. This is partly due to the special character of the material but also because rock-art has proved difficult to date. While mainstream archaeology was rescued by radiometry, the dating problem remained unsolved for rock-art. This problem still exists but archaeology during recent decades has switched from a scientific processual phase to a postmodern – post-historic – phase that should make chronology-independent rock-art studies more acceptable.

The so-called Arctic Stone Age represented a problem in the late 19th century. As a cultural entity, it was defined by Oluf Rygh, Norway’s first professor in archaeology (1876) but had in reality been on the agenda long before that. The archaeology of the early 19th century was dominated by simple straight-forward interpretations and each period within the three-period system was identified with known people; it was claimed that the material culture of the Stone Age was made by Samis (Lapps), that of the Bronze Age by Celts and that of the Iron Age by Germanic people (Keyser 1839: 451-455). This naïve sequence was soon abandoned but the peopling of northern Scandinavia, where several ethnic groups lived side by side, remained a problem.

The international rock-art discourse for some time now has focused on shamanism, inspired by David LewisWilliams’ (1981, cf. Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1988) work in southern Africa but also on North American studies (e.g. Zintgraff & Turpin 1992, Whitley 2000). To some extent this is a bandwagon, on which many scholars are riding, especially in the search for neurophysiological subjective visions (phosphenes or entoptics) related motifs claimed to reflect altered states of consciousness (e.g. Dronfield 1995). This does not, however, reduce the possible relevance of this interpretation also for Scandinavian rock-art (cf. Grønnesby 1998).

The identification and recognition of the Arctic Stone Age did not solve this problem, particularly because the Samis were believed to have migrated into Scandinavia in late Historic times. A. W. Brøgger (1909) defined an Arctic/Baltic Stone Age which he believed originated to the east of Scandinavia and was brought to northern Norway by immigrants at the beginning of the Neolithic. The problem was solved by integrating the Arctic Stone Age into a unified Norwegian/Swedish Stone Age culture. An approach was taken, according to which the Stone Age culture of Central and North Norway was seen as a mixed agro-foraging culture (cf. Furseth 1994).

Ethnicity This unified Scandinavian Stone Age cultural entity was not, however, without internal contradictions. The differences in material culture between northern and southern Scandinavia were still there, with Central Norway as a transition zone. The Trondheim archaeologist Th. Petersen saw the Arctic Stone Age,

The ethnicity of the makers of Scandinavian rock-art was raised a century ago in a book on the prehistory of Norway in which A. M. Hansen (1904) drew upon a number of sources: archaeology, history, linguistics etc. In this book, the rock-art was sorted into two genres or 9

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS which then was referred to as the slate complex, as an adaptation of the South Scandinavian material culture into areas without flint, which therefore was substituted by local lithic sources. The slate complex to him was as Norwegian as the flint artefacts, but he introduced the term cultural dualism to describe the situation in this region (Petersen 1922: 24). This position may be summed up as one people – two cultures.

symbolic role and being maintained and manipulated in the process of communication and mediation of social relations (Jones op. cit. 115). However, the self-conscious expression of ethnicity through material culture is linked with all aspects of cultural practices and social relations that characterise a particular way of life (Jones op. cit. 120, cf. Burley et al. 1992: 6-7). During the Neolithic and Bronze Age, southern and northern Scandinavia went through different cultural developments, which, however, show remarkable parallelism. Two extensive and geographically separated techno-complexes came into being (Baudou 1989: 27). Artefacts made from slate and schist, later also, from quartzite dominate the northern complex. Bifacial quartzite tools and weapons, however, seem to be less frequent at the Norwegian side of the Scandinavian peninsula. Unfortunately modern investigations of this slate complex in Norway are sparse and erratic but Central Norway apparently was one of the core areas for this industry, as exemplified by the distribution of knives (Søborg 1988).

After the Second World War ethnicity was hardly mentioned in Norwegian archaeology – until around 1980, when the Alta River was dammed as part of a large-scale hydro-electricity project. The damming of this river, which runs through the present Sami heartland in the province of Finnmark, created a new tension in the relations between the Sami minority and Norwegian authorities. Ethnicity was put on the agenda in ways Norwegian archaeologists were totally unprepared for. At about the same time, large Arctic rock-art sites were discovered at the Alta Fjord and this rock-art soon was seen as part of the Sami cultural heritage. The Alta rockart now is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List (cf. Helskog 1988).

Flint axes, sickles and daggers demonstrate contacts between South Scandinavia and Central Norway, which may be seen as a frontier zone between these two complexes. In this region, we also find examples of portable art. These may be small sculptures depicting animals: whales, birds and elks (Fig. 1.1). Some knives and daggers have shafts, which end in sculpted animal heads (Fig. 1. 2); other knives may have engravings depicting animals (Fig. 1. 3). The amount of portable art is, however, restricted. In this area, rock-art played a much greater role. The common rock-art chronology follows the general archaeological sequences; the Arctic rock-art is dated to the Stone Age, the South Scandinavian rock-art to the Bronze Age. Studies of the location of rock-art sites relative to Holocene isostatic land uplift demonstrate that maximum dates for most Arctic rock-art sites in central Norway fall in the 5th and 6th millennia bp, that is, Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic. Some sites might, however, be from the first half of the 9th millennium bp (Sognnes 2003).

For Central Norway, I have suggested that the rock-art may be studied also from an ethnic point of view. This is the only Scandinavian region that may be classified as a major area for both Arctic and South Scandinavian rockart and thus should be especially well suited for this kind of study. My hypothesis was that both traditions came into existence due to the role of this region as a frontier zone between Mesolithic/Neolithic foragers and advancing Neolithic/Bronze Age agriculturists (Sognnes 1995). In the culture-historical archaeology of the early 20th century, identification of past cultures and peoples was based on the assumption that different complexes of material culture, also referred to as archaeological cultures, correlated with past peoples, ethnic groups, tribes and/or races (Jones 1997: 106). This was also the case in Norwegian archaeology where, however, prehistory was seen as an era of unity and harmony. Neither was the ethnicity question addressed when the paradigm of processual archaeology strongly influenced Norwegian archaeology. The ethnogenesis of the Samis (and the Norwegians) has been discussed (e.g. Odner 1983), yet existing dichotomies in the prehistoric material culture are rarely brought into this discussion. However, the Swedish scholar E. Baudou (1989: 46) claims that, in northern Scandinavia, Samis and Scandinavians have lived side by side since around 800 cal. BC.

The Evenhus site – virtually in the middle of the Trondheim Fjord – has a maximum date to the Neolithic/Bronze Age transition (Sognnes 2003) and some scholars claim that Arctic rock-art was made also during the Bronze Age (Gjessing 1936: 177, Hagen 1970: 113). On the other hand, the Bronze Age tradition is represented in the same area with boat images that should be dated to period I (cf. Kaul 1998: 88). There are, however, indications that an earlier local non-Arctic rockart tradition existed before this pan-Scandinavian symbolism reached Central Norway (Sognnes 2001: 127).

Recent anthropological and sociological studies show that communication of ethnicity is an active process involved in the manipulation of economic and political resources (Jones op. cit. 113) and thus undermines the commonly held assumption that degrees of similarity and difference in material culture provide a straightforward indicator of intensity of interaction between past groups (Hodder 1982, Jones op. cit. 126). Yet, studies of style still seem to be relevant for this question; style having an active

The Arctic rock-art is dominated by renderings of large terrestrial and marine prey animals. Cervids (reindeer, elk and red deer) dominate among the terrestrial animals. Especially elk (Fig. 1.4) are abundant, which is in accordance with other rock-art traditions in northern 10

K. J. SOGNNES: ROCK-ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE

Figure 1.1. Sculpted heads of bear and elk from Tømmervåg, Tustna (photo P. E. Fredriksen, © Vitenskapsmuseet NTNU).

Figure 1.3. Slate knife with incised renderings of whales from Teksdal in Bjugn (after Sognnes 1996a).

Figure 1.2. Slate dagger with sculpted elk head handle from Brynhildsvollen, Røros (photo P. E. Fredriksen, © Vitenskapsmuseet NTNU).

11

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 1.4. Rock-art renderings of elk from Central Norway; A and E from Bardal, Steinkjer (Gjessing 1936), B from Hammer, Steinkjer (Bakka 1988), C from Evenhus, Frosta (Gjessing 1936), D from Bogge, Nesset (Gjessing 1936), F from Stykket, Rissa (Sognnes 1981). Images not to scale.

Figure 1.5. Rock-art renderings of whales from Central Norway; A from Evenhus, Frosta (Gjessing 1936), B and E from Hammer, Steinkjer (Bakka 1988), C from Søbstad, Averøy (Sognnes 1996b), D from Reppen, Fosnes (Sognnes 1981), F from Strand, Osen (Gjessing 1936). Images not to scale. Eurasia. Other terrestrial animals are rare, but bear, beaver and perhaps hare are represented. Cetaceans (Fig. 1.5) dominate among marine animals in a similar way. Fish and seal occur at a limited number of sites only. The maritime aspect of the Arctic rock-art is further emphasized by renderings of boats. Statistically, depictions of aquatic birds follow cetaceans and boats.

As mentioned above, some artefacts are decorated with renderings similar to those found in rock-art; also geometric patterns occur. The slate knives and points can be sorted into a limited number of types. The decorated knife from Teksdal in Bjugn normally is shown with its edge facing down (Fig. 1.3). If we turn it upside down, we find that the shape of the knife repeats the shape of 12

K. J. SOGNNES: ROCK-ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE customs, etc.) and rock-art, which all may signal some kind of group cohesion separating people participating in the South Scandinavian Bronze Age culture from people living further north, whose socio-economy was based on hunting/gathering/fishing, their material culture based on lithics, above all slate/schist and quartz/quartzite. This dualism may be interpreted from an ethnic perspective.

A

The South Scandinavian rock-art recently has been interpreted as reflecting the Indo-Europeanization of northern Europe (Østmo 1997, Prescott & Walderhaug 1995). Implicit in this is that the Arctic rock-art represents something else, that is, an indigenous preIndo-European population. This means that we are back to Hansen’s (1904) hypothesis. On the other hand, so far no large-scale immigration of Indo-Europeans can be identified; the majority of the early agriculturists, therefore, most likely were indigenous foragers who gradually adopted a new subsistence and way of life. Thus, the cultural dualism model of Petersen (1922) still may be relevant.

B Figure 1.6. Fish-shaped slate knives; A from Myklebostad, Nesna, B from Eikrem, Aukra (after Sognnes 1996a). Not to scale.

The relevance of an ethnic perspective on material culture and rock-art in northern Europe is emphasized by ethnic groups and languages existing in this region today: IndoEuropean speaking Norwegians and Swedes (Germanic) and Russians (Slavonic) together with Fenno-Ugrian speaking Samis, Finns, Karelians and Ingrians. The frontiers between these groups may have been different in early historic and prehistoric times. Therefore it may be wrong a priori to identify the Arctic and South Scandinavian rock-art as Sami and Norwegian/Swedish respectively. Regional differences – both east/west and north/south – exist within both traditions. In this perspective, it is of special interest that Lindqvist (1994) identified four more or less parallel sub-traditions within the Arctic rock-art.

Figure 1.7. Whale-shaped slate knife (A) with birdheaded handle from Nunfjord, Åfjord and knife with bear-headed handle (B) from Ulsnes, Aure (after Sognnes 1996a). Not to scale.

Shamanism When Arctic rock-art was defined as a separate tradition it was seen as mirroring foraging societies, the panels being located at hunting or kill sites (Bing 1913). It was considered a counterpart to the Franco-Cantabrian caveart and interpreted in the same way with references to Déchelette (1908) and Reinach (1903). Totemism was introduced as a possible framework (Shetelig 1922: 145) but sympathetic (hunting) magic came to dominate the paradigm of the 20th century. The first discoveries in the 1890s revealed the existence of large, often full-scale naturalistic contoured animal renderings; however, during the 20th century, only two more sites of this kind were found in Central Norway – both in the 1970s. At most sites the renderings are smaller, less naturalistic and frequently have internal body patterns (cf. Hagen 1970).

the engraved whales. Another type (Fig. 1.6) is made like the shape of a fish. Some knives are more ambiguous (Fig. 1.7), resembling whale and/or bird and whale and/or bear (Sognnes 1996a). The essence of this presentation is that the animal symbolism we meet in rock-art and portable art penetrates the material culture of Neolithic Central Norway, as well as other northern Scandinavian regions. We are dealing with a remarkably strong (cosmological?) fixation on certain animal species. In this, the northern groups set themselves apart from contemporary south Scandinavian groups, transmitting strong signals of coherence and – perhaps – ethnicity. We are facing a situation where animal symbolism infuses all major aspects of cultural practices and social relations. This contrast with South Scandinavia is especially apparent if we compare the slate complex with the South Scandinavian Bronze Age culture that transmits strong but different signals, which also penetrate the major aspects of material culture (weaponry, dress, burial

Gjessing (1936: 153) divided the Arctic rock-art into two major classes, between which he found motivational differences. The earlier class contains the large naturalistic animals, the later class the smaller, less naturalistic animals. These differences, Gjessing believed, were due to conceptual changes in rock-art 13

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS making. One particular feature was claimed to be of special interest. From the animal’s mouth, a line leads into the body, where it ends in a ring or oval (Fig. 1.4C). This feature was known also from North America, where the Ojibwas identified it as the heart and line of life, being made by Shamans/Medicine Men before the hunt (cf. Hoffman 1886, cited in Gjessing 1936). Similar features were known also from northern Siberia, where the rock-art, according to Tallgren (1933, cited in Gjessing 1936), was shamanistic. Since they were found only in regions with known shamanism, Gjessing concluded that Shamans also made the Norwegian examples. Thus, he postulated a change from an initial, individually-based private rock-art making to an organised ritual magic in which certain people acted on behalf of the group (Gjessing op. cit. 154). Gjessing (1941: 65) therefore claimed that professional spiritual priests existed in Neolithic northern Scandinavia, similar to the Siberian Shamans or North American Medicine Men.

tradition site at Leirfall, an anthropomorph – who is leading a procession of 13 persons – has a similar beakshaped head (Sognnes 2001: 70). Other indicators that masks or special headgears were used are represented by a horned ‘skier’ at Rødøya, in Alstahaug and by horned anthropomorphs in the Solsem Cave, in Leka (Gjessing 1936: 10). Similar renderings are found also in Finnish rock-art (e.g. Autio 1995).

There are many kinds of shamanic activity, such as healing, rain-making, game-control and extra-corporeal travel (Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1994: 212). Gjessing focused on game control, emphasising the importance of the Shaman’s role as maker of rock-art in pre-hunt rituals. In more recent studies of the shamanistic content of rockart, game control plays, at best a modest role, while extracorporeal travels associated with neuro physiological processed visions are very much in favour.

Figure 1.8. Rock-art depiction of a bird-headed human (shaman?) at Lånke, Stjørdal (after Sognnes 1996a).

In the interpretation of the South Scandinavian rock-art, shamanism has played a modest role. However, Randsborg (1993) interprets the large Bredarör cairn near Kivik, in Scania, Sweden, as the burial of a Shaman/Chief who resided in the borderland between the extremely fertile agricultural South Scandinavia and the less fertile northern hunting grounds. In this cairn, a large stone cist with decorated slabs was found. Decorated Bronze Age grave slabs are found also elsewhere in Sweden (Goldhahn 1999) and Norway (Mandt 1983, Marstrander 1978), among them several in Central Norway.

Shamanism was brought back into the rock-art discourse via the work of Lewis-Williams (e.g. 1981) in southern Africa. Based on the existence of similar motifs, LewisWilliams and Dowson (1988) claimed that also FrancoCantabrian cave-art might be shamanic. This later was followed up by Clottes & Lewis-Williams (1996, cf. Lewis-Williams 2002). One major argument in favour of this shamanic model presented by LewisWilliams/Dowson/Clottes is the existence of similar geometrical patterns, which are claimed to have a neurophysiological origin as phosphenes or entoptics. During trance, Shamans entered altered states of consciousness, after returning to normal consciousness, they painted their visions. A three-stage model is presented for the hallucinations experienced by the shamans during their travels (Clottes & Lewis-Williams 1996: 12-16, Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1988: 209). During the first stage shamans entering trance are visioning geometric patterns such as zigzags, grids, parallel lines and dots. During the second stage, a person tries to rationalise these geometric perceptions, mixing them with zoomorphic shapes. In the third stage, the geometric patterns transform into hallucinations. These three stages are considered to be more or less universal.

A strong shamanistic impact has been claimed also for Late Iron Age Norse mythology, especially represented by the god Odin – the one-eyed seer (Solli 1999). Early reminiscences of this religion apparently are depicted on Migration Period gold bracteates (Hedeager 1997). Attempts are made at identifying Norse gods also in South Scandinavian rock-art (Bing 1937, cf. Bertilsson 1999). Odin is, however, not among the gods that apparently were rendered on the rocks. If these interpretations are correct, shamanism may actually represent a ‘long durée’ in Scandinavian cosmology – from Late Mesolithic c. 6,000 bp to the advent of Christianity c. AD 1,000.

Direct evidence of prehistoric shamanism is extremely difficult to reveal. Apparent shaman dresses are found in Siberia (Devlet 2001) but most evidence for prehistoric shamanism is also here searched for in rock-art. In Siberian rock-art, Shamans may actually be depicted

Depictions of possible shamans are extremely rare but do exist (Fig. 1.8), for instance, at Lånke, in Stjørdal, where a large anthropomorph may be wearing a mask in the shape of a bird’s head. At the nearby South Scandinavian 14

K. J. SOGNNES: ROCK-ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE (Devlet op. cit., Rozwadowski 2001). The horned anthropomorphs in Finland, however, recently have been interpreted as deities (Autio 1995). In most instances, recent arguments in favour of shamanism are based on the presence of geometric patterns believed to represent phosphenes/entoptics (e.g. Dronfield 1995). For Scandinavian rock-art, Mandt (1995) claimed that images derived from phosphenes/entoptics may be found at Vingen and Ausevik in western Norway, while Grønnesby (1998) found possible entoptic patterns within both Scandinavian rock-art traditions. The most elaborate patterns are the more frequent in the South Scandinavian tradition. These patterns are, however, less varied than those represented in Arctic rock-art.

identified unless we see the bird-headed anthropomorphs as representing this stage. However, at Røsand, in Averøy

Fandén (2002) follows a different line in his discussion of Arctic rock-art in northern Sweden. His arguments, like Gjessing’s, are based on anthropological analogies. He can, however, refer to a much larger literature. Fandén claims that various kinds of shamanic practices may lie behind images and scenes found at Nämforsen, Norrfors, Gärdet, Åbosjön etc.

Figure 1.9. Merging of animal and geometric pattern at Hell, Stjørdal (after Sognnes 1983).

The shamanic model of Lewis-Williams, Dowson and Clottes is strongly criticised. First, the occurrence of simple geometric patterns may have many explanations. Second, it is questioned whether the term shamanism has any relevance outside Siberia, although it might be relevant also for the Medicine Men of North America. Third, it is pointed out that trance does not necessarily represent shamanism. Fourth, the three-stage model is not in concordance with recent neuro physiological research (Bahn 2001, Helvenston & Bahn 2002, 2005 with references).

Figure 1.10. Geometric pattern and some strange quadrupeds from Røsand, Averøy (after Sognnes 1996b).

Any interpretation also of rock-art in Central Norway as representing shamanism, therefore, must be extremely cautious and not based on the occurrence of possible phosphenes/entoptics alone. Independent evidence should be sought for. Evidence for Sami shamanic practices in this area is represented by a few drums (Stenvik 1993). Motivational similarities between Arctic rock-art in Norway and decoration on Sami shaman drums may also be relevant (Helskog 1987). Looking into the Arctic rockart in Central Norway, we find that possible geometric visions (Lewis-Williams & Dowson’s stage 1) are represented by grids, lattices and zigzags. These patterns are found at a number of sites. Dots, that is, cupules are extremely rare in this tradition, as are single and concentric rings. Such patterns were, on the other hand favoured in the South Scandinavian tradition. Stage 2 – rationalisation – where geometric patterns and animals merge, is represented at a few sites only. Many images rendering elk and whales/porpoises have internal line patterns, which normally consists of a few lines only, however, at Holtås, in Levanger (Møllenhus 1968), a substantial number of small cervids have bodies filled with different kinds of geometrical patterns, including cup-marks. Here is shown the most extreme example (Fig. 1.9) from Hell, in Stjørdal (cf. Gjessing 1936, Hallström 1938). Stage 3 – hallucinations – can hardly be

Figure 1. 11. Geometric patterns engraved on slate projectile points. A from Boen, Alstahaug, B from Vikan, Hitra. Not to scale. 15

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

(Sognnes 1996b) some strange quadrupeds are found (Fig. 1.10), which might represent hallucinations.

The consistency of animals and geometric patterns occurring together is hardly accidental. To the animal symbolism was added another symbolic system consisting of geometric patterns. These symbolic systems may be related to a shamanistic cosmology focusing on elk, whales and birds, which likely represent land, sea and air. The co-variation of whales, boats and birds indicate that we are dealing with a dichotomy between elk versus whales and birds. The LewisWilliams/Dowson/Clottes model may explain why the same geometric patterns occur all over the world. It does not, however, explain why these patterns were painted or engraved on rocks or were incised on slate artefacts in Neolithic northern Scandinavia. Here, we clearly deal with culture-specific causes that should be sought for locally.

If we accept the relevance of the shamanism/trance/rockart hypothesis, we find that also in the rock-art of Central Norway geometric patterns are present, which may be the result of experiences during trance and altered states of consciousness. But how do the artefacts fit into this? A substantial number of slate knives and points are actually decorated in one way or another. Most common are short parallel lines but zigzags are frequent too (Fig. 1.11) and more elaborate grid patterns occur. So far, these patterns have been used for dating purposes, that is, for dating similar rock-art symbols (Bakka 1975) based on the assumption that similar patterns were contemporary. Conclusions

The use of certain geometric patterns engraved on artefacts or rocks may have many causes. Traditionally, wave-like lines and zigzags have been interpreted as symbolising water but may also represent a snake symbolism, which specifically has been claimed for double zigzags on the slate knife shown as figure 7B (Mundkur 1983: 158-159). Some parallel zigzags are placed within frames. These are more unlikely to represent snakes but perhaps water (waves) in a pond or fjord basin. At Leirfall, parallel zigzags are placed within rectangular frames that have some tassel-like appendices (Marstrander & Sognnes 1999: 107, 118), which may be identified as depictions of textiles (Marstrander 1978: 48). (But then, of course, one should ask why zigzags were used as motifs on Bronze Age textiles.)

A profound animal symbolism penetrated foraging groups of Central Norway (as well as other parts of northern Scandinavia) during the Neolithic. Zoomorphic renderings, especially elk but also whales and birds, dominate rock-art. Similar renderings were engraved on slate knives, which also may have handles shaped like animal heads. Some small animal sculptures are found too. To this must be added numerous knives that are shaped like animals, mostly whale and fish but bird shapes may also be found. Similar geometric patterns are represented in rock-art and as decoration on slate artefacts; animals and geometric patterns may merge into one entity. Paraphrasing Anati (1988: 104-107) this represents a merging between pictograms (the animal-shaped tools and weapons) and psychograms (abstract geometric patterns). In Arctic rock-art, pictograms and psychograms likewise occur together on the same panels but normally juxtaposed to each other. However, we sometimes find geometric patterns superimposed on animal renderings, as at Berg, in Verdal (Fig. 1.12). Here pictograms and psychograms merge too. In the case of the artefacts, the animal shape clearly came first; this also seems to be the case in rockart. The psychograms are additions that may help ‘explain’ the original zoomorphic shape.

The animal symbolism set Neolithic groups in central and northern Scandinavia apart from their counterparts in southern Scandinavia. This symbolism may represent one way of transmitting knowledge of particular social entities, perhaps different ethnic groups. In southern Scandinavia we find a similar symbolic behaviour, which, however, was more fully developed during the Bronze Age. The meaning of these parallel symbolic systems can probably best be studied in the area where they both are fairly well represented, that is, in the frontier zone between the south Scandinavian early agriculturists and contemporary north Scandinavian foragers, with, as my examples should demonstrate, Central Norway as a specially suitable laboratory. References Anati, E. 1988. Origini dell’arte e della concettualitá. Milan, Jaca book. Autio, E. 1995. Horned anthropomorphic figures in Finnish rock-paintings: shamans or something else? Fennoscandia Archaeologica 12: 13-18. Bahn. P. G. 2001. Save the last trance for me: an assessment of the misuse of shamanism in rock art studies. In H.-P. Francfort & R. N. Hamayon (eds.): The Concept of Shamanism: Uses and Abuses.

Figure 1.12. Geometric patterns superimposed on elk renderings at Berg, Verdal (tracing by E. Bakka). 16

K. J. SOGNNES: ROCK-ART AND MATERIAL CULTURE Bibliotheca Shamanistica 10: 51-93. Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó. Bakka, E. 1975. Geologically dated rock carvings at Hammer near Steinkjer in Nord-Trøndelag. Arkeologiske skrifter fra Historisk museum, Universitetet i Bergen 2: 7-48. Bergen. Bakka, E. 1888. Helleristningane på Hammer i Beitstad, Steinkjer, Nord-Trøndelag. Rapport arkeologisk serie 1988 (7). Trondheim, Vitenskapsmuseet. Baudou, E. 1989. Stability and long term changes in north Swedish prehistory: an example of centreperiphery relations. In T. B. Larsson and H. Lundmark (eds.): Approaches to Swedish Prehistory: a Spectrum of Problems and Perspectives in Contemporary Research. BAR International Series 500: 27-54. Oxford. Bertilsson, U. 1999. Rock art – divine messages or socio realistic representations? In A. Gustafsson & H. Karlsson (eds.): Glyfer och arkeologiska rum – en vänbok til Jarl Nordbladh. Gotarc Series A 3: 743750. Göteborg. Bing, J. 1937. Fra trolldom til gudetro: studier over nordiske helleristninger fra bronsealderen. Oslo, Det norske videnskabsakademi. Bing, K. 1913. Helleristningsfund ved gården Vingen i Rugsund, ytre Nordfjord. Oldtiden 2: 25-38. Brøgger, A. W. 1906. Elg og ren paa helleristninger i det nordlige Norge. Naturen 30: 356-360. Brøgger, A. W. 1909. Den arktiske stenalder i Norge. Videnskabsakademiets skrifter II, historisk-filosofisk klasse 1909: 2. [Kristiania] Oslo. Burley, D. V., G. A. Horsfall & J. D. Brandon 1992. Structural Considerations of Métis Ethnicity: an Archaeological, Architectural and Historical Study. Vermillion, University of South Dakota Press. Clottes, J. & D. Lewis-Williams 1996. Les chamanes de la préhistoire: transe et magie dans le grottes ornées. Paris, Editions du Seuil. Déchelette, J. 1908. Manuel d’Archéologie Préhistorique, Celtique et Gallo-Romain 1. Paris. Devlet, E. 2001. Rock art and the material culture of Siberian and Central Asian shamanism. In N. Price (ed.): The Archaeology of Shamanism, 43-55. London, Routledge. Dronfield, J. 1995. Subjective vision and the source of Irish megalithic art. Antiquity 69: 539-549. Fandén, A. 2002. Schamanens berghällar. Nälden, Lofterud produktion. Furseth, O. J. 1994. Arktisk steinalder og etnisitet: en forskningshistorisk analyse. Thesis for the cand. philol. degree at the University of Tromsø. Gjessing, G. 1936. Nordenfjelske ristninger og malinger av den arktiske gruppe. Instituttet for sammenlignende kulturforskning serie B. Oslo, Aschehoug. Gjessing, G. 1941. Fangstfolk: et streiftog gjennom nordnorsk førhistorie. Oslo, Ashehoug. Goldhahn, J. 1999. Sagaholm: hällristningar och gravritual. Studia Archaeologica Universitatis Umensis 11. Umeå. Grønnesby, G. 1998. Skandinaviske helleristninger og rituell bruk av transe. Arkeologiske skrifter fra

Universitetet i Bergen 9: 59-82. Bergen. Hagen, A. 1970. Studier i vestnorsk bergkunst: Ausevik i Flora. Årbok for Universitetet i Bergen 1969: 3. Bergen, Universitetsforlaget. Hallström, G. 1938. Monumental Art of Northern Europe from the Stone Age I: the Norwegian Localities. Stockholm, Thule. Hansen, A. M. 1904. Landnaam i Norge: en udsigt over bosætningens historie. Kristiania [Oslo], Fabritius. Hedeager, L. 1997. Skygger af en anden virkelighed. Haslev, Samlerens universitet. Helskog, K. 1987. Selective depictions. A study of 3500 years of rock carvings from Arctic Norway and their relationship to the Sami drums. In I. Hodder (ed): Archaeology as Long-Term History, 17-30. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Helskog, K. 1988. Archaeopolitics and responsibilities: The case of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Arctic Norway. Antiquity 62: 541-547. Helvenston, P. A. & P. G. Bahn 2002. Desperately Seeking Trance Plants: Testing the “Three Stages of Trance” Model. New York, RJ Communications. Helvenston, P. A. & P. G. Bahn 2005. Waking the Trance Fixed. Louisville KY, Wasteland Press. Hodder, I. 1982. Symbols in action. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Hoffman, W. J. 1886. The Midē’wiwin or the Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibway. Annals of the Bureau of American Ethnology 7. Washington DC. Jenkins, R. 1997. Rethinking Ethnicity: Arguments and explorations. London, Sage Publications. Jones, S. 1997. The Archaeology of Ethnicity: Constructing Identities in the Past and Present. London, Routledge. Kaul, F. 1998. Ships on Bronzes: A Study in Bronze Age Religion and Iconography. Publications from the National Museum, Studies in Archaeology and History 3. Copenhagen. Keyser, R. 1839. Om Nordmændenes Herkomst og Folkeslægtskab. Samlinger til det norske Folks Sprog og Historie 6: 263-469. Lewis-Williams, J. D. 1981. Believing and Seeing: Symbolic Meanings in Southern San Rock Paintings. London, Academic Press. Lewis-Williams, D. 2002. The Mind in the Cave. New York, Thames and Hudson. Lewis-Williams J. D. & T. A. Dowson 1988. Signs of all time: entoptic phenomena in Upper Palaeolithic art. Current Anthropology 29: 201-217, 239-245. Lewis-Williams, D. & T. A. Dowson 1994. Aspects of rock art research: A chritical retrospect. In T. A. Dowson & D. Lewis-Williams (eds.): Contested Images: Diversity in Southern African Rock Art Research, 201-221. Johannesburg, Witwatersrand University Press. Lindqvist, C. 1994. Fångstfolkets bilder: en studie av de nordfennoskandiska kustanknutna jägarhällristningarna. Theses and Papers in Archaeology, New Series A5. Stockholm. Mandt, G. 1983. Tradition and diffusion in WestNorwegian rock art: Mjeltehaugen revisited. Norwegian Archaeological Review 16: 14-32. 17

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Helskog and B. Olsen (eds.): Perceiving Rock Art: Social and Political Perspectives. Instituttet for sammenlignende kulturforskning series B 92: 130145. Oslo, Novus. Sognnes, K. 1996a. Dyresymbolikk i midt-norsk yngre steinalder. Viking 59: 25-44. Sognnes, K. 1996b. Helleristningene på Averøya. Nordmøre museums årbok 1996: 74-86. Sognnes, K. 2001. Prehistoric Imagery and Landscapes: Rock Art in Stjørdal, Trøndelag, Norway. British Archaeological Reports International Series 998. Oxford, BAR Publishing. Sognnes, K. 2003. On shoreline dating of rock art. Acta Archaeologica 74: 189-209. Solli, B. 1999. Odin the queer? On ergi and shamanism in Norse mythology. In A. Gustafsson and H. Karlsson (eds.): Glyfer och rum – en vänbok til Jarl Nordbladh. Gotarc Series A 3: 341-349. Stenvik, L. F. 1993. Ny samisk runebomme. Spor 1993 (2): 44. Tallgren, A. M. 1933. Inner Asiatic and Siberian rock pictures. Eurasia Septentrionalis Antiqua 8: 175-210. Helsinki. Whitley, D. S. 2000. L’art des chamanes de Californie: le monde des amérindiens. Paris, Éditions du Seuil. Zintgraff J. and S. Turpin 1992. Pecos River Rock Art: a Photographic Essay. San Antonio (Tx), Sandy McPherson Publishing.

Mandt, G. 1995. Alternative analogies in rock art interpretation: the west Norwegian case. In K. Helskog & B. Olsen (eds.): Perceiving Rock Art. Social and Political Perspectives, Instituttet for samenlignende kulturforskning serie B 92: 263-291. Oslo, Novus. Marstrander, S. 1978. The problem of European impulses in the Nordic area of agrarian rock art. In S. Marstrander (ed.): Acts of the International Symposium of Rock Art. Instituttet for sammenlignende kulturforskning serie A 29: 45-67. Oslo, Universitetsforlaget. Marstrander, S. & K. Sognnes 1999. Trøndelags jordbruksristninger. Vitark 1. Trondheim, Tapir. Møllenhus, K. R. 1968. Helleristningene på Holtås i Skogn. Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskabs skrifter 1968: 4. Trondheim. Mundkur, B. 1983. The Cult of the Serpent: An Interdisciplinary Survey of its Manifestations and Origins. Albany, State University of New York Press. Odner, K. 1983. Finner og terfinner: etniske prosesser i det nordlige Fenno-Skandinavia. Oslo Occasional Papers in Social Anthropology 9. Østmo, E. 1997. Horses, Indo-Europeans and the importance of ships. The Journal of Indo-European Studies 25: 285-326. Petersen, T. 1922. Fra hvilken tid stammer de naturalistiske helleristninger? Naturen 46: 88-108. Prescott, C. & E. M. Walderhaug 1995. The last frontier? Processes of Indo-Europeanization in northern Europe. The Journal of Indo-European Studies 23: 247-278. Price, N. (ed.): 2001. The Archaeology of Shamanism. London, Routledge. Randsborg, K. 1993. Kivik: archaeology & iconography. Acta Archaeologica 64: 1-147. Reinach, S. 1903. L’art et la magie à propos des peintures et des gravures de l’âge du renne. L’Anthropologie 15: 257-266. Rozwadowski, A. 2001. Sun gods or shamans? Interpreting the ‘solar-headed’ petroglyphs of Central Asia. In N. Price (ed.): The Archaeology of Shamanism, 65-86. London: Routledge. Rygh, O. 1876. Sur le Groupe Arctique de l’Age de la Pierre Polie en Norvège. Congrés international d’anthropologie et d’archéologie prehistoriques, comte rendu, 177-187. Stockholm. Shetelig, H. 1922. Primitive tider: en oversigt over stenalderen. Bergen, John Griegs forlag. Søborg, H. C. 1988. Knivskarpe grenser. Festskrift til Anders Hagen. Arkeologiske skrifter fra Historisk museum, Universitetet i Bergen 4: 225-241. Bergen. Sognnes, K. 1981. Helleristningsundersøkelser i Trøndelag 1979 og 1980. Rapport arkeologisk serie 1981 (2). Trondheim, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab Museet.. Sognnes, K. 1983. Helleristninger i Stjørdal II. Stjørdal og Lånke sogn, Rapport arkeologisk serie 1983 (6). Trondheim, Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab Museet. Sognnes, K. 1995. The social context of rock art in Trøndelag, Norway: rock art at a frontier? In K. 18

Chapter 2

The Association of Prehistoric Rock-Art and Rock Selection with Acoustically Significant Landscape Locations Paul Devereux Introduction

were the teasing calls of spirits and the hiss and roar of waterfalls and the babble of streams contained voices from the Underworld (Turnbull 1961, 1968; Jaynes 1976; Mohs 1994; Gell 1995; Feld 1996). Keeping an ear open for any possible “soundtrack” at a site is therefore always to be recommended as a way of gaining potentially additional information.

With the development of research in the embryonic study area of archaeoacoustics, it is becoming apparent that some rock-art occurs at places with distinctive acoustic properties. In addition, recent findings by this chapter’s author at Carn Menyn, Preseli, SW Wales, indicate that acoustic properties could have been factors in determining locations from which rocks were specially selected for monumental and ceremonial purposes. This paper overviews the general development of archaeoacoustics and gives examples of sites recently studied by the author that exemplify a range of acoustic characteristics.

This is not too rash a recommendation. We know that environmental sound was consciously appreciated at least as far back as the Classical world, as indicated by writers such as Vitruvius, who wrote about architectural features, locations and devices relating to the acoustics of Roman and Greek theatres (Rowland and Howe 1999), or Pausanias, who remarked on a stone at Megara that made a lyre-like sound. So there is no reason to doubt that such acoustical awareness goes back into deep prehistory. For instance, Stone Age ears could hardly have failed to be aware of the rolling echoes and other acoustic phenomena and auditory hallucinations of cavern systems (Casteret 1940; Bruchez 2007) – indeed, the close examination of naturally musical stalactites and other calcite formations in Palaeolithic painted caves in France and Spain has revealed percussion damage occasioned in remote antiquity (Dams 1984, 1985). The presence of Upper Palaeolithic bone whistles (Lawson et al. 1998; Palmer & Pettitt 2001) or the sophisticated use of stone chimes in ancient China and India (Rossing 2000; Venkatesh 2004) similarly reminds us that people always had ears. Because we study what are effectively now silent sites we too easily forget this obvious fact.

Over recent decades, researchers have increasingly realised that extra information can be gleaned about an archaeological site by paying close attention to visual aspects of the surrounding landscape, aspects such as intervisibility of sites, relationships of a monument to local natural features, subtle alterations to natural features indicating former veneration, the significance of extreme limits of visibility between natural and/or artificial sites, and so forth; it has been less appreciated that the landscape can also carry various kinds of acoustic information to aid archaeological interpretation (e.g. Hedges 1993; Lawson et al. 1998; Devereux 2001; Goldhahn 2002). While there have been sporadic attempts to note acoustic factors related to archaeological sites, it is only in the last few years that there has been the beginnings of an attempt to gather these factors into what might become a co-ordinated sub-discipline within archaeology – archaeoacoustics (Scarre and Lawson 2006). This chapter argues that sound should therefore now be included as a possible factor when studying the semiotics of landscape.

Methodology The study of sound at archaeological sites breaks down into two basic areas – one a pro-active investigative research approach involving the introduction of sound signals at a site and the instrumental monitoring of results, the other a more passive approach in which existing, natural environmental acoustical characteristics are noted.

The idea of archaeoacoustics tends to be counter intuitive, in that we associate sound with emphemerality while archaeological sites, by definition, embody extension in time. But while we today might try to minimise or mask unwanted environmental sound (i.e. noise), people in early societies (especially forest dwellers) would have found the act of listening to the sounds in their quieter environment to be of crucial importance – hunters would have used their ears when tracking quarry and travellers would have listened for sounds indicating various sources of danger. It would also have been the case that to prehistoric and pre-modern people who did not have a wave-based model of acoustics sound would have seemed magical: in certain circumstances wind rustling through foliage was perceived as the murmuring of gods, echoes

The more pro-active, instrumental approach at Neolithic megalith sites has been exemplified by two research projects to date. David Keating and Aaron Watson mapped the behaviour of sound at numerous megalith sites (Watson 1997; Branagan 1998; Urqhuart 1999; Watson and Keating 1999, 2000). During research at Stonehenge, they noted evidence that some of the sarsen uprights had been shaped to reflect and direct sounds within the interior of the monument. They also made some preliminary observations on physiological and 19

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figuree 2.1. Mazinaw w Rock neurophysiollogical monuments.

effeccts

of

sounnd

in

The more passsive approach involves noting site-ociated acousttic phenomenna. These breaak down intoo asso the key k types desscribed in the following seections, whichh conttain site exaamples from recent fieldw work by thee present writer.

encllosed

Researchers from the Princeton-baased Internattional L (ICRL), incluuding Consciousneess Research Laboratories the present writer, w foundd that encloseed stone cham mbers inside a randdom selectionn of Neolithic passage gravves in England andd Ireland had a recurring primary p resonnance frequency off around 110 Hz, the loweer baritone reggister of the humann voice (Deveereux & Jahnn 1996; Jahn et e al. 1996). Thiss frequency has h subsequenntly been founnd to have unexpeccted effects onn human brainn activity:

Sound reflection oustic feature,, Exceeptional echoes are a majoor type of aco one that will, of course, c not bee noted at a siite unless it iss vely tested. Examples E at rock-art sitees have beenn activ repo orted by somee researchers, notably by Steven Waller,, who o observes, among manny other ex xamples, thatt perccussive soundss made in fronnt of Australiaan Aboriginall picto ographs on curved c rockshelter walls can producee focu used echoes from specificc imagery in n the paintedd paneels, that the main m rock-art ssites in Horseshoe Canyon,, Utah h, match the loocations possessing the stro ongest sound-refleective propertties and that rock- art pan nels depictingg hooffed animals in French Paalaeolithic caaves likewisee indiccate a prefeerence for eefficient soun nd reflectivee surfa faces (Daytonn 1992; Walller 1993, 19 999). Similarr obseervations conccerning the Paalaeolithic cav ves and otherr Euro opean rock-arrt sites have bbeen made by y others (e.g.. Rezn nikoff 1995).

H was associiated with pattterns Listening to tones at 110 Hz b activity that differedd from listeninng to of regional brain tones at neeighbouring frequencies; differences were particularly noted in left l temporall and prefrrontal c is opeen to asymmetries. The meaning of these changes speculation. The left tempporal region has been impliccated l in the cogniitive processing of spokenn language; lower cordance vaalues at 110 Hz would be b consistent with reduced activvation under that conditionn, which mighht be interpreted as a a relative silencing s of laanguage centeers to allow otherr processes to become more promiinent. Studies of prefrontal p asyymmetry havve suggested that patterns of shifting s asym mmetry are rellated to emottional states, so thhe inversion of the asymm metric patternn we observed maay reflect som me differencees in activatioon in neural netwoorks in responnse to that sppecific tone (C Cook 2003).

Whiile we can stilll surprise ourrselves by beiing impressedd wheen we experiennce strong echhoes, we intellectually rankk them m as being off no importannce because we w know theyy are caused c by souund waves refflecting from hard h surfaces.. Thiss attitude unconsciouslly limits interpretativee posssibilities becauuse such a perrception was not n the case inn the past, when echoes e were widely comp prehended ass bein ng the calls off spirits, a vieew that lingerred in ancientt Greeek mythologyy, where Echoo is identified d as a nymphh

t effectss remains too be The exact nature of these b further studdy. determined by

20

PAUL DEVEREUX: THE H ASSOCIATION OF PREHISTORIC ROCK-A ART AND ROC CK SELECTION N reduced to nothing but a voice by the wrath off the In North N Americca, a tradittional goddess Heera. Algonquian Indian I belief was w that maniitous, spirits, lived inside rocks and cliff-facces and that shamans s in trrance m with them m to could enter the rock surrfaces and meet exchange tobbacco gifts forr supernaturall power referrred to as “medicinne” or “rockk medicine” (Dewdney 1962; 1 Rajnovich 19994). There are a hints that similar ideas were held widely among Ameerican Indian peoples (Whhitley ween 1998) and beeliefs about roock surfaces beeing veils betw human and spirit worlds have been noted n elsewheere – S of southerrn Africa, for instance (Dow wson among the San & Lewis-Wiilliams 1989; Dowson 19922; Lewis-Willliams 2002). Echo phenomena surely lie at the heart of these kinds of belieefs.

n Echo Park is a sizeable w wilderness area containingg Bon otheer cliffs and bodies of waater, but the name relatess speccifically to Maazinaw Rock, which is locaally renownedd for the exceptioonal echoes it produces.. (There aree monstrations given g during ttourist boat cruises c on thee dem lake). This combination of excceptional echo oes and a highh conccentration of pictographs p is unlikely to be due to meree chan nce – Mazinaw w Rock fits exxactly what is known aboutt the believed b dwellling places off rock manito ous, especiallyy the meeting m of talll, broad rock surfaces with water, placess of a type naturally prone to sstrong echoes (Figs. 2.1 & 2.2). In June, 2004, 2 the pressent writer an nd colleaguess de digital audiio recordings of echoes along the cliff-mad face from the surfface of the lakke, noting how w the strengthh of so ound reflectioon related to sspecific pictograph panels.. Alth hough this waas not intendded as a detaiiled technicall surv vey it nevertheeless proved ppossible to con nfirm that thee areaas of the stronngest, fastest-rreturning echo oes coincidedd with h greater conceentrations of ppainted panelss.

Site examplees Mazinaw Roock a 200 ancestral a Algoonquian red-oochre There are around pictographs on o this cliff-faace, which exttends for overr 1km and rises upp to 100m out of Mazinaaw Lake, situuated within Bon Echo Provinncial Park, Ontario. O The name n d from the t Algonquiaan word mu-zzi-nu“Mazinaw” derives hi-gun, meaaning, varioussly, writing, picture, painnting, book.

R Whiite Shaman Rockshelter s in thhe Lower Peccos region off Thiss feature is situated Texaas, close by thhe border withh Mexico, at th he confluencee of th he Pecos Rivver and the R Rio Grande. It is one off num merous paintedd rock shelterss in the canyo ons of the twoo riverrs and was disscovered in 19952 by Jim Zintgraff and a com mpanion.

a 1000 years y The paintinggs are thoughtt to date to around ago and reprresent one off the greatest concentrationns of painted rock--art imagery in i Ontario. Thhey are to be found f on rock paneels just abovee the waterline and can onlly be accessed byy boat. Most of the painttings are absstract glyphs but there are some s represeentational im mages, including deepictions of boats contaiining bird-heeaded humanoid figgures (usuallyy interpreted as a spirit canoees), a curious cam mel-like anim mal plus a few other more recognisable creatures annd a couple of o depictions of a f thoughht to represeent Nanabushh (or long-eared figure Nanabozho),, a trickster-tyype spirit whho sometimes took the form of a hare.

matic paintedd The shelter contaains remarkabble polychrom paneels that are largely l Pecoss River style, dated to c.. 2,10 00-1,200 BC. The im magery contaiins over 300 anth hropomorphic figures, manyy in the charaacteristic form m of lo ong rectangulaar bodies, short legs, stubby y outstretchedd armss and small reectangular heads as well as a no heads att all. Some have a black band ruunning down the centre off “ ” the body and thhese are refeerred to as “centrastyled” d off figurres and are often considdered to be depictions sham mans. In adddition, there are animal figures andd geom metric imagerry, including over 100 dotts, some free-floatting with otheers associatedd with specificc images. Thee sheltter gained itss name from a panel show wing a whitee centtrastyle anthroopomorph appparently floatiing up out off anotther being, a dark d anthropom morphic form m. oline Boyd haas made the cconnection beetween Lowerr Caro Peco os rock-art andd the imageryy found in texttiles producedd by th he regionally close Huichool Indians in Mexico M (Boydd 1998 8). This textilee imagery is bbased on visio ons induced inn rituaal ingestion off the hallucinnogenic cactuss, peyote, andd evid dence has beeen found of pprehistoric usaage of peyotee (and d other mind--altering plannt substances)) in the rockk sheltters of the Low wer Pecos. It is thought thaat much of thee Low wer Pecos stylee rock art relaates to peyote visions. v Moree speccifically, extennded field stuudy of the White W Shamann picto ograph panells has show wn Boyd thaat the wholee assemblage of im magery relatees to mytholo ogical themess and ritual activitiees associated with the annu ual pilgrimagee H still make m to the W Wirikuta plateeau in Mexicoo the Huichol (Boy yd 2003), whhich they seee as being th heir ancestrall hom meland and is a key growingg area of the peyote cactuss

Figure 2.2. A pictographh panel on Maazinaw Rock, just j above the lake surfacee.

21

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figuree 2.3. General view of the White W Shaman shelter. uthor suggestss and anecdotal eviidence collectted by the au y exceptionall theree are undoubtedly many thhat do display echo o characteristics, limitation of local reseaarch resourcess has not yet alloowed anyone to undertake a detailed,, mal acoustic suurvey. form

(Furst 1976). The cactus is i collected annd taken hom me for mption throughhout the year. ritual consum Some of thee Lower Pecoos rock shelteers were usedd for domestic habitation, thhough many seem to have W combined lonng–term habittation with rittual use; the White Shaman sheelter, though,, is too smaall to have been primarily a domestic d site and a the midden deposits benneath the shelter siimilarly indicaate only low-llevel domesticc use. It seems to have h been a rittual site, or peerhaps the hom me of a shaman; buut in all eventss, a special plaace.

The White Shamaan site itself ppossesses otheer exceptionall ustic propertiees that are disccussed later in n this chapter. acou ging rocks Ring ock features – Therre are certain,, moderately rrare natural ro boullders, outcropps, rock projeections or iso olated slabs – that have the disttinctive abilitty to issue mu usical soundss wheen struck witth a small hammer-stonee. They cann prod duce gong- orr bell-like tonnes or other riinging effectss that would norm mally be expeected from metallic m ratherr n stone objects. They are a curiosity that can stilll than intriigue us today. The rocks innvolved are ussually basalticc or granitic g and offten, though nnot always, arre propped upp in some s fashionn that allows them to reesonate. Suchh posiitioning is usually u of naatural occurreence, thoughh hum man augmentattion is to be suuspected in so ome cases.

Notwithstandding the draamatic painteed panels inn the shelter, Zintggraff recalls that the acouustics of the place p caught his attention a at thhe time of disscovery (Zinttgraff 2005, pers. comm.). c In term ms of echoes,, the present writer w confirmed (aand audio-recoorded) duringg a visit to thee site in June 20055, that a loud voice directedd at the flat White W Shaman pannel (the otheer pictographs are paintedd on curved surfaaces in the shelter) prodduces excepttional echoes from the other sidee of the canyoon, approxim mately 150m distannt. Entire woords can echo back and it is possible to hear h fainter, secondary ecchoes from faarther down the caanyon. It requuires only a minimum m effoort of the imaginatiion to conceivve of the canyyon as being fuull of spirits – one can only gueess how the echoes e would have meone in a profoundly altered state of affected som consciousnesss in a given cultural conttext. It was found f that percussiive sounds did d not produuce such effeective echoes as didd vocal stimulli.

ging rocks haave been noteed in variouss parts of thee Ring worlld. On the Karetski Penninsula at Lake L Onega,1 Russsia, for instannce, a slab of rock over a deep d crack inn the bedrock b at thhe water’s edgge is said to issue a deep,, resonant sound when w struck w with a piece of o wood. Thee nd reverberatees down the crack and prropagates outt soun onto o the surface of o the lake, w which then actss as a kind off amp plifier so thatt the rock’s sound can be b heard forr

q of the t Lower Pecos P Although thhe acoustic qualities painted rockk shelters iss openly recognised by local researchers and a inhabitannts (Boyd 2005, pers. com mm.),

1

22

Thee Finnish name foor Lake Onega is A Aänijärvi, “Soun nd Lake”.

PAUL DEVEREUX: THE H ASSOCIATION OF PREHISTORIC ROCK-A ART AND ROC CK SELECTION N kilometres around a (Lauhhakangas 19999). The Karretski Peninsula is a major focuus of Neolithhic or Bronze Age petroglyphs and they surrround this resoonant slab off rock n carved. that is itself not

s numberr of ringingg rocks are recorded forr A small soutthern Californnia but how they were ussed is poorlyy undeerstood. Som me thin sheets oof rock projeccting from thee grou und at Pahpahhwits in Tulaare County riing like bellss wheen struck, andd there is som me evidence th hat they weree used d by passing Yokuts Y as a trrail shrine. An n ethnologicall sourrce suggests that t ringing rrocks were in nvolved withh girlss’ puberty cerremonies (Heedges 1990). In Nigeria, itt has similarly beeen noted thatt such featurees have beenn ociated with rites r of passage ceremonies (Merriam m asso 1964 4). Fagg sugggested associiation with fertility rites inn Britttany – it is known k that m megalithic sitees there weree often n the targets of o such usage at least as recently as Earlyy Mod dern times.

Other rock-aart associated with ringing rock examplees are to be foundd in the Sannganakallu-Kuupgal area off the Southern Deeccan, India. The T key rock art sites occuur on the promineent landmarkk of Hireguudda Hill, where w hundreds of petroglyphs are a to be founnd along a dolerite o the rock-arrt is fairly recent but much of it cliff. Some of dates back to t the Neolithhic era. The site s had origiinally been discoveered in 1892 but had subsequently beccome lost to researchers until the Bellary Diistrict Archaeologiccal Project, directed byy Nicole Booivin, managed to identify i it again in 2002 witth the help of local people (Boivvin 2004). Thee rocks have round r and poliished depressions that t emit mussical ringing tones t when sttruck with granite stones. The efffect, describeed as being “ggongt the archaeoologists by a local like”, was deemonstrated to informant, who w referred to the inscrribed boulderrs as “musical stones”. Similaar naturally accoustic rocks were r art site inn the district. also identifieed at another rock

de to build a Cleaarly much ressearch requireed world wid betteer picture of the t functions aascribed to naatural musicall rock k features. Site Examples

o rock gonggs, Bernard Fagg, F That assiduoous seeker of found ringingg rocks in Briitain, Brittanyy and various parts of Africa (Faagg 1957). He reported freequent associaations with rock art a locations and also wiith rock sliddes – smoothed strrips of slopingg rock that apppear to have been used in cerem monial contexxts. In Brittanyy he noted thaat the fallen and broken b menhiir, Er Grah, a mighty 3422-ton piece of grannite of a kindd not found locally, rang when w struck – “hadd a voice”, ass he put it. Also in Brittany, he found a smalll rock gong inn the cave shrrine of St Gilddas at Castennec, near n Pontivy. Now placed upside down on a recent pedesttal, Fagg surm mised that it was w a Christiannised pagan featuree.

Figure F 2.5. Thhe author strikking the ringin ng rock at Z Zion Wash, C California. n Wash Zion s found onn The ringing rock at Zion Wash is a small slab e side of o a low, rockky ridge at th he mouth of a the eastern dry wash in the Chuckwalla C M Mountains, closse to the statee line between souuthern California and Ariizona. It wass fi reported as a chiming slab by Kenn discovered and first dges (Hedges 1992). Althoough there iss a scatter off Hed petro oglyphs at vaarious points aalong the ridg ge, the ringingg rock k is singled ouut with a peckked glyph amo ong an area off unm marked rocks. Most of the rock-art elsew where on thee ridge comprises curvilinear aand rectilineaar motifs andd mages, but the glyph on thee occaasional representational im ringing rock is a solitary absstract amorph hous marking,, h no other elem ments. Hedgges points out that althoughh with appaarently abstraact, such m markings may y have beenn bizaarrely represenntational if ccreated as a result of ann entraanced, mind-aaltered state ((the function of the site iss unkn nown but shaamanistic use,, such as it being b a visionn quesst site, is stroongly suspectted). Again,, we have too think k how the souund would haave registered d on probablyy lonee individuals in highly suggestible alteered states off

Figure 2.4. Bell Rock, Bowers B Museum, Santa Anaa. This 7-ton booulder acquireed its name beecause it prodduced musical tonees when struckk. It was brougght to the musseum from Bell Canyon C in 19336, where it had been topppled from its posiition by vandaals seeking a legendary treaasure that was suppposedly burieed beneath it. Once off its perch p atop other rocks, r the graanite boulderr could no loonger resonate freeely and so lost its bell-like toone. 23

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

F Figure 2.6. Geeneral view off the Corn Sprring ringing roock and recesss. of peckp marks.. Investigatioon by the present writerr reveealed the slab to be a ringing rock. This feature seemss not to be mentionned in the lim mited literaturre on the site,, t have beenn overlooked (rather thann and it appears to overrheard…); thee figures in thhis chapter aree presumed too be th he first publishhed photograpphs of it.

mall stone, thee slab consciousnesss: when strucck with a sm rings with a particularly pure, p metallic tone; to som meone living in a cuulture in which it was belieeved spirits ressided in rocks, thiss action couldd be likened too Aladdin rubbbing his lamp to reelease its geniie. Corn Springg walla This equallyy remote site is also inn the Chuckw Mountains of o California, on either sidee of a broad wash, w flanking whaat had been a major Ameerican Indian trail, and is located in the forrmer Cahuillaa Indian terriitory. Although theere is no direect ethnograpphic evidence,, this site is also thought mostt likely to haave been a vision v ( 19966). quest locale (Whitley Although thhere are a feew representaational petrogglyph stick figuress at the Corn Spring site, most of the rock markings aree abstract paatterns and shhapes of the kind thought by many rock-aart researcherrs to result from i mental pattterns produceed in entoptic imaagery – that is, trance statess (Siegel & West W 1975; Lewis-William L ms & Dowson 19889; Whitley 1996; Dronffield 1995). This imagery (ratther than itss ascribed meaning) m is crossc cultural beccause it resuults from reaactions to trrance induction (especially ( the use of hallucinoggenic substances) within w the huuman brain, and a so is the same everywhere in i all periods.

Fig gure 2.7. The line of peck-m marks on the ringing r rock. s that soome of the maarkings on thee It is tempting to suggest ock slab, or att outccrop relate to sounds produuced by the ro leastt that they are a sign that a rringing rock is present. Butt this is, of course, pure speculatiion. n Menyn Carn

The rock art is notable at this site becaause it often seems v in the roock and to edgges of rock paanels. to relate to veins At one outtcrop displaying such peetroglyphs onn the western sidee of the waash there is a rocky reecess, protruding frrom which is a horizontal slab supporteed by small rock cobbles. It dispplays what apppears to be a line

h long beenn The source of the bluestones att Stonehenge has ntified as thhe Preseli H Hills of SW Wales andd iden partiicularly the Carn C Menyn rocky outcrops with theirr feldsspar-spotted dolerite d (Thom mas 1923). It has moree 24

PAUL DEVEREUX: THE H ASSOCIATION OF PREHISTORIC ROCK-A ART AND ROC CK SELECTION N

F Figure 2.8 Onee of the Carn Menyn M outcrop ops the local l sarsen sttone on Salisbbury Plain? Was W it becausee they y were thoughht to possess charisma, ma ana, from thee Presseli region andd became partt of that curio ous Stone Agee trafffic of place relics – “pieces of placces” (Bradleyy 2000 0)? Darvill & Wainwright comment:

recently beenn affirmed thhat while tor-llike rock outccrops across the Preseli rangge contributeed bluestonees to Stonehenge, all the blueestone pillarss from the inner S Plainn monument came c horseshoe seetting in the Salisbury from Carn Menyn, M as did about half thhe other bluesttones at the site. The Carn Menyn M outcropps are riven with vertical fracttures producinng column-likke rock formaations that would have h been paarticularly suiitable for levering away (or collecting if falleen due to erossion) to be used as standing stonnes, with littlee dressing beinng necessary.

In prehistoric p tim mes the strikking monumen ntality of thee colu umnar crags, the blue coloour of the dollerite and thee whitte spots of thee feldspars trrapped within it must havee inveested the outcrrops with stronng symbolism and mythicall pow wers.

a is rich in megalithic monuments andd was The Preseli area clearly regarrded as a special, sacred disstrict in Stonee Age times. Sincce 2002, thhe Strumblee-Preseli Anncient Communitiess and Enviroonment Studyy (SPACES) team has been woorking to obtaain a better unnderstanding of o its archaeology;; in 2005, it uncovered the remnantts of presumably prehistoric walling encllosing a speecific promontory area on one of the Carnn Menyn outccrops W 20005). As the investigators note, (Darvill & Wainwright within and arround this deffined area aree numerous “pprone pillar stones with clear siggns of workinng”. Some of these t m relatively reccent times, beccause Carn Menyn M may be from has been pluundered for stone at timees throughouut the ages, but som me are probablly considerablly more ancient.

Thiss may well bee correct but is based on purely visuall inforrmation. It iss argued heree that an add ditional factorr may y well have been acoustiical. Half a century ago,, Bern nard Fagg observed o thatt the sanctitty seeminglyy bestowed upon thhe Preseli Hills in prehistoric times wass prob bably “due in some measurre to the ringiing quality off so many m of its rocks”. In O October 2005 5, the authorr cond ducted a prelim minary surveyy of one of thee Carn Menynn outccrops. It was found f that a suurprisingly high proportionn – ab bout 12 perceent – of the rrocks tested using u a smalll ham mmer-stone didd indeed posssess ringing characteristics c s (Fig g. 2.9). It woould be unwisse to ignore this acousticc facto or when attem mpting to fathhom the reaso ons why thesee rock ks were thoughht to be so impportant.2

w the Much intelleectual energy has been exppended on how bluestones made m the longg (380km) jouurney from Prreseli to Salisbury Plain – whethher by natural or human ageency, l would have h been quite feasible. Less though the latter thought has been applied to why they were identifieed as being speciaal by the buuilders of Stoonehenge. Was W it because, wheen wet, their bluish b colour was distinct from

2

Durring this prelimiinary inspection, other possible acoustic a featuress were noticed, includiing possible connstructed stone sound boxes, butt more detailed study is required before tthey can be confiirmed.

25

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS or arround a site. One is the m manner in whiich sound cann behaave in unusuaal ways in the open at certain places. Forr instaance, there has been an anecdotaal report off “anaathoths” – opeen-air places on the Preselli Hills wheree echo oes can be heard. Thesse have app parently beenn discovered close to standing stones.4 Orr there is thee mple of Writinng Rock, a w white granite boulder b in thee exam Chey yenne River Valley V in Nortth Dakota. Th his is indentedd with h cupules andd incised withh markings and a is locatedd close to a spring with w panoram mic views – a ty ypical vision-quesst location. It is also set witthin a natural amphitheatree with h such exceptiional acousticss that people talking t acrosss the valley and inn other distaant locations are perfectlyy gested that thee audiible; by the saame token it hhas been sugg soun nd of the rockk being poundded would hav ve transmittedd long g distances thhrough the vaalley. In sim milar vein, thee Hersschel petroglyyph site in Saskatchewan, Canada, hass been n noted as beinng a resonant location where sounds cann be amplified a (Steiinbring 1993)). Indians had d used the sitee as a buffalo jumpp where herdss of bison weere stampededd t be killed annd butchered below. It hass overr a precipice to been n suggested thhat the speciaal acoustic qu ualities of thee place would havee amplified thhe sounds pro oduced in thee king of hunddreds of cuupules hamm mered into a mak mon nolithic rock there mimickking the soun nd of a bisonn herd d on the move.

Figure 2.9. The authoor testing a ringing rock at Carrn Menyn.

r soundd Speccific types off site can also transmit or receive on an a environmental scale. Reeturning to White W Shamann rock k-shelter as an example, it has been n noted thatt conv versation condducted in a nnormal talking g pitch withinn the rock-shelter r can be transmiitted with perffect fidelity too poin nts on the oppposite side off the canyon, well beyondd norm mal earshot (Zintgraff 22005, Boyd 2005, pers. comms.) In one experiment, five drums were beatenn hin the rock-shhelter by Ameerican Indian musicians m andd with the sound produuced was brooadcast so eff ffectively thatt trafffic stopped onn a highway seeveral kilomettres distant ass drivers got out off their vehiclees to investigaate the sourcee he sound (Zinttgraff 2005, ppers. comm.). It has furtherr of th been n observed thhat unusually deep mortar holes in thee floorr of the rockkshelter – holles probably too deep forr pracctical use in thhe grinding oof corn – can act in drum-like fashion wheen pestles aree thrust dow wn into them,, onant soundss caussing the whoole site to bbroadcast reso (Boy yd 2005, perss. comm.). At least two rocck art sites inn soutthern Califorrnia have ssimilarly beeen found too vario ously receive or transmit ssound on a lan ndscape scalee (Hed dges 1993). One O of these,, Wikwip (Eccho Rock), inn San Diego Countty, is a rock-sshelter in a distinctive rockk mation visible from afar; a characteristicc of the rock-form sheltter, which is known k to have been a cerem monial site off Kum meyaay Indianns, is that it ffocuses sound d within itselff so th hat conversation can be heaard in it from 100m 1 outside.. Ano other rock-sheelter in the saame county, at Canebrakee Wassh, does the reverse – connversation in n front of thee

Figure 2.100. The villagee name-plate at a Maenclochog. n without siignificance thhat a village about a It is surely not 10km to thhe south-wesst of Carn Menyn is called c Maenclochogg, Welsh for “ringing “ rockss” – a referennce to two locally famous naatural rock gongs g that were works in the 18th unfortunatelyy broken up during roadw century. (Intterestingly, thhere is a cham mbered tomb there as well.) g to the sonic s It is indicatiive of the loow priority given dimensions of o the landsccape in archaeological conntexts that it has taaken approxim mately 50 yearrs to test the Carn Menyn site as a a follow-upp to Fagg’s geeneral observaations concerning Preseli. P The new n findings suggest s three lines of further innvestigation: (i) the Carnn Menyn outccrops require a detailed acousstic survey to t obtain a more m r accurate asseessment of thhe proportionn of ringing rocks there; (ii) thee bluestones at a Stonehenge require testinng for chiming propperties (thouggh those still embedded inn the ground may have h now lostt their resonannt abilities, likke the Bell Rock exxample mentiioned earlier [Figure 2.4]), and (iii) other known k sourcees of pieces of places require testing for nooteworthy ringging characterristics.3 nomalies Acoustic An Apart from the broad areas of echoes and chiminng or o other form ms of ringing rockks, there are a variety of environmental acoustic phhenomena thaat can manifeest at

4

D. Bowen, B personal communication cciting a conversattion with the now w late John J Richards, a folklore museeum curator local to Preseli. Iff Richaards wrote about his observation oof “anathoths” on n the Preseli Hillss his notes n concerningg them seem noot to have been identified. It iss research that needs revvisiting.

3 The present writer is currenntly engaged onn some parts of o this programme.

26

PAUL DEVEREUX: THE ASSOCIATION OF PREHISTORIC ROCK-ART AND ROCK SELECTION paintings in it is broadcasted into the surrounding landscape.

external sources of sound vibrating both the ground and the surrounding air.

Sometimes sites can communicate to one another across the landscape. During their work on the acoustics of megalithic monuments, for instance, Keating and Watson found that, while the sound of drumming inside the Scottish chambered cairn of Camster Round faded away outside the monument, as expected, it could be heard inside the neighbouring cairn of Camster Long, hundreds of metres away. There are doubtless a great many other such instances of acoustic anomalies in archaeological contexts awaiting observation around the world. Environmental sound can interact with a monumental space in others ways, too. During a site visit, it was noticed that the tholos tomb known as the “Treasury of Atreus” at Mycenae had an acoustic “dead spot” in the middle of the floor directly beneath the 13.5m-high apex of the beehive-shaped ceiling, while around the curved walls at head height there can be heard a distinct buzzing sound, very similar to that of a swarm of bees. The buzzing is caused by the distortion of external ambient sound coming in through the great portal of the tomb, a variant on the well-known “whispering gallery” effect. There is a possible symbolic aspect to this effect in that the ancient Greeks associated bees with immortality – it was thought the spirits of the dead could enter bees. The origin of the beehive shape of tholos tombs is unknown but a reference to the associations of immortality and spirits with bees cannot be dismissed. The buzzing sound would have added an acoustic dimension to the visual symbolism. It might also have had an oracular function perceived as involving the voices of the ancestral dead laid out or interred in the tomb. The author has argued elsewhere that this kind of behaviour of sound at archaeological sites could involve a hitherto unrecognised aspect of archaeoacoustics – acoustical symbolism (Devereux, 2006).

Archaeoacousticians need to take note of all such phenomena. At present, most acoustic anomalies rely on chance observations to be reported and the information about them is therefore largely anecdotal. This is an indication of the low regard in which acoustical aspects of the environment are currently held in archaeological investigation rather than the potential significance of the phenomena themselves. It is hoped that, with the greater recognition of archaeoacoustics, this shortcoming will be addressed. Another problem with conducting an organised study of acoustic anomalies is that they can take so many – and often unexpected – forms, as the following site example illustrates. Site example Petroglyph Rock This feature is located in Petroglyphs Provincial Park, near Peterborough, Ontario. It possesses the largest concentration of ancient rock-face engravings in the province and some say in the whole of Canada. The rock is known to the Indians as Kinomagewapkong, Teaching Rocks, and is now housed within a protective structure that has a gallery allowing visitors to walk around the edge of the great sloping mass of marble containing the petroglyphs. The presence of the engravings was known locally from at least the 1920s, and probably much earlier, but they did not become known to outsiders until 1954, when a group of prospectors chanced across them. An initial assessment of the site yielded a count of 92 engravings but a much more thorough study in 1967 showed that there were fully 10 times that number, although many are extremely faint and easily missed by the untrained eye.

The echo characteristics of caves have already been noted but it is worth bearing in mind that cavern systems have other acoustic properties as well. The speleologist and hydraulics specialist, Norman Casteret, long ago reported on many such effects (Casteret 1940). He noted that “talking grottoes” were legion, and described instances where apparent distant voices turned out to be due to the distortion of sounds from subterranean streams or air currents. As he tellingly observed, such features were often employed as oracle sites in ancient times. He further recalled a situation in the Grotte de la Cigalère in which he and companions thought they had located a fullthroated cataract only to find after an hour’s investigation that it was an illusion caused by the roar of air forcing its way through a passage bottleneck. Casteret also remarked on how drips of water from cavern ceilings falling on clay floors could produce melodious tones like a “wellmodulated flute”; this is because over time the water hollows out a deep, narrow tube in the clay and each falling drop compresses the air within the tube causing it to escape with a whistle. He goes on to describe another type of phenomenon in which some subterranean passages amplify heartbeats, making them seem like

The engravings are reckoned to be between 600 and 1,100 years old. There are depictions of human figures with sunbursts around their heads, birds, canoes, snakes, and turtles, together with a welter of abstract signs. Present-day Indian (First Nation) people ascribe specific symbolic meanings to many of the other markings but the truth is no one knows for sure. What is clear is that this huge, flattish slab of white crystalline marble (metamorphosed limestone) was once the focus of intense spiritual interest and the question is why this was so. After all, there are other marble outcrops around, so what was special about this one? There have been suggestions that, as the slab slopes in a southeasterly direction, it perhaps faces sunrise at what had been a time of year important to the ancient people. But local enquiries during a site visit by the author and colleagues indicate an archaeoacoustic answer rather than an archaeoastronomical one. A 5m-deep fissure cuts across the rock’s surface; at random times the sound of underground water can be heard issuing from its depths. 27

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Witnesses describe the sound as being remarkably like the babble of human voices. This could explain why this particular outcrop was so venerated: the voices of the manitous issued from it. It may have been used as an oracle site.

Darvill, T. & Wainwright, G. 2005. Beyond Stonehenge: Carn Menyn and the Bluestones. British Archaeology July-August; 29-31. Dayton, L., 1992. Rock art evokes beastly echoes of the past. New Scientist, 28 November. Devereux, P. & Jahn, R.G., 1996. Preliminary investigations and cognitive considerations of the acoustical resonances of selected archaeological sites. Antiquity 70 (269); 665-66. Devereux, P., 2001. Stone Age Soundtracks – The Acoustic Archaeology of Ancient Sites. London: Vega (Chrysalis). Devereux, P., 2006. Ears and Years: Aspects of Acoustics and Intentionality in Antiquity, in C. Scarre & G. Lawson (eds.), op. cit. Dewdney, S., 1962. Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Dowson, T. & Lewis-Williams, D., 1989. Images of Power. Johannesburg: Southern Book Publishers. Dowson, T., 1992. Rock Engravings of Southern Africa. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. Dronfield, J., 1995. Migraine, Light and Hallucinogens: The Neurocognitive Basis of Irish Megalithic Art. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 14 (3). Fagg, B., 1957. Rock gongs and slides. Man 57 (32); 302. Feld, S., 1996. Waterfalls of Song: An Acoustemology of Place Resounding in Bosavi, Papua New Guinea, in Senses of Places, S. Feld and K.H. Basso (eds.). Santa Fe: School of American Research Press. Furst, P., 1976. Hallucinogens and Culture. Novato, California: Chandler & Sharp. Gell, A., 1995. The Language of the Forest: Landscape and Phonological Iconism in Umeda, in The Anthropology of Landscape, E. Hirsch and M. O’Hanlon (eds.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. Goldhahn, J., 2002. Roaring Rocks: An Audio-Visual Perspective on Hunter-Gatherer Engravings in Northern Sweden and Scandinavia. Norwegian Archaeological Review 35 (1); 29-61. Hedges, K., 1990. Petroglyphs in Menifee Valley. Rock Art Papers 7; 75-82. Hedges, K., 1992. The Petroglyphs of Zion Wash. American Indian Rock Art XVIII; 53-63. Hedges, K., 1993. Places to see and places to hear: rock art features of the sacred landscape, in Time and space: dating and spatial considerations in rock art research, J. Steinbring, A Watchman, P. Faulstich and P. Taçon (eds.). Melbourne: Australian Rock Art Research Association Occasional Publication 8; 121127. Jahn, R., P. Devereux & M. Ibison, 1996. Acoustic resonances of assorted ancient structures. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 99; 649-58. Jaynes, J., 1976. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Lauhakangas, R., 1999. A lithophonic drum in Lake Onega. Adoranten (Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art); 42-3. Lawson, G., Scarre, C., Cross, I. & Hills, C., 1998. Mounds, megaliths, music and mind: some thoughts

Concluding remarks A brief overview of the nascent study area of archaeoacoustics has been given together with recent examples of research on certain types of acoustic phenomena related to archaeological sites. It has been argued that acoustic factors need to be taken into account when the subject of landscape semiotics is under consideration in archaeological contexts. Acknowledgements For this particular study the writer is grateful for the onsite help and observations of Charla Devereux, Charles Laughlin, Lisa Roach and Jim Zintgraff, and for the more general help, information or observations afforded by Caroline Boyd, Ian Cook, Jeremy Harte, Ken Hedges, Robert Jahn, Neil Mortimer and David Whitley. The writer’s field study of the North American site examples included in this chapter was made possible by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. References Boivin, N., 2004. Rock art and rock music: petroglyphs of the South Indian Neolithic. Antiquity 78 (229); 3853. Boyd, C., 1998. Pictographic evidence of peyotism in the Lower Pecos, Texas Archaic, in The Archaeology of Rock-Art, C. Chippindale & P. Taçon (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 229-246. Boyd, C., 2003. Rock Art of the Lower Pecos. College Station: Texas A&M University Press. Bradley, R., 2000. An Archaeology of Natural Places. London: Routledge. Branagan, C., 1998. Scientists sound out stone theory. Reading Evening Post, 28 October. Bruchez, M.S., Artifacts that speak for themselves: Sounds underfoot in Mesoamerica. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 26 (1); 47-64. Casteret, N., 1940. Ten Years Under the Earth. London: Readers’ Union: J.M. Dent Cook, I., 2003. Ancient Acoustic Resonance Patterns Influence Regional Brain Activity. Princeton: International Consciousness Research Laboratories Internal Report. Dams, L., 1984. Preliminary findings at the ‘Organ’ sanctuary in the cave of Nerja, Malaga, Spain. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 3 (1); 1-13. Dams, L., 1985. Palaeolithic lithophones: descriptions and comparisons. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 4 (1); 31-46.

28

PAUL DEVEREUX: THE ASSOCIATION OF PREHISTORIC ROCK-ART AND ROCK SELECTION on the acoustical properties and purposes of archaeological spaces. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 15 (1); 11-34. Lewis-Williams, J.D., 2002. A Cosmos in Stone. Walnut Creek, California: Altamira Press. Merriam, A., 1964. The Anthropology of Music. Northwestern University Press. (Citing Conant, F., Rocks that ring: their ritual setting in Northern Nigeria. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences Series II, 23 (2); 155-62 and Vaughan, J., 1962. Rock paintings and rock gongs among the Marghi of Nigeria. Man 62; 49-52.) Mohs, G., 1994. Sto:lo sacred ground, in Sacred Sites, Sacred Places, D. Carmichael, J. Hubert, B. Reeves and A. Schanche (eds.). London: Routledge. Palmer, D. & Pettitt, P., 2001. In search of our musical roots. Focus 105; 80-4. Rajnovich, G., 1994. Reading Rock Art: Interpreting the Indian Rock Paintings of the Canadian Shield. Toronto: Natural Heritage/ Natural History Inc. Reznikoff, I., 1995. On the sound dimension of prehistoric painted caves and rocks, in Musical Signification, E.Taratsi (ed.). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter; 541-55. Rossing, T., 2000. Science of Percussion Instruments. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. Rowland, I. & Howe, T.N. (eds.), 1999. Vitruvius: Ten Books on Architecture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Scarre, C. & Lawson, G. (eds.), 2006. Archaeoacoustics. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monographs. Siegel, R. & West, L. (eds.), 1975. Hallucinations. New York: John Wiley. Steinbring, J. 1993. Comments, in Waller 1993 op. cit. Thomas, H.H., 1923. The source of the stones of Stonehenge. Antiquaries Journal 3; 239-60. Turnbull, C.M., 1961. The Forest People. New York: Touchstone (Simon & Schuster), 1968 edition. Urqhuart, E., 1999. Echoes of the past stand revealed in Stone Age sites. The Scotsman, 18 November. Venkatesh, M., 2004. In Shiva’s temple, pillars make music. The Telegraph (India), July 26. Waller, S., 1993. Sound reflection as an explanation for the content and context of rock art. Rock Art Research 10 (2); 91-101. Waller, S., 1999. Rock Art Acoustics in the Past, Present and Future. 1999 IRAC Proceedings 2; 11-20. Watson, A., 1997. Hearing again the sound of the Neolithic. British Archaeology, April 6. Watson, A. & Keating, D., 1999. Architecture and sound: an acoustic analysis of megalithic monuments in prehistoric Britain. Antiquity 73 (280); 325-336. Watson, A. & Keating D., 2000. The Architecture of Sound in Neolithic Orkney, in Neolithic Orkney in its European Context, A. Ritchie (ed.). Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monographs; 259-263. Whitley, D., 1996. A Guide to Rock Art Sites: Southern California and Southern Nevada. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press. Whitley, D., 1998. Finding rain in the desert: landscape, gender and far-western North American rock-art, in The Archaeology of Rock-Art, C. Chippindale & P.

Taçon (eds.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 11-29.

29

Chapter 3

Foollowingg Ariannaa’s Threaad: S Symbolic c Figuress at Femaale Rockk Art Sites att Naquanne and Inn Valle, Valcamon V nica, Italyy1 Anngelo Fosssati Abstract A labyrinth figure, possibble ancient innitiation game, lies R Engravinngs of on rock 1 off the National Park of the Rock Naquane, Caapo di Ponte, just in the ceentre of a sitee that once was siimply knownn as Aquane (fig. 3.12). This probably waas one of the most m importannt areas of cuultual activities relaated to the rocck art tradition in Valcamoonica. Looking at thhis rock with the eyes of a non-expert viisitor, the surface will w appear ass a confused set s of figures: men and dogs aree hunting deerr, while womeen are workinng on looms, duelllists are fighhting while warriors w folloow a horseman fullly armed, proobably a chieff (fig. 3.2). Moost of the figures appear a conneected to otherr engravings:: cup marks, shovvels, footprinnts, huts. All A this imaagery, depicted on the rock alll around the labyrinth, iss the t last prehistoric rock art phase onn this witness of the surface: thatt of the Iron Age, a periood where rock art appears as thhe production of the male warrior w class of o the Camunnian society (De Marinis 1988; Fossati 19991). n present wiithin this art. Scholars S thinkk that Women are not almost 80% % of the 300,000 enggravings of the Valcamonicaa rock art traddition belongs to this periodd, the first millennnium BC. However, H is thhe entire rockk art tradition a construction of the malee classes or is it possible to define d themess and figures related to feemale activities? Thhe basis for this idea is, inn fact, what would w be still possibble today: •

• •

Figure 3.1. The T labyrinth oon rock 1 of Naquane. N

to go back to the origins of specific rockk art activitiees in some Valcamonicaa sites, suchh as Naquanne, Foppe di Nadro, N Luine, In Valle and other sites to correelate these acctivities to a special groupp, the women of the local aristocracy a k useful to understandingg the to creatte a reading key modalitty of engravinngs on the rockks at the sites

Valcamonica rock art traadition: a shoort introductiion 2 century, only the Cem mmo At the beginnning of the 20th boulders werre known in Valcamonica, V a long valley north n of the city off Brescia in Lombardy, L poppularly calledd “the rocks of thee puppets”, discovered d by the geograapher Walther Laeeng at the beginning b of the 20th cenntury 1

This paper devvelops ideas pressented in the papeer Nymphs, Wateerfowls and Saints: thee Role of Ethnography in the Interpretation of o the Rupestrian Trradition of Vaalcamonica, Itally, in the Seeminar Ethnography annd rock art, orgganized by the Oregon O Archaeollogical Society, Portlannd 3-6 September 2002. 2 All figures, whhere made by the author or “Le Orrme dell’Uomo”

Figure 3.2. Figures F of varrious ages on rock r 1 of N Naquane, Capoo di Ponte. 31

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS (Laeng 19144). Most disccoveries were made duringg the 1930s thankss to the archaeeologist Raffaaello Battagliaa and the anthropoologist Giovvanni Marro (Battaglia 1934; 1 Marro 1930)). A more sccientific compprehension of the different phaases was reacched during the t 1960s andd the 1970s, with the works off Emmanuel Anati A (Anati 1976) 1 d Studi Preisttorici and of other and his Centtro Camuno di scholars, amoong them espeecially Raffaeele De Mariniss (De Marinis 19888; 1995) (Milaan University) and our grouup of Footsteps off Man Archhaeological Society. Afterr the Garda Lake (1964) and Valtellina V (19666) discoveriees the central-easterrn Alps zone can be considdered a uniquee area with comm mon stylistic, thematic and a chronoloogical characteristiccs. The corre remains Valcamonica: an archaeologiccal, artistic and historical patrimonyy of inestimable value, inscribbed by UNES SCO in its World W Heritage Lisst, - the first rock art site together withh the French painted caves of thhe Vezere Vallley to be inclluded since 1979.3

Palaaeolithic (Anaati 1974). Figures are very v few, alll representing anim mals, especially elk and deeer (fig. 3.6).. munnian, is tieed to the Icee Thiss phase, calleed Proto Cam Agee art style, which w is no loonger limited d to caves inn Euro ope but also present p on opeen air rocks, as a testified byy the recent r findinggs in Spain and Portugal (A Abreu, Arcà & Fosssati 1995) and old discoveries in n Gobustan,, Azerrbaijan, on thhe southern Caaucasian slopees (Rustamovv 2000 0).

m located on flat open air rocks, heeavily The art is mainly polished andd moulded by the glaciers during d the lasst Ice Ages (fig. 3..3). From Pisoogne on the Iseo I lake, souuth of Valcamonicaa, to the sites of o Sellero - Grevo G in the middle m valley, the rock used iss sandstone, only occasioonally Piancogno). Inn the upper part p of the valley v limestone (P rock engraviings have beeen made on schist. Almosst all are engraviings, only seven painttings have been discovered to date (Fossati 2001a) (Fig. 3.4). The discovery off pieces of red ochre allows us to considerr that the engravinngs were also coloured or that other figgures only paintedd were added to the carvinngs. The engraavers used hammeering (the most m commonn) and scratcching techniques, with w the help of quartz toolls: it is commoon to find them abandoned near the rocks.

Fig gure 3.3. Rockk 35 of Naquanne mounted an nd eroded by the prehhistoric glacieer, Capo di Po onte.

p from m the Rock art coovers four fuundamental periods, Neolithic to the arrival of the Romanss (Anati 19766; De Marinis 19888; Fossati 19991, 1993b) (figg. 3.5). In thee first phase, from the end of thhe Neolithic to t the first Coopper Age (4th Millennium BC, 1st/2ndd styles off the Valcamonicaa rock art), toopographical figures consttitute the most diffused paattern. Theyy are the first ably tied to a real representatioons of the terrritory, probab division of agricultural lands l sanctionned by the ritual r engraving practice (Arcàà 1999, Fossati 1993a, 20002). Other figurees attributed to this phase are spirals and necklaces.

Figure F 3.4. Whheel with interrnal rays pain nted in red, Campaanine, Cimberrgo, Bronze Ag ge. The second phasee, which correesponds to the full Copperr m B BC, the so-called 3rd A Agee (4th-3rd millennium Valccamonica stylee), is characteerised by stelee and menhirs,, boullders that represent r thee first anth hropomorphicc divin nities of the alpine peoplee (Casini & Fossati F 1994).. The most imporrtant depictionn is the Sun n, sometimess represented as a man crowneed by a solaar circle withh beam ms (fig. 3.7), and a often assoociated with weapons. w Twoo otheer personages are representted: one femin nine, adornedd with h numerous jeewels (eye penndants, necklaaces, combs),, and another maale divinity, symbolised by a cloakk prov vided with fringes. f The repertoire is very rich,, inclu uding animalls such as deer, dogs, fo oxes, wolves,, cham mois, ibex, booar, bovines aand weapons, such as axes,, halb berds and dagggers. The chroonology is weell establishedd

t first phasee is preceded by a Most scholarrs think that this more ancientt period, perhaaps going bacck to the end of o the 3 This inclusion is not accomppanied by a reaal conservation of o the Valcamonica roock art. The probblems for the art arise from the want w or the lack of the management of the t engraved areas. In addition thhere is not a complete corpus publishedd of the rock enggravings and the visual context of the nature, n where the rock art is insertted, is strongly afffected by electric liness, industrial consttructions, roads and a wood works. These problems are discussed d in my recent paper Le L ultime ricerchhe e i problemi di gesstione dell’arte rupestre r della Vaalcamonica, in Atti A del Convegno: 2° Congresso C Internaazionale “Ricerchhe paletnologichee nelle Alpi Occidentalli”, Pinerolo (TO O), 17-19 Ottobrre 2003,Centro Studi S e Museo di Arte Preistorica P di Pineerolo (CESMAP)) in the press.

32

ANGELO FOSSATI O : FOLLO OWING ARIANN NA’S THREAD D

Sttyle

Themes

Chronollogy 133th-6th millennnium cal. BC

munnian Protocam

1stt-2nd

t 5th -4th millenniium cal. BC

t 4th -3rd millenniium cal. BC

r rd

3 A

3rd B-C-D B

2 2nd millenniuum cal. BC

4 4th

m cal. BC 1st millennium

Postcam munnian Roman - Mediaeeval – Recent

Figure 3.55. Themes andd Chronology of o Valcamonicca rock art. nks to depictted weapons,, especially the so-calledd than Rem medello type dagger, d whichh has a very well definedd trian ngular blade and a a half m moon shaped pommel. p It iss testified in conteemporary tom mbs at Remedello (2,900-2,40 00 cal. BC), annd moreover oon the Copperr Age stelae inn the Alpine Rangee, like in the beautiful com mpositions off Aostta, Sion, Arcoo or Lunigianaa (De Marinis 1994). ( 3rd B-C-D Valcamon nica styles) iss The third phase (the BC and corresponds to thee dated to the 2nd millennium B Bron nze Age (De Marinis 19955). The reperrtoire is moree redu uced, but not less importannt: numerous weapons (noo long ger associatedd with divinnities), ploug ghing scenes,, rituaal scenes formed fo by praying anth hropomorphs,, sym mbols (solar siggns and shoveels), charts. Th he chronologyy is en nsured by the presence of w well recognisaable weapons::

Figure 3.6. Deer D with turnned head, Luinne, Boario Teerme, Palaeeolithic Age. 33

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS Early Bronzee Age halberdds (fig. 3.8), Middle M Bronzee Age axes and Reecent-Final Bronze B Age spearheads. s Inn the Final Bronzee Age (12th -99th century BC C) the first waarrior figures appeaar, a prelude to t the immensse repertoire of o the Iron Age, thee 1st Millenniuum BC (Fossaati 1992). i the This last preehistoric phasee (the so-calleed 4th style) is richest and the t best datedd (Fossati 19991). It is probbably tied to the initiation i ritess of young peeople of the local warrior aristocracy, not excluding e a reelation with sports mon meetings or games. Wee can like activitiess during comm find hunting scenes, rituall duels, races and a armed daances, w muusical instrum ments, constructionss, wagons, weapons, agricultural scenes, s figurees with a stronng symbolic value v (such as footprints, f cuup marks, swastikas, stars), divinities annd topographiccal representaations. Engravvings took on greaater realism, liike a descriptiive naturalism m (De Marinis 19888). Warriors emerge e with great g strength: war scenes howeever and warrriors in com mbat are relattively rare. Heavilyy armed warriiors are oftenn shown with their weapons raiised in exalttation. In duuelling sceness the contenders face f each othher lightly arrmed, as if for f a sporting evennt (fig. 3.9). s by side, the Duellists annd onlookers are placed side former with a smaller size, leading one to assume theey are teenagers. Footprints F or footwear f withh laces also apppear to belong to boys (Fossati 1998). This constant referrence suggests thatt Iron Age roock art shouldd be interpreteed as votive imagees engraved onn the occasionn of initiationn rites or feasts thhrough whicch young men m of the local aristocracy gained g accesss to adult society. As weell as duelling, hoorse-riding, balancing feeats, racing and dancing fullyy armed and deer d hunting were w probablyy part of the trial. Cup C marks grouped in eighht and the so-ccalled “Camunnian Rose” (a symbol origginated from m the i sym mbols. swastika) probably constiituted other initiation r Social differences are alsoo shown by sccenes where riders b their attenddants. are escorted by

Figu ure 3.7. The Sun S God on Osssimo 9 stele, Copper Age.

a divided inn five The chronoloogy of the Iroon Age rock art, different sub-phases, is linnked not only to the study of o the a relativve chronologyy, but superimposittions, which assures also to the depiction d of weapons. w Theese arms are very well characteerised, like shhields, constanntly circular inn the first Iron Agge, and quadrangular-oval during the seecond Iron Age, duue to the inflluences exerciised firstly byy the Etruscans annd then by the Celts. Particular weaapons appear in thee Late Iron Age, A such as the halberd-aaxe, a half moon blade b shaped axe, a typical weapon of the Central-Easteern Alps population, or thhe Introbio knnives, with the chaaracteristic annchor-shaped point saver: both these weapoons are founnd in contem mporary tombbs or settlements (Fossati 1991)).

Fig gure 3.8. Halbberds engraveed on a rock near Termen, C Ceto, Early Brronze Age. and even single artist’s a hands..4 Second Iro on Age styless are the direct coonsequence of the separattion from thee uscan world caused c by C Celtic invasion ns in the Poo Etru Plain n. Styles becoome decadent and themes poor. p It is nott posssible to speak of a Celtic aart phase in th he Camunniann rock k art, even iff the Celts ttransmitted to o the nearbyy popu ulation their preference foor a symbolicc and almostt

i a chronoloogical indicattor. Until thee 4th Also style is century BC styles s were innfluenced by Etruscan E art: from the linear geometric g styyle (8th cenntury) to the full naturalistic phase p (5th cenntury) (De Marinis M 1988).. The apogee of naturalism n is reached at thhe end of thee 6th century whenn it is possibble to recogniise artistic schhools

4 As the so called “Paspardo school” or the “Artist off the astronauts”” (actuaally warriors withh strange helmetss) of Zurla and Fo oppe di Nadro.

34

ANGELO FOSSATI O : FOLLO OWING ARIANN NA’S THREAD D In Valcamonica V the rupestriann tradition co ontinued untill the arrival of thee Romans (116 BC) (Fosssati 1991). A on of about 6,000 soldiers commanded by b the consull legio Publlio Silio Nerrva subjected in a single fast militaryy cam mpaign Triump mplini, Camunnni and Ven nnonetes, thee inhaabitants of Vaaltrompia, Vaalcamonica an nd Valtellina.. Thiss is attested by b the registraation of these names in thee Trop paeum Alpium m, the monum ment built by the Emperorr Aug gustus in 6-77 AD at L La Turbie (F France). Thee interrruption of thhe rupestrian ttradition is peerhaps due too the assumption of o the Roman culture durin ng the secondd part of the 1st ceentury AD (F Flavian Age). There was a wing econom mic, cultural and religious attractionn grow caussed by the Roman R settlem ments, in partticular by thee new w colony of Ciivitas Camunnnorum6, which h reduced andd finallly destroyedd the power oof the aristoccratic classess who ose traditionall themes had constituted, until u then, thee icon nographic patrrimony of thee rock engrav vings (Fossatii 1991 1). male rock art production aat Naquane, In Valle and d Fem otheer sites w could erase the Iron Age engravings from fr the rockss If we (som mething that can c be easily done on the tracings), thee resu ult would be thhat important sites as Naqu uane (Capo dii Pontte)7, In Valle (Paspardo) annd a few otherr sites, clearlyy and abundantly frrequented duriing the Iron Age A by youngg c see from ttheir engravin ngs), appearedd warrriors (as we can diffeerently (poorrly?) engravved during the t previouss perio ods. Only soome Bronze Age figures are, in fact,, engrraved on the rocks in Naaquane: group ps or isolatedd pray ying figures onn rocks 1, 11,, 14, 23, 26, 32, 3 35, 44, 47,, 49, 50, 57, 59, 71, 72, 99; llooms on rocck 1; shovelss 2, 99; Copperr (palette) on rock 1, 11, 35, 44, 47, 50, 57, 72 e less: dagggers on the rocks 23 andd Agee figures are even 100;; anthopomorpphs on rock 1; ploughing sccenes on rockk 94; Neolithic/Caalcholithic toppographic an nd ploughingg nes on rock 999. scen

Figure 3.9. Duellists D on a rock of Vite-D Deria, Pasparrdo. mes have a chhronological value: v an iconic artt. Some them horse riding is possible onnly starting froom the 8th cenntury Etruscan inscrriptions are possible p only after BC; North-E the 6th centuury BC. Somee Latin letterss must be dated to the end of the 1st century BC, B due to thee Roman arrivval in the valley in 16 BC.

V is not different from m Naquane: most of thee In Valle figurres belong to the Iron Agee, with abund dant scenes off duells and warrioors. Groups oof Bronze Ag ge figures aree present: praying figures, shovvels. These fig gures overlapp earliier imagery suuch as spiralss and daggerss, probably off Neolithic or Calchholithic date ((fig. 3.10).

munni, a popullation Iron Age rocck art was madde by the Cam associated with w the Eugaanea gens by Roman histoorians (Cato cited by Plinius III, 133-1335). The culltural peculiarity of o the area is testified, at least l from thee 5th century BC,, by the diff ffusion from Valtellina too the Giudicarie of o same-kind potteries (thee wine vesseels of Breno/Dos dell'Arca/Love d ere type), byy the autonom mous writing tradittion utilising the t north-Etruuscan alphabett (the Camunnian alphabet) annd, last but not n least, byy the w call “rockk art” (De Maarinis figurative lannguage that we 1988, Fossatti 1991). Thiss wide area, even e if with sttrong connections with the Rettic world of the t Adige Vaalley, u underr the commoon ethnos off the should be unified Euganei.5

w was the culttural situationn during the Bronze B Age inn How Valccamonica? During D this pperiod (that is the phasee betw ween the end of the 3rd M Millennium BC C and the 9thh centtury BC) Valccamonica apppears to be in ncluded in thee areaa of the Polada culture (Early Bronzze Age) andd di un n territorio fra archeologia a e artte rupestre , 200 04, pp. 142-148).. Thesee studies are suuperficial, in myy opinion, and do d not take intoo accou unt many aspects of the archaeoological and culttural situation inn Lomb bardy during the Iron I Age. 6 Civiitas Camunnorum m was a city of grreat importance during d the Romann timess, not less im mportant than B Brescia, Bergam mo or Verona:: archaaeologists have found f a circus, a theatre, a spaa, and numerouss private and public buildings of major size. 7 It’s the popular nam me of the Nationall Park of the Rocck Engravings att Capo o di Ponte (BS).

5 I totally agree with this interrpretation propossed by R. De Marinis M (1988). Recentlly few scholars have publishedd papers that linnk the Camunni to thee Celtic world, from f the ethnic and a linguistic pooint of view (as V. Maariotti, The Romaan Circus of Civvidate Camuno, schede s didattiche, 20033, Cividate Cam muno, and A. Moorandi, L’iscrizioone di Grevo in Valcam monica, in S. Soolano-A. Marrettaa, Grevo. Alla scooperta

35

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS subsequentlyy, during the Middle-Recent Bronze Agge in the Terramarre-Benacense Culture, as is i confirmed by a series of potttery complexees and of sporadic findingss (De Marinis 19888). For the Final F Bronze Age, A pottery is i too rare to perm mit a better comprehensio c on of the culltural situation, eveen if the bronzze findings suggest a conneection with the so-called Luco-M Meluno groupp, a central alpine a culture. B Age are, a certainly, less The engravinngs of the Bronze studied comppared with thhe papers and the corpus of o the rocks publishhed regardingg other periodds, for examplle the Copper Age and Iron Age (Fossati 20011b).

Fig gure 3.10. Praaying figures oof the Middle Bronze Age ovverlaps a Neollithic spiral, Inn Valle rock 4, 4 Paspardo.

From the Coopper Age onnwards, beginns the depictioon of weapons. During D the Chalcolithicc period, these compositionss of weapons appear as very regularr and calligraphic, while in thhe Bronze Age A the armss are positioned inn a disorderly way and in heterogenneous groups. Thesse weapons, axes, a daggers,, halberds, knnives, spears and swords, s are enngraved in different periodds on the same roccks, as we undderstand studyying their typoology (fig. 3.11). It is often poossible, in facct, to compare the ments, engraved weeapons with reeal objects fouund in settlem tombs or hoards (Fossati 2001b). Thiis is the case with the halberdss, that havee a triangulaar blade wiith a semicircular base, very similar to thhe Montemerano, Calvatone annd Cotronei tyypes dated too the Early Brronze Age, but alsoo the typical alpine a dagger, the Ledro daagger, can be recoggnised in the rock engravinngs. The axees are usually of thhe shovel typee, a shape thaat appears during a passage phasse between thhe end of the Early Bronzee Age and the begiinning of the Middle Bronnze Age. The axes with a bell-sshape blade are a datable too the Middlee and Recent Bronzze Age (De Marinis M 1995).

Fig gure 3.11. Grooups of Bronzze Age weapon ns, Foppe di Nadro, rock 223, Ceto. speccial weapons like swords were found in i the waterss (ofteen rivers) andd suggests a ritual meanin ng to rock artt activ vity.8 Usuallyy the rocks - moulded by the glaciers appeear as petrifieed waves, givving the imprression to thee obseerver of beingg in front off water.9 Thiis connectionn with h the theme of o the water bbecame very strong duringg the following Iroon Age rock art, as I willl demonstratee laterr in this paper.

mpare this occcurence withh the It is also poossible to com votive deposits or hoards typical t of the Bronze Age in i the whole of Eurrope. Due to the fact that thhese deposits have sometimes been found in springs, swam mps and lakes, few scholars have spoken of votive activitty. It is also clear that some of these hoardds have matterials that caan be considered as “male” objeects - e.g. the weapons - annd for o the this reason can perhaps bee related to iniitiation rites of male youth. If we transfeer this idea too rock art, wee can o weapons as a consider thee execution of figures of symbolic subbstitution of a real act which w had a ritual r meaning. Thhis idea has soometimes beenn associated with w a sacred attituude of a “pooor” populationn that could offer only substituutions of weaapons and noot the real obbjects (Malmer 19991). In any case, c it can bee assumed thaat the practice of rock r art for thhese people was w a very sttrong ritual disposiition, with the same value that other grroups could confer to different riitual acts, inclluding those of o the votive hoards.

The depiction of weapons proposes the research of rockk a relatingg to the preseence of imag gery having a art areas sexu ual value. The T concentraation of succh images onn certaain rocks can represent a special sign in ndicating thatt the site s can be viisited only byy males. Whatt to say if thee sym mbol is of fem male type? Thee opposite forr sure. This iss the case of the soo called palettta figure (fig g. 3.12). Thee paleetta consists of a quadrrangular (rarrely circular)) engrraving with a handle (oftten also with h a pommel).. 8 As suggested by P. Frontini, Aspettii rituali delle dep posizioni di armii duran nte l’età del Bronzo in Italia setttentrionale: alcun ni spunti, in 2°° Convvegno Internazionnale di Archeologgia Rupestre. “Arrcheologia e Artee Rupesstre. L'Europa. Le L Alpi. La Valcaamonica.” , Atti del Convegno dii Studii, Darfo-Boario Terme T 2-5 Ottobbre 1997, a cura di A. Fossati-P.. Fronttini, pp. 105-112, Milano. 9 I haave touched on thhis point in my rrecent paper Nym mphs, Waterfowlss and Saints: the Rolee of Ethnographhy in the Interp pretation of thee Rupesstrian Traditionn of Valcamoonica, Italy, in n the Seminarr Ethno ography and rocck art, organizedd by the Oregon n Archaeologicall Socieety, Portland 3-6 September 20022, the proceedingss of which are inn the prress.

Moreover the rocks engraaved are oftenn related to waater F di Nadro, e.g. rocks 4 and the 22-23 of Foppe c of a strream; the rocks of Valcamonicaa, follow the course Luine, Valccamonica, ovverlook the Boario spa; the Castelletto roock was foundd few metres from f the wateers of the Garda laake - and this can be linked to the factt that 36

ANGELO FOSSATI O : FOLLO OWING ARIANN NA’S THREAD D

Fig gure 3.14. Looms and palettte on rock 1 of o Naquane, Bronze Age. Caapo di Ponte, B

Figure 3.12.. Paletta figurres from Dos Costapeta, C rocck 1, Paaspardo.

Figu ure 3.15. Paleetta and horsem man on rock 1 of Naquane, C Capo di Ponte,, Iron Age.

Figure 3.113. Praying figgures associated to a palettta, Dos Coostapeta, rockk 1, Paspardo, Bronze Age.

The paletta figuure appears dduring the Middle M Bronzee Agee, continuing to be pressent in the iconographicc repeertoire during the rest of this period, and a seems too disap ppear from thhe context durring the midd dle part of thee Iron n Age, at the end e of what iss called the 4th h 2 style (endd of th he 6th centuryy BC). Durinng the Iron Ag ge, the palettaa figurres are assocciated with w warriors. On O rock 1 off Naq quane, in a scene publishedd many timess, a paletta iss asso ociated with a labirynth; in another famous f scenee acco ompanies whaat is called thee “procession of the chief”” (fig. 3.15).

On the basiss of the variaation of thesee elements (bbody, handle, pom mmels), 21 different d typees of shovell are recognizablee (Fossati 19987). These shovels s are often placed side by side, in couples, c set in i a horizonttal or metimes assocciated vertical wayy. Praying figgures are som with them (ffig. 3.13), at other o times grooups of five or o six shovels are together in horizontal h linees. On rock 1 of c Naquane, shhovels are neaar looms in at least three cases (fig. 3.14). 37

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS testified in the deposit d of V Via Rialto at Padoa, nearr Ven nice (fig. 3.17)).18 In a fem male tomb of the t beginningg of th he 3rd centurry BC, the soo called “Nerrca Tomb” att Estee, a paletta waas found amonng the objectss used for thee care of the fire, as spits, ladlle and so on. The palettaa coulld have been used for rem moving the ash hes or to takee out the t bread from m the fire: woould we interprret this objectt as a symbol of thhe fire or connnected to th he fire. Is thiss interrpretation working w alsoo for the figures inn Valccamonica rocck art? Thee connection with femalee imag gery would suuggest a posiitive answer, but we mustt not forget that we w have palettta figures alsso during thee n Age, often asssociated withh warriors. Is the paletta inn Iron this case a femalee symbol engrraved in a perriod in whichh 1 Or is it a real female figurres are never represented.19 mbol of a rituaal activity, prractised by th he aristocraticc sym classses that want the use of thhe fire?20 Is this t attitude a pracctice of votive substitution?221

Paletta-shovvels are presennt in the rock art of other areas, a as I have allready writtenn (Fossati 19987): in partiicular there manyy similarities with figurres in the rock engravings of o the Galiciann area in Spainn, and in Northern Portugal, offten associateed with swaastikas and horse h shoes.10 Thee chronology proposed p for these t figures is i the final Bronze Age (end off the 2nd milleennium BC). The Abbé Breuil published soome paletta figures painteed in P notiing a the megalithic context of the Iberian Peninsula, s in use in some s certain similaarity with launndry shovels still European arreas.11 In Poortugal, somee warrior funerary stelae (Final Bronze Agge) show the typical waarrior s spear and a chariot, also a a elements, succh as shield, sword, shovel type figure, somettimes interpreeted as a mirrror or h been propposed the razor.12 A similar innterpretation has for the paleetta of Valccamonica in the past.13 The similarity of the paletta wiith the razor of o the double blade b type or of thhe window typpe (and quadrrangular bodyy) has been alreadyy noted;14 because these typpes of razor have sometimes been b left in the ashes of fuunerary urns dated d to the Receent-Final Bronnze Age, som me scholars have thought that razors couldd have been used u to collecct the burned bonees and ashes during the funerary rituuals;15 other researcchers have prroposed that the paletta could c have been used u with thee same purpooses, with a clear funerary meaaning.16 But in what kindss of archaeoloogical contexts are the real palettte found? From m the Late Brronze Age onwards, the palette are left as thhe grave goods in female tombs. This is cleaar in the Golasecca, Villanoovian a made in brronze and Venetic Culture (fig. 3.16). They are until the 5thh century BC,, when they are substituteed by palette of thee same shape but made in iron. This is why R. De Marinis thought thaat the paletta figure f could not n be a a mirror.17 In the anciennt Venetic cullture, interpreted as bronze sheet palette are present, som metimes founnd in votive hoardds, clearly ussed for ritual purposes onlly, as 10

See: E. Anatti, Arte Rupestre nelle regioni occcidentali della Peenisola Iberica, Archivii, 4, 1968; A. Peena Santos-J. M. Vasquez Varelaa, Los Petroglifos Galllegos. Grabados rupestres prehisttoricos al aire libbre en Galicia, La Coruuna, 1979. 11 H. Breuil, Les L peintures rup upestres schematiques de la penninsule Iberique, Lagnyy, 1933, in particuular pp. 67-68, figg. 40. 12 A.C. Ferreiira Da Silva-M M. Gomes Varella, Proto-Historria de Portugal, Lisboa, 1992. 13 The interpretaation of the palettta as a mirror is suggested s in S. Ferri, Il significato dellee palette nell’artte rupestre dellaa Valcamonica, in i Les Religions de laa Préhistoire, Vaalcamonica Sympposium ’72, 1975, pp. 263-269; as a paddle in G. G Marro, Il grandioso g monuumento paletnologico dii Valcamonica, inn Atti della Realee Accademia di Scienze di Torino, 19322, p. 79; as a sppade or agricolturral shovel in G. Forni, Coppelle, palettte, protoerpici, in Art and Religion, R Valcam monica Symposium ’79,, 1983, pp. 405-425; and also in J..P. Maher, The Paletta, P pro manuscriptoo, 1986; as the schematic s represeentation of a bovvid in O. Cornaggia Castiglioni- G. Calegari, Il bovvide a paletta ovvero o l’estrema schem matizzazione di unn motivo figuratiivo del repertorioo delle incisioni europeee di età olocenica, in Natura, 63, 1972, pp. 87-1011. 14 M. Zuffa, Le palette p rituali di bronzo, in Atti e Memorie Deputaazione di Storia Patria per p le Provincie di d Romagna, VIIII, 1956-57, pp. 677-170. 15 V. Bianco Perroni, I rasoi nell’IItalia Continentaale, PBF, VIII, 19976. 16 The interpretaation of the palettta as a funerary symbol is suggeestedin E. Süss, Le inciisioni rupestri dii Valcamonica, Milano, M 1958; andd is in V. Fusco, Su alcuni aspetti, di incisioni rupestrri camune scopeerte ad alta quota, in Siibrium, 11, 1972, pp. 31-51. 17 Iron is not a reflecting metal, at least in prehhistory. R. De Marinis, M Dibattito sulla paletta, p in Les Religions R de la Préhistoire, Valcam monica Symposium ’72, 1975.

Fig gure 3.16. A bronze b palettaa from the anccient Venetic culture (from (f Tombolaani-De Min 19 981).

18 M. Tombolani-P. De D Min, Stipe di Via Rialto, in Paadova Preromana,, Catallogo della mostra, 1981, p. 181. 19 Peerhaps due to a ritual ban. The Iron Age rock art seems to bee exclu usively a male acttivity. 20 As the practice of thhe Symposium, thhe ritual banquet of Greek style. 21 I haave suggested thiis in Fossati 19977, p. 58.

38

ANGELO FOSSATI O : FOLLO OWING ARIANN NA’S THREAD D

Figure F 3.18. Palette P in lines on rock 35 off Naquane, Caapo di Ponte, B Bronze Age.

Figure 3.17. Palette realizzed in bronze sheet from Paadoa (from Tombollani-De Min 1981). 1 I have alreaady said som mething about the iconograaphic context in whhich the palettte figures aree found in the rock art of Valcam monica. I willl now add soome notes thaat can be used for a general interppretation of thhe phenomenoon: in most of the cases lines of five or six palette have been positioned att what can be considered the “entrancee” of the rock. Thhis is the caase with rockks 50 and 35 3 of Naquane, annd rock 4 of In Valle (figs. 3.18 and 3.19). 3 Usually the rocks r containn other compoositions of praaying figures or otther shovels; at the end of o the rocks other shovels appeear; in the caase of In Vallle rock 4 the rock itself seems closed with the t same com mposition of some s palette in linnes, similar too that appearinng at the entraance. What can onne say about thhis phenomenon? In my opinion this is a sortt of public artt, with a use of figures thaat are positioned inn a clearly viisible part of the rock to avoid a intrusions off males in thhe area (fig. 3.20).22 Iff you consider thatt the patina of the engravinngs remains white w for two cennturies or more, it is cleaar that the figgures should stayy very visibble from a distance foor a considerable time. Lookiing at the maap of the Nattional Park at Capoo di Ponte (thaat is Naquane)) designed in 1954 by E. Süss, it i is clear thaat a trail is poossible from where w the Park (moore or less) sttarts with rock 50 and wheere it finishes withh rock 35: thesse are the rockks where therre are paletta figurres in lines. My M idea is thaat a sort of public p language couuld exist not only o confinedd to a rock butt to a complete areea. There is also a the casee of an intereesting scene on thee rock 32 wheere a group off female figurres is engraved onn the borderr of a littlee glacial chaannel observing annother femalee figure lying down (fig. 3.21). 3

Figure F 3.19. Palette P in linees on rock 4 off In Valle, P Paspardo, Brronze Age.

Figu ure 3.20. Paleette in lines annd a male obseerver on rock 35 of Naquane, C Capo di Ponte.

22

Ritual interddictions to speciaal sites (sometim mes with rock arrt) are known in many other part of the world as in Austtralia, where one of the most famous is the case of the site s called Bulajaang linked to thee God Bula (Gunn 19992).

39

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS nam mes and attribuutes. A few oof the known names are ass follo ows: Aquanee, Anquane, Enguane, Eg guane, Gane,, Guaane, Laganes, Sagane, Sguuane, Aivane and Vivane.. They y are known to be referreed to also in the classicall worlld: we remeember Aganipppe, the nym mph and thee hom monymous welll on the Elicoona in Beozia;; the witch byy the name n of Saganna mentioned by Horace; th he Latin saga,, from m sagus, meanns sorcereresss, or propheteess. Naquanee represented, for Alinei, A the mosst western top ponomy of thee centtral-eastern alppine area. Duue to my reseaarch in the lastt few years, we noow know thatt this is not so: s there is a man age inscription from C Cantù, not farr from Como,, Rom dediicated to Aquaane (Corpus iinscriptionum latinarum V,, 5671 1), and at Sonncino (prov. oof Cremona) the t toponomyy of Aguane A is founnd in close prroximity to a spring; this iss the more m southernn toponomy, teestifying to th he presence off the cult of Aquaane in the Po river plain. According too E from m Rafffaele De Mariinis, also the nname of the Euganei, the same s ethnic group g to whicch the Iron Ag ge inhabitantss of Camonica C vallley also beloong, would no ot be too farr remo oved from thhe form Eguuane or Engu uane (Fossatii 1991 1).

Figure 3.21. Female figures on the rocck 32 of Naquaane, A Capo di Poonte, Bronze Age. Previous interpretations23 read these figures f as a ritual r scene wheree the woman lying down is interpreteed as dead or, vicee versa, that it i shows a birrth or an initiiation rite. Anotheer interpretattion of this scene is again a associated with w the themee of the waterr. The surfacee was in part dry (the area wherre the group of women aree), in part wet (thee area of the lying figure)) because thee day before it hadd rained and thhe soil was stilll dropping: inn fact the waters were floatinng down thhe little chaannel s wheree the lying wooman suggesting thhe idea of a stream was swimminng. This scenne is considereed ritual becauuse it appears not only o on rock 32 3 of Naquanee, but also on rock 1 and on rocck 44 of the saame park, on rock 4 of In Valle V and on the rock r 51 of Vite V at Pasparrdo.24 Is this the representatioon of the beautiful siren Aqquane, whose name n reoccurs in thhe ancient topponomy of thee Park?

Here I will brriefly sum upp But who were thhe Aquane? H d c collected by A Alinei, with th he knowledgee the descriptions that the work coould be consiiderably expaanded: in thee o-zoomorphicc folklore they aree rememberedd as anthropo bein ngs; the oldestt legends desccribe them ass women whoo can change into otters, o or ratheer beautiful siirens with thee i off hair of water andd feet turned backwards, inhabitants s In m more recent leg gends, clearlyy lakes, caves and springs. influ uenced by thee Christian reeligion, they have h acquiredd the attributes a of thhe Faun: they have legs and d the feet of a goatt, as the devil.

quane The warriorrs and the Aq

The classic Aquuane (the sireens) in geneeral have thee b the presentt quallity of knowinng the past andd the future, but is lo ost to them. Furthermore they have po owers over alll typees of water prresent on eartth and over th he rain itself.. They y are often defined d as feaarful. At tim mes, however,, they y have been saaid to unite inn matrimony with humans,, and after a certainn time they ddisappear, nev ver to be seenn agaiin. They can sing mysteriious dirges orr laments andd often n come to givve advice to yyoung men. According too seveeral accounts, it is better to not know the personall nam mes of the Aqquane, for feaar of being spirited s awayy forev ver. In somee legends, thee Aquane are accompaniedd by waterfowl w andd weave on thhe loom, and here h it is veryy interresting that onn rock 1 of thee National Parrk of Naquanee theree are seven loooms, and this is the only y place wheree you find looms inn the rock art oof Valcamonicca are found!

c mapp of the Conttrada Aquanee was In 1989, a cadastral brought to my m attention25 (fig. 3.22): thhis was the oriiginal toponomy of the acttual locationn of Naquuane, c area of the Nattional correspondinng to the central Engravings Park, P as the linguist M. Alinei A had alrready proposed (Foossati 1991; Alinei 1984). Alinei wass not aware of thee cadastral map m but had already a linkedd the toponomy of Naquane too that of Aqquane, semi-ddivine beings widelly known in thhe folklore of the central-eaastern Alps, especiially in the Dolomites D whhere the dom minant culture was that of the Laadins (Wolff 1987), by divverse 23

A few year aggo, I wrote explannation of this sceene that can be found in the panel near to t rock 32 in thee National Park, but today I woulld add also this new hyypothesis. 24 But rock 32 is the only case where the womaan lying is in a glacial g channel. 25 The Map of thhe Contrada Aquaane has been brouught to my attenttion by the former owneer of the area, Baattista Ruggeri, at a that time guarddian of the National Paark. I was explainning to him that M. Alinei thoughht that the original nam me of Naquane could c come from Aquane, and I agreed a with him, but Alinei A had no prooof of this becausse “…there is noo maps indicating this”,, I said. “But I haave this map and I will show it to you!” said Ruggeri. Dated to the beginnning of the 19th century, c the map is not the only documeent that testifies to t this name: lateer I discovered thaat also the cadastral maps m of the area of Foppe di Naadro show the orriginal name of the roaad that connectss Naquane to Naddro. The road is called Strada delle Aquuane (Road of thee Aquane).

nei also desccribes sites w what would appear a to bee Alin evid dence connectting them witth rock art: in n Friuli, nearr Clau uzetto, one hears of the Claap des Aganess (rocks of thee Aqu uane) which bear engraved footprints (most likely cupp mark ks) which aree related to tthe legend off the Aquane.. Naq quane is therrefore not tthe only preehistoric sitee conn nected to the Aquane: alsoo at Lagole de d Calalzo, inn Cadore, the locaal inhabitants spoke of the Laganess

40

ANGELO FOSSATI O : FOLLO OWING ARIANN NA’S THREAD D

Figure 3.22. Map of the Contrada Aquane, befoore 1835. To us, u it appears valid to coonnect the saaints with thee Aqu uane, not onlyy due to the prroximity of Naquane N to thee zonee in questionn, but also because the church andd engrraved stones lie near to a water-coursee, the stream m Serio, which flow ws by no more than a few metres away.. nts just as thee Furtthermore, the legend descrribes the sain Aqu uane are depicted: they llive in cavess and act ass help pers, a role whhich the folkloore accounts often o attributee to th he Aquane.26 It is also interresting to notee the carvingss from m the Great Rock R of Naqquane, where one sees ann anth hropomorphic figure from thhe Iron Age, identifiable i ass masculine by his sexual attribuutes, who seem ms to hold hiss n, spread-apartt legs in his hhands: this is an extremelyy own rare scene in rockk art and one for which a close parallell t near-by C Church of the Monastery off can be found in the San Salvatore (11th centurry), where one of thee manesque capiitals carries thhe motif of the t siren whoo Rom hold ds her own meermaid-like leegs spread apaart around thee corn ners of the cappital.

fur springs, where w (Aquane) whho lived arouund the sulfu there was suurely a paleo-vveneto sanctuuary, attested to t by numerous exx voto found thherein. Just beyond the borders off Naquane Parrk in Valcamoonica c dedicaated to the saaints Faustinaa and is a small church Liberata. These two woomen lived ass hermits in small s s to have saved s caves in the medieval perriod and are said a bloocking the faalling Capo di Ponnte from an avalanche, boulders withh their own haands. In the crypt c of the chhurch, one can stilll, in fact, findd a large rockk with the deeeply engraved prrehistoric figuures of hands and cup-m marks, which legendd would conneect with the tw wo saints. Thee site is also conneected to the Chhristian celebrations whichh take place in May M (the Asccension) andd include a long nocturnal viggil with extravvagant use of candles. c It is quite probable thaat this ceremoony has transsplanted an eaarlier pagan rite off spring, so-ccalled “May”, closely relateed to fertility ritees. The niighttime festtival, which was abolished affter the visit of S. Carlo Borromeo too the valley becauuse he deem med it immorral, was alsoo the occasion forr the particippants to concclude commeercial affairs regardding not onlyy domesticated animals, ass still happens todaay, but also innstruments maade of iron foorged in the local smithies- worrkshops whichh were amongg the most importaant manufactuuring sites in the Valley duuring the medievaal period (Boontempi 19899). Here, onee can discern a cleear tie betweenn the rite, thee theme of ferrtility and the ironn which came to be shapped into weappons. According too those living near the churcch of the saintts, up until the fiftiies, pilgrims came c from all parts of the valley v to place theirr hands in thee prints engravved in the bouulder to ask for prootection and grace. g

Thiss connection between aqquatic divinitties and thee presence of rock engravings sseems to havee a precedentt also in the Coppper Age in tthe locality of o Valzel dee dine at Borno, that is The V Valley (or the Stream) S of thee Und Ond dine, where enngraved rockss were found. The Ondinee are aquatic a nymphs, always prresent in the legends of thee Ladiin, who bear all a the same atttributes as thee Aquane. ming back to Naquane, a very importtant point off Com discu ussion is the fact that it iss very well known k that, att

26

41

Seee also Camuri 19995.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS this site, there is no water at all.27 So why is the theme of water is so important in rock art (the waterfowls) and in toponomy? There are two points to underline: one is the morphology of the rocks, that are very polished and mounted by the prehistoric glaciers, in a way that sometimes true waves are shaped into the rock surfaces. I think that, in the prehistoric imagination, were some questions about the origins of this phenomenon. Who did create the waves? Is this petrified water? Is someone living in these petrified waves? Answers are all in the rock art imagery.

also the presence of human sacrifice (the skulls) with the idea of a votive deposit near by the rocks. Another legend that suggests that there are spirits living in the rocks regards San Vito, a local christian saint from Valcamonica: in this legend the saint could pass through the rocks and take refuge inside in case of danger (see Ertani s.d.). At present these are the only legends collected that talk about beings living in rocks. The rock art suggests other figures that are imagined living in the rocks: this is the case of the so-called “bust of praying people”, anthropomorphs engraved only in the upper part of the body, the bust, sometimes only the head is found, sometimes the line of the shoulder with the head (fig. 3.23). Gaudenzio Ragazzi thinks (Ragazzi 1995) that these engravings can be compared with similar figures painted on Greek and Etruscan vases. These are not simply incomplete figures,30 but signs with a special interpretation and meaning. They would be representations of spirits appearing in front of the warriors from the ground, the place where they live. Sometimes they are with weapons, as to say that they are considered males. This is also a suggestion that the Aquane are not the only beings living in another world.

The second point is that the glacier has sometimes created hollows, little pools, where the waters can stay for a while. Are these the places where the Aquane can emerge from the petrified waters? This was for me an interesting hypothesis but it remained a hypothesis until I found in the local tradition any beliefs of spiritual beings living in engraved rocks. This came eventually in 1997 while teaching archaeology to a class at Esine, in Valcamonica. We teach students to draw and record the engravings, so we usually go to local rock art sites of less tourist importance. At that time we were working at a site called Librinì at Esine, in the fraction called Plemo. I told the students, as usual, to ask their parents and grandparents if they knew any legends relating to the rock art of the area. The day after, a girl student came to me and, indicating a huge rock with a single cup mark, that had not attracted our attention before, said: “According to my grandparents and to other people in Plemo this rock has an interesting tradition”. I was surprised and asked the student to continue. “They say that in this area lived a lady called sciurina dei pé de cavra [in Camunnian dialect: the young lady with the goat feet] who threading her clog into a cup mark, opened a rock where she used to eat her prey. The legend says that the lady enjoyed scaring people, above all the hunters and the visitors to the wood. When they were passing, she jumped out of the rock kidnapping them. Behind her house, says the legend, there was a well where she threw the skulls of the victims. The story tells us that a group of men captured and chained her to a mountain but she was able to escape and during the fullmoon one can still hear the sound of the chains that she is carrying to avenge her capture”.28

Figure 3.23. Duellists and bust, rock 15, Vite-Deria, Paspardo, Iron Age. Concluding remarks Like Theseus in the labyrinth, following Arianna’s thread (the faded traces left on the rocks) we have discovered at least published for the first time-that Naquane was originally thought of as a female site, by the ancient engravers: it became a male site only during the Iron Age, when the female figures practically disappeared, leaving space for a warrior world. This masculine world in any case did not cancel the idea that the site was a female space in ancient times. And what we were writing before, that Iron Age rock art in the area should be

This legend was very important for me. It was the proof that the idea of spirit beings living in the rocks really existed, and also gave a sort of interpretation of the cup marks.29 But most important was the fact that the spirit living in the rock is described as the more recent Aquane, a lady with a goat foot. She lost the mermaid attributes to keep those of evil characteristics. The legend suggests 27 The two fountains available in Naquane take their water from a pool situated quite distant. 28 The legend has been collected by Anna Erculiani, I C Scuola Media Statale “Don A. Sina” Esine. 29 This particular cup mark can be interpreted as a technique to create a contact between two different realities, that of the real world with the world of the spirits.

30

In Valcamonica rock art there are different not finished figures: anthropomorphs, buildings, animals, and various symbols as palette, footprints and camunnian roses. The total number of unfinished figures is so high that it is diffult to think that this could be a case: all the unfinished figures have probably a special meaning.

42

ANGELO FOSSATI: FOLLOWING ARIANNA’S THREAD interpreted as votive images engraved on the occasion of initiation rites through which young men of the local aristocracy gained access to adult society, is true, but we must add that these images were probably dedicated to the Aquane that helped (like in the actual legends of the Dolomites) the young warriors to pass their proves. So... a male rock art made for special women!

nell'arte rupestre camuna, Milano, pp. 11-71. Fossati, A 1992. Alcune rappresentazioni di “oranti” schematici armati del Bronzo Finale nell'arte rupestre della Valcamonica, in Appunti, 19, pp. 45-50, Circolo Culturale Ghislandi, Breno. Fossati, A. 1993a. Il mondo dei Camunni. L'arte rupestre della Valcamonica, Valcamonica Preistorica, 4, Cerveno. Fossati, A. 1993b. Deer in European Rock Art, in G. A. Camuri, Y. Fossati & Mathpal (eds.) Deer in Rock art of India and Europe, New Delhi, pp. 75-117. Fossati, A. 1994. Le rappresentazioni topografiche. In S. Casini (ed.) Le Pietre degli Dei. Menhir e Stele dell'età del Rame in Valcamonica e Valtellina, pp. 8991, Bergamo. Fossati, A. 1995. Cronologia ed interpretazione, in Rupe Magna. La roccia incisa più grande delle Alpi, Arcà A., A. Fossati, E. Marchi, E. Tognoni (eds.), Quaderni del Parco, 1, Sondrio. Fossati, A. 1998. Cronologia ed interpretazione di alcune figure simboliche nell’arte rupestre del IV periodo camuno, in Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi, 5, 1996, Bergamo. Fossati, A. 2001a. Discovery of rock paintings in Valcamonica, in 2° Convegno Internazionale di Archeologia Rupestre. “Archeologia e Arte Rupestre. L'Europa. Le Alpi. La Valcamonica.”, Atti del Convegno di Studi, Darfo-Boario Terme 2-5 Ottobre 1997, pp. 263-265, Milano. Fossati, A. 2001b. Le armi nell’arte rupestre dell’età del Bronzo. Depositi votivi di sostituzione e rituali iniziatici nelle Alpi, in 2° Convegno Internazionale di Archeologia Rupestre. “Archeologia e Arte Rupestre. L'Europa. Le Alpi. La Valcamonica.”, Atti del Convegno di Studi, Darfo-Boario Terme 2-5 Ottobre 1997, pp. 105-112, Milano. Fossati, A. 2002. Landscape representations on boulders and menhirs in the Valcamonica-Valtellina area, Alpine Italy. In G. Nash & C. Chippindale (eds.) European Landscapes of Rock Art. London: Routledge, pp. 93-115. Gunn, R. G. 1992. Bulajang - A reappraisal of the archaeology of an aboriginal religious cult, in State of the Art, Regional rock art studies in Australia and Melanesia, J. McDonald & I. P. Haskovec (eds.), Occasional Aura publications, 6, pp. 174-194. Laeng, G. 1914. Cemmo (Capo di Ponte). In Guida d'Italia del Touring Club Italiano, Piemonte, Lombardia e Canton Ticino, Milano, p.595. Malmer, P. M. 1991. The importance of north European rock art for the knowledge of prehistoric religions, in Le Mont Bego, Une Montagne sacrie de l'Age du Bronze, preactes du colloque international, pp. 324329. Marro, G. 1930. La nuova scoperta di incisioni preistoriche in Valcamonica. (Nota prima), in Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, 65. Marro, G. 1999. Un santuario preistorico a Sonico, La biblioteca del Parco, edizioni Comunità Montana di Vallecamonica, Breno. Ragazzi, G. 1995. Danza armata e realtà ctonia nel repertorio iconografico camuno dell'età del Ferro, in

References Abreu, M. S., Arcà, A. & Fossati, A. 1995. As gravuras nao saben nadar! Le incisioni non sanno nuotare. In Archeologia Viva, n. 53, anno XIV, pp. 28-36, Firenze. Alinei, M. 1984. Naquane nella Valcamonica nei suoi rapporti con le Aquane, esseri mitologici delle Alpi centro orientali, in Quaderni di Semantica, 1, pp. 316. Anati, E. 1974. Lo stile sub-naturalistico Camuno e l'origine dell'arte rupestre alpina, in BCSP, 11, 1974, 59-84. Anati, E. 1976. Evolution and style in Camunian rock art, Archivi 6, Capo di Ponte. Arcà, A. 1999. Fields and settlements in topographic engravings of the Copper Age in Valcamonica and Mt. Bego Rock Art. In Prehistoric alpine environment, society and economy, papers of the international colloquim PAESE ‘97 in Zurich, edited by Philippe Della Casa, Bonn, pp. 71-79. Battaglia, R. 1934. Ricerche etnografiche sui petroglifi della cerchia alpina, in Studi etruschi 8 pp. 11-48. Bontempi F. 1989. Economia del Ferro. Miniere, forni e fucine in Valcamonica dal XV al XIX secolo, Milano, edizioni del Circolo Culturale Ghislandi. Camuri, G. 1995. In contrada Aquane: il linguaggio dell'acqua nelle figure di cervo della roccia 14 del Parco Nazionale delle Incisioni Rupestri, in Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 2, 1994, pp. 281-287, Bergamo. Casini, S. & Fossati, A. 1994. Le stele e i massi incisi della Valcamonica e della Valtellina nell'ambito dell'arco alpino. In S. Casini (ed.) Le Pietre degli Dei. Menhir e stele dell'età del Rame in Valcamonica e Valtellina. Bergamo, pp. 59-68. De Marinis, R.C. 1988. Le popolazioni alpine di stirpe retica, in Pugliese Carratelli G. (ed.) Italia omnium terrarum alumna. Milano, pp. 101-155. De Marinis, R.C. 1994. La datazione dello stile IIIA. In S. Casini (ed.) Le Pietre degli Dei. Menhir e Stele dell'età del Rame in Valcamonica e Valtellina. Bergamo, pp. 69-87. De Marinis, R.C. 1995. Problèmes de chronologie de l'art rupestre du Valcamonica, in Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 2, 1994, pp. 99-120, Bergamo. Ertani, L. s.d. Bote de Al Camonega, Esine, pp. 27-29. Fossati, A. 1987. Le palette: il problema interpretativo, in BC Notizie, IV, 4 pp. 20-26. Fossati, A. 1991. L'età del Ferro nelle incisioni rupestri della Valcamonica, in Rina La Guardia (ed.) Immagini di una aristocrazia dell'età del Ferro 43

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Notizie Archeologiche Bergomensi 2, 1994, pp. 235247, Bergamo. Rossi, F. 1987. La Valcamonica Romana, ricerche e studi, Brescia. Rustamov, J. 2000. Gobustan – the Art of ancient civilization, Baku. Wolff, C. F. 1987. I Monti Pallidi. Leggende delle Dolomiti, Bologna.

44

Chapter 4

Seeking Place: Living on and Learning from the Cultural Landscape Herman E. Bender Introduction

A far older Silurian age natural dividing line, the Niagara escarpment, separates the Horicon Marsh basin on the west from the Kettle Moraine State Forest Northern Unit to the east (Bender, 2004:7). The physical landscape of the three Ice Age National Scientific Reserve units, together with the Niagara escarpment, are of great importance when examining the relationship between Na Na Wi Gwan, located in the Campbellsport Drumlin field, and the genesis of a broader cultural landscape (Figure 4.1). There can be little doubt that these landforms determined where, and why, Na Na Wi Gwan was intentionally located by its builders.

To the Native Americans, natural landscape features and boundaries were an important part of their everyday lives. Hills, rock ledges, rivers, marshes, springs, lakes and upland areas defined the physical landscape. By living on the land for countless generations, they gained a familiarity with the landscape and established ‘place’ in the sense of where the people lived or gathered food resources, where and how they traveled; how places on the land interacted with the surrounding landscape and, importantly, where they prayed. On the landscape, prominences and vistas seem to have held special importance for ritual and ceremonial centers. These centers were likely intentionally located to take advantage of views towards horizons, many times mutually visible with other ceremonial sites or key landmarks. They are found along trails and at select places on the land where the sun was seen to rise or set during key days over the course of a year or years.

In the Midst of Drumlins At the time of discovery in 1986, Na Na Wi Gwan, a petroform site, i.e. a purposeful arrangement of rocks into animal or geometric forms, formerly known as the Krug site or Krug/Senn site (Behm et al. 1989, Bender 1992, Steinbring 1970), together with the entire surrounding landscape of the Campbellsport Drumlin field, were practically terra incognito to the archeological community. Because nothing like it in Wisconsin was known or recorded in the archeological or historical record, i.e. a so-called ‘medicine wheel’, the orthodox archeological approach, methodology and investigative mindset were stretched. Simply, if this site was to be understood, new ideas on how to research a ‘medicine wheel’ had to be developed.

The only known ‘medicine wheel’ or sun circle east of the Mississippi River is one such place; part of a broader petroform site named Na Na Wi Gwan or, “the center of it”, by its present native American owners the Forest (County) Potawatomi. The prehistoric inhabitants who established this shrine center most certainly sought out the best location for its placement. It was on this landscape they established ‘center‘ and, with it, ‘place’, in keeping with the native sense of cosmological order, balance and harmony.

In the beginning, because Na Na Wi Gwan was located on a small drumlin within a drumlin field, an early focus of investigation on drumlins was undertaken as they were the most prominent landform in the project area and appeared to be linked to the site and unfolding story (Bender 1988). Drumlins are not a common landform. They are found primarily in Ireland (the name or word drumlin comes from the Gaelic word drumlim meaning “hill”), Wisconsin, upstate New York and western Massachusetts in the United States and Canada, all places where glaciers once covered the land (Schultz 1986:173). True to form, the drumlins composing the Campbellsport Drumlin field were formed under glacial ice during the late Wisconsin ice advance dating between 26,000 and 13,000 years ago (Borowiecka & Erickson 1985, Eschman & Mickelson 1986).

The Physical Landscape In the United States, one of the best formed and most recent Pleistocene epoch or Ice Age landscapes is to be seen in the counties that make up part of southeastern Wisconsin. It is because of this geomorphic legacy and landscape that the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve was formed (Black 1974). Three of the nine units comprising the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve are located in Fond du Lac County. These include the Horicon Marsh, the Kettle Moraine State Forest Northern Unit and the Campbellsport Drumlins (Reuss 1981:66-71, Schultz 1986:159-166). Two of the units, the Horicon Marsh and the Kettle Moraine State Forest Northern Unit, each comprise tens of thousands of acres and extend over more than one county. The Campbellsport Drumlins lie mainly within Fond du Lac County where they are bisected north-south by the West Branch of the Milwaukee River.

Drumlins form in ‘fields’ or ‘swarms‘ under the ice in zones 5 - 40 km behind the terminal moraine of the glacier (Laberge 1994:285). An indication of the glacial height or thickness (estimated to have been between 0.4 to 0.8 km) can be estimated by the physical size of drumlins. The drumlins composing the Campbellsport 45

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 4.1. Artistic rendition map of the cultural landscape of southeastern Wisconsin with the Ashford hill at center. The central ring of hills on the map is to approximate scale for both distance and elevation. The edges have been ‘folded’ in to reflect all the landforms visible from the Ashford hill including Holy Hill (at bottom) which is almost 25 miles (40 km) distant.

Figure 4.2a. Profile view of a drumlin showing the steep ‘up ice’ angle on the north end (left of photo) and gentle downward slope to the south (right) in the direction of ice flow.

46

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Figure 4.2b. View of a north-south aligned drumlin looking south. Note the tree line bisecting the lengthwise axis of symmetry

Figure 4.3a. Portion of a 1918 map of the Quaternary Geology of Southeastern Wisconsin survey by William C. Alden showing the Campbellsport drumlins with the Highest Elevation (the Ashford hill) and location of Na Na Wi Gwan indicated.

Figure 4.3b. Aerial photo of a portion of the Campbellsport drumlins. Please note the upright cross near the top of the Ashford hill in the bottom center of the photo (just above the letters est in the word Highest). Of interest, when it was established that this hilltop marked the horizon location of the summer solstice sunset viewed from Na Na Wi Gwan, the cross was seen to be visible to the naked eye. A local landmark, when the former land owner of Na Na Wi Gwan was asked if the cross was visible from there he answered that he had “never looked”. Visual confirmation was made on June 10, 1992 (Field Book No. 1, pg. 82).

field are generally ‘average’ in size, i.e. 0.8 - 3.2 km long, 0.4 km wide and between 9 - 30 meters high (LaBerge 1994:283). Typically, a drumlin will have a steeper slope facing the direction the ice flowed from and a gentler ‘downhill’ slope in the direction of ice flow (Figure 4.2a). When looking at a contour map or viewed end on, they are elliptical or oval in shape and many times very symmetrical about the long axis (Figure 4.2b). They are sometimes described from the ground perspective as being “cigar shaped” or like a “whales back”. This distinctive shape is best seen from a distance. For

instance, while viewing the Campbellsport Drumlins’ silhouetted on the eastern horizon from the prospect of an old prairie flatland area on State Highway 175 near the Fond du Lac/Dodge County line, one author (Crowns 1976:121) remarked that they are “A typical drumlin swarm resembling a school of earthen porpoises …”. Of interest, some naturally occurring attributes concerning the Campbellsport Drumlins are worth mentioning, as these attributes will be revisited. Like other drumlin fields mapped in southeastern Wisconsin, 47

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS the entire Campbellsport Drumlin field has an elliptical or oval trend. Very near the center of this oval grouping the highest drumlin is found, a serendipitous fluke of nature (Figure 4.3a). This particular drumlin’s summit is visible many kilometers away from all directions (indicated in the center of Figure 4.1). A little over 3.5 km to the southeast of this high point, and in view from its summit, is Na Na Wi Gwan (Figures 4.1, 4.3a and 4.3b). Remarkably, both of these drumlins form part of a continental sub-divide which separates the north flowing Milwaukee River/Great Lakes/ North Atlantic Ocean drainage basin from the south flowing Rock River/Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico drainage basin (Behm & Bender 1989). This divide, a gift of the glacier, was known to the prehistoric inhabitants and may have been the original inspiration, the genesis from which the cultural landscape took root (Bender 2003).

measuring and mapping trails in conjunction with archival research, which included Government Land Office (GLO) pre-settlement survey maps, historic documents, maps and other sources, it became apparent that many, if not most of the Native American footpaths or trails in the Campbellsport Drumlin field ran from spring to spring (Figure 4.1), always keeping to the high ground on the marsh edges, a practice which also took advantage of the lack of contour by following the path of least resistance (Bender 1989). An ongoing project, trail studies continue to this day (Bender 2002b). At Na Na Wi Gwan, located in the midst of the Campbellsport Drumlins, an original segment of an important trail still exists. It is a well-trodden path which once connected the Milwaukee River and Rock River continental sub-divide running from the headwaters of the Milwaukee River to the Horicon Marsh (Behm & Bender 1989, Bender 1992). To a great degree, it was through the study of this trail, and later the divide, that the real significance of Na Na Wi Gwan began to emerge, both major attributes contributing to site importance and placement. However, when considering attributes, some fundamental questions needed to be asked. Were the divide and connecting trail the main attributes contributing to site selection when Na Na Wi Gwan was first established? And what of the drumlins? Were they part of a broader landscape focus? These questions could only be answered after years of fieldwork, research and the eventual conversion to methodology other than archeology. The methodology developed to help answer this question was a concept that became known as the ‘big picture’.

The “Big Picture” Compared to the former prairies to the west and south, once the Campbellsport Drumlin field has been ventured into, the change in scenery and topography tends to be very abrupt. The rolling hills, marshes, sedges, interspersed springs, interior prairie areas and views from the hilltops are like being in another realm, especially for anyone traveling by foot, the only means of travel available to the Native American inhabitants. Before American-Euro settlement of Wisconsin starting in the 1830’s, the footpaths or trails used by these people were well established and numerous, many apparently dating from very ancient times. Trails routes were, in great part, dictated by the contours and lay of the land, not the whims of man. Even the large grazing animals that ‘blazed’ the routes of many trails were subject to the land’s dictates. In southeastern Wisconsin, these ‘dictates’ originated at the end of the Ice Age; they are the landforms that we see today, all formed by glacial scouring or deposition.

An Idea Takes Shape Although the ‘big picture’ was not an entirely new idea in Wisconsin, it was little known, seldom if ever utilized or held in favor by the professional archeological community. Unlike an archeological investigation that can tend to focus mainly on the meter grid, excavated artifacts and adherence to a rigid methodology subject to intense peer pressure review, incorporating the idea of the ‘big picture’ meant plugging far more diverse parameters into a new equation. If we were to discover what purpose places like Na Na Wi Gwan served and other sites where landscape and elements of astronomy became key, the time had come to abandon the “cult of the artifact” (Hems 1997) and go beyond stone tools and descriptions. Basically, it began by adopting a totally holistic approach, an innovative yet comprehensive view of how the full 360° view of the world is connected to a site. The focus shifted from general subsistence patterns to environmental aesthetics, the ‘environmental interaction sphere’, which explored the associations between the landscape, trails, springs, habitation sites and visual aesthetics (Bender 1996:5-9, Bender 2007, Steinbring 1997:24-26). In our corner of southeastern Wisconsin, implementation of this methodology produced valuable information and the discovery of many new sites. It also produced new questions: what other sites and landmarks did the trails connect; why did these sites appear to have

Drumlins are one of the major landforms. Dependent on clay and other impermeable till laid down or deposited by the glaciers, many of the individual drumlins in southeastern Wisconsin, have spring fed marshes at their base which give rise to many rivers. The Milwaukee River and Rock River headwaters rise in either the spring-fed marshes or from springs issuing into the lowlands at the base of the Niagara escarpment. These two rivers which form the continental sub-divide drain a large area. Interspersed in this area are many kettle lakes, broad sedge meadows and bogs. Dating from prehistoric times, ‘Indian trails’ or footpaths connected all (Figure 4.1). Trail Associations Native American footpaths or trails are a subject that always evokes interest amongst those who are historically minded. Yet, little was really known about these ‘Indian trails’ before a formal study began early in 1989 because of the discovery of an undisturbed and later documented trail at Na Na Wi Gwan. After years of field research 48

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE been located with great care on the continental subdivide; were the sites mutually visible from highpoints; was there a pattern or ‘system‘ used in site selection and, if so, were there definable attributes? Over time, literally years spent in the field, answers to these questions, along with some valuable insights, were gained.

and roads, etc. are all determined by the natural ‘lay of the land’. The natural landscape will always dictate how man must adapt to and utilize it. Thus, by nature, the human impact or ‘imprint’ found on the natural landscape will, over time, form the cultural landscape. Neither landscape can be completely separated one from the other. They are integrated, the two intertwined by nature’s design and human function. From this integration is also born the ‘sense of place’, or belonging, which we as a species value so highly and feel the need to preserve” (Bender 2005:2). One such place is Na Na Wi Gwan.

An important part of the process, all of the information gathered over the years was factored into the new ‘equation’, then plotted on to maps and repeatedly checked for accuracy, field relations from one site to another, aspects of visibility across the landscape, vista analysis, etc. Interviews with landowners, literature research and archive searches were also continually employed. Utilizing this methodology and through the maps, the canvas being painted, i.e. the ‘big picture’, started to fill with rich detail. Furthermore, what was found to be inherent in the ‘big picture’ provided more than a means of how to look at the connectivity of all that was ‘out there’. Because it was discovered that a number of sites shared definite physical attributes (key sites were all linked by a trail on a hill on a river divide), a field model with predictive qualities developed as well (Kurtz 2005). The model gave direction and led us to the cultural landscape of southeastern Wisconsin.

Na Na Wi Gwan It was at Na Na Wi Gwan that my own ‘awakening’ and eventual immersion into the cultural landscape began. In early September 1986, I finally consented to visit a farm in rural Fond du Lac County after repeatedly being asked (by the farmer whom I knew well and who had owned the property for almost half a century) to come and look at some shallow pits located on the north edge of a wooded hillside. What I first saw that day were two clusters of ‘man-sized’ pits, each arranged in an almost circular pattern around a center pit with about six or seven pits per cluster (Figure 4.4a). One cluster was located on the northeast side of hill, the other on the northwest. After examining the shallow pits and taking a short walk downhill from them, an accidental tripping and fall over matted leaves and broken tree branches revealed the unexpected. There, virtually undisturbed in a bowlshaped depression at the bottom edge of the rise, east of where the pits were found, lay an almost totally hidden arc of stones (Figures 4.4b and 4.4c). Over the next few years clearing the area of broken tree branches in the bowl and outward brush, leaves and saplings, together with an intensive mapping of all exposed rocks fist-sized and bigger, revealed that what I had tripped into was a feature sometimes referred to as a ‘medicine wheel’ (Figures 4.5). Of the 67 other known and/or catalogued ‘medicine wheels’, it is the only one ever discovered east of the Mississippi River (Brumley 1988:3).

The Cultural Landscape Although it is not exactly a household word, the term Cultural Landscape is not original or new. Like so much of what was being pioneered with the concept of the ‘big picture’ ten years ago and more, the term or name to adequately describe what it was, in essence, also evolved. Following a comprehensive survey (1994) stretching from the Campbellsport Drumlin field to the Horicon Marsh, the designations first used to describe what we had encountered were ‘heritage phenomena’ and ‘archeology of landscape’ (Bender 1995:2&3, Steinbring et al. 1997). Somewhat later, in another report for the Lac du Flambeau Chippewa Reservation in northern Wisconsin, it was referred to as an ‘integrated sacred landscape’ (Bender 1996:1). But all was not and is not sacred and a broader use term or description was thus needed. From the perspective of the integration of cultural heritage and landscape (first employed at Na Na Wi Gwan), the Canadian National Parks system term ‘cultural landscape’ seemed appropriate. Incorporated into its description or definition were “… petroglyph sites, habitation sites, fishing sites, hunting territories, travel routes and burials …” (Ferguson 1997:12). As it was also said that “the cultural landscape [in Canada] attests to 4,000 years … of occupancy”, a time span comparable to many sites eventually discovered in the Campbellsport Drumlins area, the term was thought absolutely appropriate, completely embraced and is now used, although with a broader definition.

Once they were informed, professional archeologists began preliminary investigations in late September 1989, and continued for about two years (mainly literature searches for information on stone circles and/or ‘medicine wheels’ interspersed with occasional field visits to map additional rocks exposed by brush clearing or for verification of features). But outside of producing a map and a descriptive report, with some speculation about stone circles and petroform sites in general, little or nothing about the site except that the area had formerly been far more open and prairie like, was really known or being objectively defined by orthodox methodologies. However, the idea of a ‘calendar’ site with alignments was put forward by Bender (Behm et al. 1989). What was apparent was that this was no ordinary site in the archeological context. The reason was simple enough. Na Na Wi Gwan just did not fit the archeological ‘model’ for analysis through intensive excavations and its inherent methodology.

The natural or physical landscape has always influenced human patterns of how the land is utilized by man. Places to hunt, camp, access to water and shelter, where to establish permanent villages and plant crops, why and where animals travel (and humans), establishing paths 49

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figure 4.4aa. Photo of a man m standing in one of the ‘man-sized’ shallow pits inn the cluster foound on the no orthwest side of the hilltoop at Na Na Wi W Gwan. Notte that the pit cluster is round. View is loooking east.

Figure 4.4bb. Photo show wing the circuular bowl-shapped depression n (between thee white lines) at the base off the eastern rise with the arcc of stones visiible at the botttom edge of th he rise. View is looking easst (Spring, 199 90).

Figure 4.4c. Photo takenn in Novemberr, 1987 showiing brush and d saplings surrrounding mucch of the stonee circle beforee nd the pointedd extensive fielld clearing haad begun. Noote the distinct lines of mosss or lichen onn the southernnmost rock an rock at bottoom center, thee north rock inn the circle beefore being tip pped or frost--heaved out of position). The T woman inn the photo is standing behiind an oval mound m construucted of gravel and capped on both endss by rocks (seee Figure 4.5). View is lookiing south-souttheast. 50

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Figure 4.5. Map of Na Na Wi Gwan stone circle with smaller ancillary circles commonly referred to as a ‘medicine wheel’. The stippled area on the map represents areas not cleared of brush and saplings when the map was first drafted in early 1989. The final version (above) of the stone circle map was drafted in late 1990 after the discovery of circle no. 4. The real breakthrough needed came in February 1989, while reading an article on a petroform site in Canada, in which burials found in Pennsylvania were mentioned. At the Mohr site, “ … 54 of 60 skeletons on which orientation data were taken were aligned to the northeast within a 62 degree arc which the sun describes at its various rising positions throughout the year” (Buchner 1980:92). Not mentioned by either of the authors, but fairly obvious to anyone with a mathematics or astronomy background, is that the 62 degree arc, if “[describing] the sun … at its various rising positions throughout the year”, would surely be bisected by an east-west or equinox line. The remarks resonated, reverberating from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin and Na Na Wi Gwan.

end of the arc that is the same as that on the south end (Figure 4.5). It was this full arc with spaces and the two pointed upright rocks that would eventually lead to the unraveling of how Na Na Wi Gwan functioned and, over time, perhaps give purpose to the function. Research reports written on the Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming state that perhaps one quarter of the ‘medicine wheels’ possessed astronomical alignments, usually a solstice sunrise and/or sunset (Eddy 1974, Eddy 1977). If solstice alignments are suspected, there is a simple trigonometry formula that allows one to compute the solstice sunrise and/or sunset azimuths for any latitude. At 43.5 degrees, the approximate latitude of Na Na Wi Gwan, the azimuth (at present) is ± 33.33 degrees (i.e. north and south of an east-west line). Therefore, the summer solstice sun rise azimuth (first gleam) is approximately 56.7 degrees, winter solstice sunrise azimuth (first gleam) is approximately 123.3 degrees, summer solstice sunset azimuth (last gleam) is approximately 303.3 degrees, and winter solstice sunset (last gleam) approximately 236.7 degrees, assuming a flat horizon or zero (0) degrees elevation for all events. By adding the two 33.33 degree values together, the seasonal arc the sun ‘describes’ here is 66.66 degrees, or an approximate 67-degree angle. Transferring the approximate 67-degree angle to the map of Na Na Wi Gwan and, by intuition, using the westernmost and

Doing the math A prominent feature of the main stone circle at Na Na Wi Gwan is that it is not a completely outlined circle, having large gaps between the individual stones placed on the west side. The only fully outlined section of the stone circle is on the eastern side, where the individual stones form an approximate 67-degree arc. On the south end of this arc, separated by a small gap, is an oblong rock, now tipped, which, evident from lichen growth, had originally been placed on end to point up (Figure 4.4c). Additionally, there is a gap and pointed rock on the north 51

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 4.6. Map of Na Na Wi Gwan (see Figure 4.5) stone circle or ‘medicine wheel’ with solstice and equinox alignment directions projected based on a trigonometry formula and then later confirmed through field observations.

Figure 4.7: Photo from February, 1989 showing a part of the eastern arc of stones comprising the main stone circle at Na Na Wi Gwan and circle no. 1, the first small circle of stones uncovered. The arrow pointing toward the Point up rock in arc is in the direction of the winter solstice sunset viewed from circle no. 1. Note also there is an opening or ’gate’ in the southwestern part of this circle consistent with an idea Hall (1985) put forward of a “quarter center shrine” open toward a direction of focus such as the winter solstice sunset which can act to diagonally quarter space or a circle. See Figures 4.5 and 4.6.

52

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE largest rock in the entire circle as the vertex (which seemed a very logical choice), the approximate 67-degree angle fit very neatly on the stone circle arc, with the chords projected over each of the two upright rocks. Interestingly, the summer solstice sunset / winter solstice sunrise line was tangent to the main circle at two points (Behm et al. 1989, Figure 4.6) and may explain why the circle is actually more egg-shaped than round.

long after uncovering circle no. 2, there was a very serendipitous discovery. The former landowner distinctly remembered an incident 30 years earlier that nearly cost him his life when a log he was pulling with his tractor hooked a large and deeply embedded rock. He was almost pitched off the tractor when it reared back. But, luckily, the rock was torn from the ground and the tractor righted itself on its front wheels. The incident happened on the rise to the west of the main circle and, when that area was cleared of brush and bramble, it was there rocks composing circle no. 3 and a V-shaped feature pointing west were found and mapped. With the discovery of this circle and west-oriented V-shaped feature also came the ‘hunch’ of what a sight line projected from circle no. 3 represented. The conjectural equinox alignment was established, itself another tangent line to the main circle which intersected the summer solstice sunset / winter solstice sunrise line on the southernmost rock and, as we were to learn, more surprises beyond (Figure 4.6).

The entire process from reading about the burials to ‘doing the math’ and projecting the angle onto the map had taken only 45 minutes. Yet, it became an epiphany of sorts. By extending the angle chords past the stone circle, what appeared on the map were the winter and summer solstice sunrise and sunset lines, all lines or alignments intersecting on the largest western rock. From this rock, the summer solstice sunrise line passed directly over the (north) upright rock with gaps on both sides and then up the rise on the east edge of the circle. Seeing this, an element of prediction was born.

Surprisingly, the best-marked line of all turned out to be the equinox line. Subsequent clearing along this line to the west revealed three standing stones sweeping out to the western edge of the site where the land rises (Figure 4.8a). The farthest of these is an outlier that appears to have been shaped to a somewhat triangular-shape. It is 1.0 m) high and 0.6 m in diameter on its flat base (Figure 4.8b). The outlier is located on the rise at the very edge of a steep drop off to the west. Originally erected upright, it is now tipped over and lying slightly downslope (Figure 4.8c). The distance from the center of circle no. 3 to the edge of the rise where the outlier once stood is approximately 140.2 m. Because of its size and shape, comparison with objects of similar size and shape showed that it would have been easily visible from circle no. 3, almost the same apparent size as the disk of the sun. Another surprise was in store regarding this line of rock and outlier. When using a laser transit to measure distance and grade from the circle to the high point of the tipped outlier, it was found to be within cm of a 0-degree elevation. With this data, the reason that circle no. 3 was found located on top of the rise to the east of the main circle and not below it by the main circle became readily apparent. It was a pleasant, fortuitous surprise.

Winter Solstice Sunset alignment The first area selected to clear of leaf litter, branches and saplings outside the main circle was to the northeast directly along this line. Amazingly, a small outlying circle of stone was soon discovered: circle no.1. Like the main circle, circle no.1 is not closed having an opening or ‘gate’ on the southwest side (Figures 4.5, 4.6, and 4.7). For anyone standing in this circle looking through the ‘gate’, across the pointed rock and then the westernmost rock, attention is directed toward a nearby hill summit. The hill summit approximate azimuth is 237 degrees, with little elevation relative to the observer. From the math and field observations, it was surmised that circle no.1 was the place purposely marked where to stand to observe the winter solstice sunset (Figures 4.6 and 4.7). When questioned about the hill where the solstice sun would be observed setting, the farmer remarked that there used to be a big stone pile or cairn on top of it, but that it was totally removed and buried after the Second World War when power equipment became available and replaced horses. These discoveries tended to support the idea that this could indeed be a ‘medicine wheel’, as smaller ancillary ‘observation’ or ‘sighting’ circles and cairns were a part of those wheels on the Plains thought to have astronomical properties (Eddy 1974, Brumley 1988).

Summer Solstice Sunset/Winter Solstice Sunrise alignment As brush clearing was tedious work and the site was full of saplings which had grown over the past decades when cattle no longer pastured there, it was determined that, instead of randomly clearing any other areas of the wooded hill looking for additional features, it would be easier to follow intuition and clear along the projected solstice lines. Utilizing this method, circle no. 4 was discovered in mid summer, 1990 (Figure 4.6). Also discovered at about the same time were two stone circles tangent to one another forming a figure-eight (8). They were approximately 61 m to the southeast of the main circle. Of interest, few other rocks were found along this projected and subsequently cleared line, except for some spaced rocks directly on line. It was as if all extraneous

Equinox Sunset Alignment During the initial comprehensive survey in 1988, and for mapping purposes, random clearing of brush and leaves, saplings, etc. was employed in the vicinity of the main circle. Another circular feature, circle no. 2, was soon discovered just north of the main circle. Obvious when in the field and later, when viewed on the map compilation, was that circle no. 2 was not only located directly on the north-south line which bisects the main circle but was itself bisected by the north-south line passing through the main circle (Figure 4.6). The symmetrical property was an unexpected discovery. Not 53

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 4.8a. Photo of the spaced outliers indicating the direction/alignment of the apparent equinox sunset at Na Na Wi Gwan. Together with the aligned rocks shown in the photo, the alignment also includes the southernmost rock in the main circle of stones, a V-shaped petroform pointing west and circle no. 3 (see Figure 4.6). View is looking west.

Figure 4.8b. Photo of the triangular-shaped, flat-based outlier which at one time was standing at the far west end of the spaced outliers marking the apparent equinox alignment (Figure 8a). The size and shape of this rock are identical to the “standing rock“ in South Dakota illustrated below in the 1879 Harper‘s Weekly (author‘s collection). It has since disappeared.

Figure 4.8c. Photo showing the western ridge at Na Na Wi Gwan where the farthest outlier (Figures 8a & 8b) once stood. It is now tipped and lying slightly down slope. At one time it very likely stood in the middle of the ring of stones surrounding the small mound in the center of the photo (see illustration of the “standing rock” at bottom of Figure 8b). If erected on the mound, the base of the tipped outlier would be the same width as the bottom part of the tree trunk visible in the photo upper left. Note the fields at the bottom of the hill which has a steep western slope. View is looking west/southwest. 54

HERM MAN E. BENDE ER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING G ON AND LEAR RNING FROM T THE CULTURAL L LANDSCAPE E

mmer solstice sunset s from thhe vicinity of the two smalll stone circless Figure 4.9. View looking in the directiion of the sum o the summeer solstice sunnset / winter solstice sunrise alignmentt to the southheast of the main m circle off discovered on stones. The white line in the photo (neear center botttom) touching g the outside rocks of the ssmall stone ciircles is snow w Th tree near center visuallly blocks the true alignmeent. Note thee which fell frrom a line strretched alongg this line. The smaller hill summit s compaared to the higgher, more proominent summ mit to its left. From the photo and in thee field there iss no mistakingg the small hilll summit is onn the alignmennt, not the high her summit. Cleaaring farther to the southeeast along th his same line,, more spaced rockks marking thhe direction of the winterr w discovereed. The fartheest of these iss solsttice sunrise were a veery triangularr-shaped outllier over 1.2 2 m tall andd almo ost 305 m froom the main circle (Figuree 4.10). Likee the monolith m markking the equinnox, it, too, was w at a near 0 degrrees elevationn relative to tthe main circlle and on thee uppeer edge of a stteep drop off tto the east. Of O importance,, theree are no otherr rocks to be seen in the vicinity of thiss mon nolith, somethhing observed on much of th he site where,, unleess a petrofform featuree or standin ng stone iss enco ountered, the ground g is unccharacteristicaally barren (off rand dom glacial rock). Herre Comes the Sun a Figure 4.10. Very trianggular-shaped rock found along the summer solstice sunnset / winterr solstice suunrise alignment appproximately 1000 feet (3005 m) southeaast of the main circcle of stones. The tape meaasure in the upper u photo is stretched out oveer 4 feet (1.2 m) m for scale. This rock is locatted on the uppper edge of a steep drop too the east. View iss looking westt.

dwork and thhe discoveriess at Na Na Wi W Gwan weree Field certaainly pointingg in the directiion of an align ned ‘medicinee wheeel’, but in acctuality, was Na Na Wi Gwan G really a place where the early inhabbitants tracked the yearlyy ney of thee sun for time-keeping g purposes?? journ Furtthermore, werre the mountinng suspicions and evidencee that the alignmennts themselvees served maiinly to directt t a place oon the horizo on where thee one’’s attention to anticcipated event would be obsserved? All th he discoveriess in th he field and mathematics m seeemingly indiccated that wass the case. c By latee1989, the driiving force sp purring all thee field dwork at Na Na N Wi Gwan was to objectively answerr these questions. Positive reesults would also tend too N Na Wi Gwan was, indeed, thee conffirm that Na easteernmost ‘meddicine wheel’ and, like others o in thee westtern Plains which had astronomicaal properties,, appeeared to functtion as a ‘callendar site’. Clearly, on-sigh ht solstice annd equinox sunset observ vations weree need ded to confirm m all the preddictions and hypotheses h off

t rocks were systematicallly removed, except for those t stone circcles and the handful h of sppaced composing the rocks alongg the alignm ment. Theese circles were determined to t be places for fo viewing thhe summer sollstice sunset alongg the line which, w when visually exteended northwest baack towards the t main circcle, intersectedd the southern-most upright rocck as a tangennt line to the main circle (Figurre 4.6), crosssed the westeern-most rockk and continued toowards what appeared to be a hill onn the horizon, but not the summ mit (Figure 4.9)).

55

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS how this sitee was utilizedd. Winter andd summer sollstice sunset and the equinoxxes were coonsidered prim mary t alignmennts were the best b defined. With ‘targets’, as their a bit of luckk, accurate obbservations, inn conjunction with knowledge of o the obliquitty of the eclipptic, i.e. how much m the earth hadd shifted on itss axis over thee past 3,500 years, y could help annswer anotherr important quuestion: whenn was this site esttablished andd utilized? This option was necessary beecause there was w a compleete lack of daatable artifacts, a normal n attribuute, it seemedd, of many, if not most, petrofform sites (Buchner 19880, Garvie 1991, 1 Steinbring 1970:238). So, despite snow s and exttreme w heat, humidity h and biting mosquuitoes cold in the winter, in the summ mer, observatioon of the sollstice and equuinox events begann in hope of confirming thaat Na Na Wi Gwan G was establishhed to track the t sun from season to seaason, mark those seasonal shhifts and estaablish a worrking ‘calendar’ sitte.

Figu ure 4.11a. Herman H Bendeer standing beehind cameraa tripo od in line witth circle no. 1 and western nmost rock inn the stone circle preparing tto photograph h the winterr solsttice sunset inn 1991 while helper brushees snow from m rockks in the easterrn arc of the m main stone cirrcle. Note thee eastern rise whicch blocks the eastern horizzon at Na Naa Wi Gwan. G The standing s stonee at left centeer of photo iss most certainly a ’Manitou’ stoone or ‘keeperr‘, one whichh was likely erecteed to mark thhe north norttheast, a veryy sacrred direction to the Plaiins Indians and a northernn Cheyyenne in partticular (Mr. R Ralph Redfox, a traditionall Cheyyenne elder and a healer, peersonal commu unication andd rema arks upon his first visit in 11995, Bender 2004). 2

Winter Solsttice Sunset On the eveening of thee 22nd Deceember 1990, the temperature was -18 degrees C. with clear c skies (Beender t be cold while w 1990). Ignnoring what may seem to standing in circle no. 1 (Figure 4.11aa), I observedd the winter solsticce sunset and captured it on film for thee first time (Figure 4.11b). For me, m the initial experience was w so profound and personally rewarding thhat, observingg and photographinng the same event, e was reppeated on thee 21st December 19991. Documeenting the actuual winter sollstice sunset confirrmed not onlly the accuraacy of the sollstice sunset alignm ment, it veriffied the originnal predictionn and one based mainly on a trigonomeetry formula and W I watcheed the sunset, there was another intuition. While observation worth w noting and recordedd. The sun didd not set directly in i line with thhe rocks and the hill centeer. It actually set about a a half a sun disk to thhe north (evideent in the photograaphs as a treee blocks the true alignment in Figure 4.11bb). The half sun disk nortth shift, due to the shift in the obliquity of thee ecliptic sincce Na Na Wi Gwan G was establishhed, representts approximattely 2000 yeaars of time (Aveni 1972, Meeus 1991:135 annd 136). Thiss date m conservattive than, archhaeois consistent with, if not more astronomicall dates propossed for other ‘medicine whheels’ in North Am merica (Eddy 1977).

Figu ure 4.11b. The T winter sollstice sunset in i December, 1991 1 as it goes to t last gleam of flash. The first or lastt glea am of the sunn is much eassier to observve and detectt than n the full disk after it rises or before it sets. s Note thee align nment of the camera tripodd, westernmosst rock in thee main n circle and tree blockingg the actual rounded hilll summ mit. The sunn has set to thhe north (right) of the tree, not directly d behinnd it. Approxiimately 2000 years y ago (orr more) the winter solstice sunseet would havee been seen too set in-line with the foregrouund markers (and behindd n is) vieweed from circlle no. 1 (seee wherre the tree now Figu ures 4.5, 4 6, 4.7 4 & 4.11a).

nset Equinox Sun Determining what days (according to the Gregorian calendar datees) the equinoox sunset shouuld be observved at Na Na Wi Gwan becam me one of the true learrning experiences of how a supposed petrofoorm ‘calendar’ site functions. Inn September 1990, the firsst opportunityy was coming to test t the accuuracy (and prediction) p off the equinox alignnment after thhe initial discoovery of circlle no. 3 and the aliigned standingg stones. Enccouragement came c from a casuual remark by b the former property owner o saying that he h had been watching w the sun set duringg the past eveninggs and said thhat, on the 200th Septemberr, the sun set in the t “deepest part of the valley” from m the vantage of thhe tipped outllier where he had been stannding (Bender 19900).

king at the caalendar, the A Autumnal equiinox occurredd Look on th he 23rd Septem mber and planns were madee to documentt the sunset. The evening weatther on the 23 3rd Septemberr 56

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 1990 was beautiful and clear. Observing from the vantage of circle no. 3, the sun was seen to set very close to the ‘target’ on the apparent horizon. A careful analysis of the (slide) images two days later showed it had actually set two full sun disks to the south (left) of where the meter-high, triangular shaped standing stone had once stood. Measured from circle no. 3, the two-sun-disk-wide degree of arc was about half a thumb’s width at arm’s length (the ‘rule of thumb’), about one degree (Bender 1990). Some colleagues thought this was accurate enough considering rocks spaced in a row are not precision instruments, and offered their congratulations. Personally, however, it bothered me because of how well marked and long the alignment was. Furthermore, the winter solstice sunset observation a few months later showed that alignment to be within half a sun diameter of the ‘target’. It was time to do some homework and determine what had, in my mind, gone wrong.

journey along the horizon was something understood by many, if not most, otherwise illiterate and uneducated people. One sign of the impending approach of seasons was the awareness of how shadow lengths changed throughout the year. By taking note of both light and shadow changes, they were adept at knowing when either equinox was coming or had arrived (Duncan 1998:4,5,14&15, Whitrow 1988:113). The ‘marker’ these people used to determine the equinox was not a number in a box on a piece of paper: it was determined by observing the sun’s movements where one lived and the effects of lengthening or lessening daylight. Our (calendar) method for determining the equinox is based on mathematics and astronomy. The equinoxes, because of the eccentricities of the earth’s orbit, will not always coincide with a set date, even if marked on a calendar as such. There are other consequences of the eccentric orbit. For instance, in the northern hemisphere during summer when earth is at aphelion in its orbit and farthest away from the sun, it takes longer to come back to the equinox point than in winter, when at perihelion. The consequence is that there are four more days in summer equinox to equinox in the Northern Hemisphere than in winter. The effect is to have the astronomical autumnal/fall equinox arrive days later than a nice mathematical quartering of the year. There was, however, a method that overcame this discrepancy by simply averaging the difference in days between seasons.

The winter of 1990/1991 was spent pursuing information on archaeoastronomy sites rather than ‘medicine wheels’ per se, and the information gleaned from studies of megalithic sites in Europe helped to provide the advice and possible answer of why solar-driven ‘calendar’ sites did not always synchronize with the western Gregorian calendar. Establishing a calendar, it seemed, was a tricky business and there was little agreement throughout history on what day to assign any absolute event, whether a holiday, saint’s day or equinox. A matter of convention, our (modern) calendar, reformed by Pope Gregory in 1582, set the date of the vernal or spring equinox on the 21st March. This was keeping in tradition with same date set in AD 325 by the Council of Nicea (Duncan 1998:202, Whitrow 1988:116).

The line of standing stones at Na Na Wi Gwan was almost certainly established to mark a practical point, the mean point known or “megalithic” equinox. It is not the same as the astronomical equinox (Krupp 1983:167, Thom & Thom 1997:62 and 63). The megalithic equinox was probably established by using a day count. The native inhabitants would first have chosen a place and then used landmarks on the horizon to observe where the winter and summer solstice sunrises and/or sunsets occurred, relative to the horizon. They could easily establish reference alignments on the ground at their respective observation points, and then proceed to count the days between each solstice event from there. Averaging the days over the period of a year would then give them a reference point on where to establish the appropriate alignment, upright marker or landmark to mark the equinox. After a few years observing, the system could be fine- tuned for best effect, necessary as the sun is at solstice for about three to four days. Both the vernal /spring and autumnal/ fall equinoxes would then occur on the same average day count from either solstice marker, thus equally dividing the seasons and quartering the year (Hitching 1977:130-132). This idea is not new, exclusively European or Native American nor was it likely done for the sake of science and accurate timekeeping. A time-honored method long before the (Gregorian) calendar was ever perfected, day counts together with shadows, were known to have been used in medieval times (and likely much earlier) in the ‘old world’ to establish the day of both the spring and fall equinox, mainly to time religious festivals (Duncan 1998:112-113).

Although the astronomical equinox may actually occur on the 20th March, the established date of 21st March is always within hours of the astronomical vernal or spring equinox, i.e. the exact time (hour and minutes) the sun is directly overhead at the celestial Equator. On that day, worldwide, the sun rises and sets near true east and west. However, the native inhabitants who constructed and utilized Na Na Wi Gwan would not have had a clue about Julian or Gregorian calendars, clock time or an artificial line on the globe marked Equator. They employed other means. Even without clocks or calendars, there most certainly was a great awareness, one that was born of necessity to survive in a harsh climate with long winters, of the approach of the shift of seasons. Winter was the time of death if one was not prepared and, because of it, both the spring and fall are important times for people who live in northern latitudes. Like many people the world over, including those living in northern Europe a 1000 years or more ago, the native inhabitants would have had a real sense of the approaching equinoxes. The pending arrival of the vernal or spring equinox after a long winter and the coming winter after the autumnal or fall equinox were timed by observing the natural world (Kinietz 1965:121, Pond 1834:84). This fundamental knowledge of how natural occurrences coincided with the sun’s annual 57

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS If one is using a day count, the megalithic equinox sunsets occur on March 21 and then, about 182 days later, on the 21st September. Each of these dates numbers approximately 91 days following, first, the winter solstice, (21st December), and then 91 days following the summer solstice (21st June). Approximate is the key word, as the solstice may not be determined to the exact day. Furthermore, near and at the equinox and relative to an observer on the earth, the sun appears to be moving the fastest along the horizon from one day to the next, sunrise to sunrise or sunset to sunset. This apparent rapid movement at the latitude of Na Na Wi Gwan shifts the sun one full sun diameter per day between successive days (Malville 1989:17). Here, then, was the answer to why I had observed sunset two sun diameters south from the alignment on 23rd September 1990. Simply, I was there on 23rd September, the day of the astronomical equinox, when I should have been there two days (or two sun diameters) earlier for the megalithic or day-count equinox. It also explained why the sun was observed to set one degree south of the where the farthest standing stone had once stood in the alignment. Like the two-day discrepancy, the explanation was, or is, elegantly simple. The diameter of the sun’s disk measured from the earth is 0.505 degrees or one half degree. If the sun is observed to be moving one full sun diameter per day about the time of the equinoxes, this equates to one half-degree shift (south in the approaching fall and winter) per day. Therefore, two days times one half-degree/day equals one degree shift (south), exactly the estimated value observed and measured. It would be another nine months before the 21st September date could be re-tested for the ‘megalithic’ equinox. With the New Year, though, another opportunity to check the overall accuracy of the equinox alignment would arrive in three months.

Figure 4.12. Photo of equinox sunset on the evening of March 21, 1991 at Na Na Wi Gwan showing the full disk of the sun setting in-line with the southernmost rock in the circle of stones and location on the upper edge of the rise to the west where the farthest outlier once stood viewed from circle no. 3 (see Figure nos. 4.6, 4.8a, 4.8b, 4.8c & 4.13). Note the ice from water ponding in the interior of the stone circle due to diurnal freeze thaw cycles in the Spring.

Following the 21st September 1990, the next megalithic or day count equinox was 21st March 1991, the ‘traditional’ equinox. If blessed with clear skies, it would be the day to test the alignment of standing stones at Na Na Wi Gwan to determine if, indeed, they marked the apparent equinox sunset. The weather cooperated and on 21st March 1991, while standing in circle no. 3, the sun was observed setting directly in line with the row of standing stones over where the now tipped standing stone had once been (Figure 4.12). It was a great feeling and triumph, as much if not more satisfying than watching the winter solstice sunset and proving for the second time that the predictions were valid and the anticipation worth the wait. Hopefully, the autumnal equinox observation would be a repeat event of 21st March.

method used to establish the equinox alignment at Na Na Wi Gwan. There was a tremendous feeling of satisfaction but additional confirmation of alignments, especially the summer solstice sunrise and sunset, were needed to further verify the predictions of how Na Na Wi Gwan functioned. Summer Solstice Sunset Although personal experiences and observations during the past decades have demonstrated that it is not always the rule at petroform sites possessing astronomical attributes, conventional logic dictates that, the longer the sight line, the more accurate the alignment. The longest sight line projected from Na Na Wi Gwan is, as we were to learn, the summer solstice sunset alignment. In June 1990, attempts to observe and record the summer solstice sunset along this alignment met with some challenges, due to thick brush, mature trees blocking views and not really being sure what to expect. The ‘target’ hill the

On the 21st September 1991, after a nine month wait, the sky, thankfully, was relatively clear. Arriving at Na Na Wi Gwan, circle no. 3 was occupied once again and all watched with great anticipation as the apparent equinox sun set. Once again, just as on March 21, the sun set in line with the row of standing stone directly over where the now tipped standing stone had once been (Figure 4.13). Day counts, it appeared, may well have been the 58

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Figure 4.14. Photo identifying the “small bump” or Ashford hill summit to the north (right) of the more prominent (foreground) summit. Unknown at the time the photo was taken (February, 1991), the cross on the Ashford hill was visible to the naked eye but was not noticed (see Figure 3b). View is from the vicinity of the main stone circle looking northwest in the direction of the summer solstice sunset.

Figure 4.13. Photo of apparent equinox on the evening of September 13, 1991. Note the setting sun directly inline with the row of standing stones and tangent to the circle of stones viewed from circle no. 3 (see figure nos. 4.6, 4.8a, 4.8b, 4.8c & 4.12). summer solstice sunset was determined to set on is easily seen to be more distant than the winter solstice sunset hill, although, at the time (1990), no one was aware that it was a separate hill and not part of a larger hill in the foreground (Figure 4.14). Nonetheless, on the 21st June 1990, the summer solstice sunset was photographed from the vicinity of the main circle and also from the northwest edge of the site near the cluster of pits. Despite all my wishes, the sun’s last flash was not on the highest part of the hill but to the north over a smaller ‘bump’ (Figure 4.15). Even if a bit disappointing (defeating my personal ‘logic of symmetry’ idea incorporating the big hill center), the bump to the north was/is the place the long alignment directs one’s attention toward and not the higher hill summit (Figure 4.9). There it rested as emphasis was shifted towards more clearing of brush and confirming the aforementioned-described alignments over the next year and a half. But, as luck would have it, the sequence of events on the 21st and 22nd December 1991 would remedy any personal disappointment and provide the key which unlocked the door to understanding Na Na Wi Gwan proper, and then provide more clues to its dates of utilization or origins which, in turn, became the link to the cultural landscape.

Figure 4.15. Photo taken on the evening of June 21, 1990 of the summer solstice sunset as the full disk of the sun traveled to the north (right) of the foreground hill summit to eventually set on the smaller ‘bump’ to the north, in reality, the Ashford hill which is more distant than the foreground hill and the highest point in the area (see Figures 4.1, 4.3a, 3b & 4.14). Winter Solstice Sunrise After observing the 21st December 1991 winter solstice sunset, a friend Dave Stetter who had accompanied me was enthused and interested enough to say he wanted to come back the next morning and, if clear, document the winter solstice sunrise. This had eluded us two years earlier when in the -30 C. temperature cameras, film and the observers all thoroughly froze. Nothing worked or was recorded on film. Now, two years later as we were leaving the evening of the 21st December, looking east and seeing the moonrise I remarked it was a full moon and my friend should see the moon set directly opposite where the sun would rise the next morning, 22nd 59

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS was established began to take on new meaning, but posing yet another question: were more hilltops visible from the site connected with it and if so, which hills and why? Back to the Summer Solstice Sunset Armed with the newly gained knowledge, it was now imperative that the summer solstice sunset alignment and last flash set point were reconfirmed. What I hoped for (because of the long alignment) was to be able to detect a shift (south) from center of the distant hill summit. On the 21st June 1992, from the vantage point of the northwest Figure 4.16. Photograph of the winter solstice sunrise as it rises above the cluster of pits (along or on the horizon on the morning of December 22, 1991 while standing in circle no. 4 long alignment and not blocked (Figures 5 & 6). Due to the thick brush on the edge of the site where the by a huge tree) the solstice sun triangular standing stone was discovered (Figure 10), the actual first gleam or was seen to set an approximate flash was not seen. To overcome this problem and project where the first gleam half sun diameter (and more) to could be seen, two images of the rising sun were projected with the foreground the south of the hill summit, a trees, rocks, etc. used as reference for aligning the separate images and the sun value consistent with the amount disk from both outlined and then connected by lines as shown in the Winter of shift observed for the winter solstice angle of sunrise annotation above. The angle of rise was also verified by solstice alignment (Figure 4.18). a trigonometry formula. There is little doubt that the sun first gleam has shifted Comparing the value of shift north (left) from the long alignment and likely more than indicated in the photo. once again with the effects of the (D. Stetter photo) shift of the obliquity of the ecliptic, it was another indication December. The next day at about 10:00 a.m. C.S.T. a of about 2,000 years from the time the solstice sun would telephone call came. Dave said that while he was there to have been seen to set directly on the hill summit. observe and photograph the solstice sunrise (Figure 4.16), he did indeed watch the full moon set opposite the rising The amount of shift of the obliquity of the ecliptic sun remarking that “it set on the big hill by Ashford, the appeared to be consistent, indicating a date of utilization one with the cross on it”. Immediately after hearing this of approximately 2,000 years, now triple checked. and checking a 1:100,000 scale topographic map of the Keeping the date in mind, there was, however, some very Campbellsport drumlins area, inspiration hit and, in less compelling information obtained at least five years earlier than an hour, a revelation was committed to paper in the that needed to be re-examined. Not only did it reinforce form of a map (Bender 1991:80-81). The big hill at the idea of ‘culturally’ connected hilltops visible from Na Ashford on which the moon had been observed to set was Na Wi Gwan, it held clues to a much earlier date for at the ‘bump’ to the right of the foreground hill, not a part of least one of these ‘connections’ over distance. In it as previously thought. Not only farther away at 3.5 km, addition, it helped answer the question of where the it was also the highest, most prominent elevation in the summer solstice sunrise, a critically important time of the entire area (Figures 4.3a & 4.3b). Almost by divine year for native people, was observed from Na Na Wi intervention (in the form of a glacier), this hill formed a Gwan and towards what. A reexamination of this part of the continental sub-divide which, together with the information would also bring the investigation of Na Na summer solstice sunset line projected from Na Na Wi Wi Gwan full circle back to the very beginning of the Gwan, extended another 14.4 km from it to intercept the investigation with more questions about the pit clusters. exact location on a hilltop where a petroform site consisting of two stone circles had been discovered in Summer Solstice Sunrise Summer 1991. From this hill the line continued on another two miles 3.3 km to the edge of the Niagara Totally missing at Na Na Wi Gwan was any likely or escarpment overlooking the Horicon marsh (Figure 4.17). clearly-marked observation place (ancillary stone circle) Unbelievably, stretching from Na Na Wi Gwan on the from which the summer solstice sunrise could be southeast to the Niagara escarpment on the northwest, the observed looking northeast. The rise on the east edge of sub-divide and solstice line were contiguous along a line the circle of stones blocks much of the eastern horizon over 20.9 km long! The ’why’ of where Na Na Wi Gwan and prohibits a first light/gleam view of the event from 60

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Figure 4.17. Map of the continental subdivide and summer solstice sunset / winter solstice alignment projected from Na Na Wi Gwan over the Ashford hill drawn on the morning of December 22, 1991 . The solstice alignment is the dashed line running at a diagonal through the approximate center of the map. The map was made by tracing a 1:100,000 topographic map. The side or edges of each small square is a section of land 1 mile (1.6 km) on a side. first or last gleam also becomes obvious when viewing the photo as the glare is greatly reduced with the disk of the sun visible. anywhere in the southwestern vicinity of the main circle (Figure 4.4b). This ‘fly in the ointment’ to the calendar hypothesis, i.e. an established summer solstice sunrise observation place and directed alignment to confirm that the first day of summer had arrived, was not to be found. The observation place or small circle of stones was never found because it probably never existed. The time had come to look ‘without’ of Na Na Wi Gwan for the summer solstice sunrise, not within. What did exist was the experience and knowledge gained over the years by documenting solstice sunset hilltop alignments. Using experience as a guide, I extended the summer solstice sunset azimuth line on the maps from Na Na Wi Gwan to the northeast, where it intersected a hilltop 2.8 km away. A field observation confirmed the azimuth alignment. This hilltop was on the horizon viewed from the northeastern rise if standing on the upper edge of the rise above the circle in the ‘bowl’. Furthermore, it had already been established that the summer solstice sun rose over that particular hilltop (Figure 4.19). Years earlier, looking but not seeing, archeologists actually observed and photographed the summer solstice sun first light or gleam over it (Figure 4.20). But as the alignment was not associated with the

Figure 4.18. Photo of the summer solstice sunset setting to the south (left) of the Ashord hill summit taken on the evening of June 21, 1992. Photo was taken from the edge of Na Na Wi Gwan near the northwest cluster of pits inline with the solstice alignment tangent to the main circle of stones extended outward toward the pit/edge area (Figure 6). Because of the length of the visual alignment, parallax is negated and there is a likely hood that multiple viewing or observation places were used at Na Na Wi Gwan to view the summer solstice sunset event (e.g. see Figure 4.22). The observed amount of shift to the south of the sun disk is at least one half sun disk diameter and more. The reason for observing the sun at 61

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 4.19. Wide angle photo of the hill looking northeast from Na Na Wi Gwan where the Old Copper Culture artifacts and fluted stone axe were found in 1950 (see Figure 4.1).

Figure 4.20: Photo of the summer solstice sunrise from the eastern rise at Na Na Wi Gwan taken on June 21, 1989. Trees in the foreground now block most of the view toward the hill. Point of light in the upper right is the planet Mercury and point of light in the upper left is the bright star Capella. main circle of stones and (their) general confusion about azimuth angles reigned, this observation was considered of no value, dismissed and forgotten about. In their negativity, the archeologists had never made the connection of the importance of this hill or their observation on that June morning. This particular ’bump’ on the horizon was known to them for something other than a sunrise, largely forgotten about it seemed, after reports had been filled out and filed away. It was a very special hill indeed and had been visited by the archeologists almost three years earlier because of what the present land-owner had found there while helping his father the day before he (the present land owner) was shipped to Korea in 1950 during the Korean War (Norbert Theisen, pers. comm.).

southwestern slope. Any Copper Culture artifacts are rare finds, but finding the fluted axe in situ was an even greater rarity. Prized by the archeological community for their intrinsic value, these artifacts are very diagnostic of not only the culture, but also the age. They easily dated from 2,500 BC or 4,500 BCE. There can be little doubt that the artifacts were associated with a burial there, the bones now long gone having decayed in the acidic soil (Ritzenthaler 1953, Ritzenthaler et al 1957, Stoltman 1986:217-226). What cannot be measured but conjectured is that whomever was buried on the hilltop was of importance. There can be little doubt that the burial place was specifically chosen for its prominence and, quite possibly, other attributes of a phenomenal nature considered important.

On that fateful day when the hilltop was cleared and broken for cultivation, half a dozen ‘Old’ Copper Culture copper artifacts and a fluted axe were plowed up. They were not found on the hill apex, but near it on the upper

One phenomenal attribute other than prominence is that this hill is the ‘place’ of the summer solstice sunrise viewed to the northeast from Na Na Wi Gwan. There is some evidence, though, that the original direction of 62

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE focus may not have been toward the summer solstice sunrise. The reverse direction (back azimuth) of the summer solstice sunrise is the winter solstice sunset, an event that occurs in the west/southwest. West is the direction where paradise is said to lie for many Native American cultures, the souls of the deceased traveling along the Milky Way (Bender 1996, Bowden 1981:75, Krupp 1991:272). However, some tribes specify the direction is to the southwest and it is during the winter solstice, the time of the year when the ’veil between worlds’ is said to “thin“, that the souls are able to pass over to the spirit world (Goodman 1992:23, Powers 1977:53). Viewed from the hilltop where the ancient copper artifacts were found, the ‘thinned veil’ or ‘doorway’ would be seen to ‘open’ as the winter solstice sun set directly over the Na Na Wi Gwan hilltop (Figure 4.21). This hilltop-to-hilltop alignment may well predate all others viewed from Na Na Wi Gwan and, thus, represent its sun-focus origins. Direction beyond the Calendar By the summer of 1992 after six years of research and field time at Na Na Wi Gwan, the actual solstice and equinox observations and photographs needed to confirm and/or document the validity of the alignments verifying the predictions were ‘in the can’. These on-site observations demonstrated how the sun circle’s designers had created a place where they could determine such things as the first day of summer, the first day of the winter and the first days of spring and autumn. The work over the past six years had demonstrated that the particular day of each of these events could be anticipated just like using a calendar. Whenever discussing Na Na Wi Gwan, the words ‘calendar site’ were used interchangeably with ‘medicine wheel’. But something was telling me that the ability to use it as a calendar was only a function and may not have been the real purpose that Native people constructed and utilized it. There were other features and components there that did not seem in any way related to the division of time according to the western convention of a calendar. The time was at hand to start rethinking the whole idea of ‘medicine wheels’ as calendars and to re-examine the component parts in relationship to the place as a whole, the sum of all its various parts (Behm et al. 1989).

Figure 4.21. Photo of the winter solstice sunset on December 22, 1991 seen setting over Na Na Wi Gwan as viewed from atop the hill where the Copper Culture artifacts were found (Figures 19, 20 & 24). Note that the sun is shifted north (right) from the hill center. The white streaks to the right of the sun are ‘sundogs’ caused by light refracting off ice crystals in the frigid air, a commonly seen phenomenon in the northern tier of states in the U.S. during the winter months. Gwan appeared to be a profound attribute (Figure 4.22). To say that the builders had achieved balance and harmony in their site selection is an understatement. It is the kind of place that was surely sought for its physical and spiritual attributes, “a place where power rests … [when] the sun has stopped”, thus creating the sacred (Grim 1983:5). But did ritual astronomy alone at Na Na Wi Gwan create the ‘sacred’ or was it merely a means to it when the Native people observed that the “sun … [had] stopped“ and “power rested” (over a hill at solstice when the sun ‘stands still’)? Thoughts turned to this question and the spiritual connection that had been mostly overlooked in the endeavor to prove the (scientific) timekeeping function. With my theoretical and fieldwork basically done there after the summer of 1992, questions of spiritual use and concerns started to occupy my thoughts. These thoughts would eventually influence the interpretation of other petroforms discovered at Na Na Wi Gwan, together with the entire site, hill and surrounding landscape.

Confirmation of the solstice and equinox alignments had clearly demonstrated that the foreground ‘observation’ circles and associated spaced rock alignments were mainly used to direct one’s attention to the horizon where key events would be observed on a select day or days. What had been firmly established was that Na Na Wi Gwan possessed a definite outward focus. The western horizon was the most open and, viewed from the prospect of the main circle where the eastern horizon was blocked, the main focus of direction outward towards key sunsets. What also had become acutely obvious was that each key sunrise or sunset, whether it be first gleam or last gleam, occurred over a hilltop on the horizon or, in the case of the equinox sunset, the ‘deepest part’ of a valley. The symmetry on the western horizon viewed from Na Na Wi

New Directions Shortly after the first maps of the stone circle at Na Na Wi Gwan were compiled, a pronounced property of the 63

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 4.22. Sketch map of the western horizon viewed from Na Na Wi Gwan showing the inherent natural balance. Note that the central valley where the equinox sun sets is flanked by hills on either side where the winter and summer solstice sun sets occur. Azimuths are approximates rounded off to the nearest degree for the sake of simplicity in the sketch and sunsets are indicated by the full disk sun although the last gleam is most likely what the Native inhabitants actually observed. main circle was noticed. It had a clear N-S orientation bisecting the circle E-W. Also evident in the field (and later on the map compiled in late 1989) was another line of spaced-rocks with a definite N-S orientation, this one found to the northeast of the main circle (Figure 4.6). This north-south line is atop the eastern rise and, if extended south, intersects the east-west equinox alignment near circle no. 3. The northward focus is likely very intentional. Sometime after the map was drafted, more field clearing had exposed another feature consisting of north-south spaced rocks capped by a smaller circle of stones lying due south of the main circle (Figure 4.23a). If one is looking north along the south end of this line of spaced rocks, it affords a wonderful view towards the northern horizon and sky (Figures 4.23b). What this particular petroform represented eluded interpretation for years, but in 1998 a combined delegation of Northern and Southern Cheyenne religious society members interpreted this formation as the entrance to a sun lodge. This explanation sounded plausible, as the main circle was, after all, a circle of stone aligned to the sun’s annual journey and the entrance into it was from the south, if one considers the sun direction is south. Adding support to the Cheyenne delegation’s interpretation, when examining the petroform, together with the E-W oriented arc of stone approximately bisecting the north-south line of spaced rocks (Figure 4.23a), the entire form does possess elements and attributes of historic sun lodge entrances including a definite center point evident in the small stone circle (Powell 1969:778-790, 822).

Figure 4.23a. Sketch map of the petroform uncovered south of the main stone circle and aligned north-south with the north-south line which bisects the east-west (see Figure 4.6). It has been interpreted to be a ‘sun lodge entrance’ entered from the south (Figure 4.23b).

64

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE intersection of solstice lines imposes another center point, one established by the sun during its annual journey on the horizon (Figure 4.6). The perceived natural quartering of space by the sun imposing diagonal (solstice) and cardinal directions on the 360-degree circle is an ancient ideal. At a ‘medicine wheel’ with directional alignments established by tracking the movement of the sun, quartering of space is a natural, if not primary feature and occurrence, and should be expected to be present. According to some Cheyenne informants, quartering of space by diagonals probably evolved from the directional angle of solstice line directions and is an older tradition than quartering with perpendicular lines on the cardinal directions. Inherent in either tradition used to quarter space, however, is that the intersection of the two directional lines is always a point. The point generated by the directional intersection is no mere geometric point; it is a center. The Native American cross-in-circle motif is a direct representation of intersecting lines quartering space and an expression of center, a divine link to creation and the Creator whose presence in the sky is the sun (Bowden 1981:19 and 20, Mails 1972:90 and 98, McLuhan 1971:177, Taylor & Sturtevant 1996:476 and 485). A physical, geometric center can generally be found at most ‘medicine wheel’ sites, especially those known or thought to be oriented to cardinal directions or the sun (Brumley 1988, Eddy 1974, Eddy 1977). The aligned spokes and other parts, even individual boulders in ‘medicine wheels’, can be used to physically quarter space within a circle or ‘wheel’. It is the same design function as found in a sun lodge or purification lodge, both models of the universe (Mails 1972:97 and156, Mails 1991:103-105, McLuhan 1971:177, Hall 1985:190, Schlesier 1987:101). Center is considered to be profound, within, without, multiple and universal (Bender 2002, Bowden 1981:37, Goodman 1992:31-33, Hall 1985:181-185, McLuhan 1971:43&177). Center is considered as having both a physical spiritual component, sanctifying it as [a] place where one seeks blessings (Bender 2002). Center, it is said, “contains all the sacred power of the universe” (Versluis 1993:61). Therefore, in a profound sense, any established center point should be construed as an absolute dictate from the Creator’s divine presence in the sky, i.e. the sun (Bender 2002).

Figure 4.23b. Photo showing the pronounced northward direction of focus for the sun lodge entrance with its north-south line which would bisect the main circle if continued north (see Figures 4.6 & 4.25). The direction north is regarded as the first and oldest direction according to both the Lakota and northern Cheyenne (Hoebel 1960:45; Powers 1977:55,75,181,191-193; Schlesier: 1987:62,91&101), for both tribes, the meaning steeped in respective tribal cosmologies (Goodman 1992:58, Powers 1997:181-193, Schlesier 1987:8, 15,62,96-97). Unlike the eastern horizon which is blocked by the rise of land east of the main circle of stone at Na Na Wi Gwan, the northern horizon and sky are completely open/visible from this vantage point, a likely reason for the location of the alignment if not the main circle of stones on site. The white arrow in photo points north.

The knowledge of a spiritual center in Native spirituality was not entirely foreign and nor was it exotic, but ‘center’ was something no one was thinking about regarding the function of Na Na Wi Gwan. Fundamentally, it had or has nothing to do with a calendar or establishing one. My mistake, and the mistake of many others, was to impose the values inherent in our late 20th/early 21st century science and technology-driven society on a far different culture which possessed (and still does, to a degree) an animate sense and phenomenological view of the world (Bender 2002, Bender 2004, Kinietz 1965:326-328). A differing worldview is not all that separated our cultures. It was also well documented by written accounts made during early contact and many centuries later that the

Seeking Center If one glances at the map with astronomical alignments (Figure 4.6), it can be seen that the equinox line projected from circle no. 3 is tangent to the main circle at the southernmost rock. At this tangent point it intersects the north-south line bisecting the main circle, the intersection of the two lines forming a center point. Here space is quartered on the cardinal directions with the southernmost rock in the main circle acting as a center. The site is also diagonally quartered by the intersection of the solstice lines on the largest and westernmost rock in the main circle. On this, the largest rock in the circle, the 65

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS native Americans did not share a notion or concept of time in the same sense as ours. Right up to the end of the 19th century and later the oldest Indian people, when questioned, did not know how old they were or what year they were born. They could only guess. Simply, the knowledge of one’s birthday, the subsequent passage of years or even time in general was not considered important to them. The Native population of the north, we were to learn, had always embraced a very different approach to the importance of time and, because of their prevailing attitude, an indifference towards the recording, regulation or management of it. This indifference included development of a ‘calendar’ or ‘calendar’ sites (Bender 2002, Grant 2000:64, Hadingham 1984:96-109, Rambow 2004:98).

imprint on this area that the term “definite Archaic presence” has been used to describe it (Bender 1995:6, Steinbring 1997). The hill now named Na Na Wi Gwan was, it appears, a venerated place already ‘marked’ or embellished at least two millennia before the ‘medicine wheel’ was ever constructed there (conjecturally ca AD 1). Many other petroforms besides the ‘medicine wheel’ were uncovered there, some of which appeared to be far older than the ‘medicine wheel’. One of these, an elliptical petroform consisting of large, highly weathered and deeply embedded rocks, is located on the rise above and northwest of the ‘medicine wheel’ (Figure 4.25). What is special about this location versus that of the main stone circle is that, viewed from this spot, both the Ashford hill and the hill where the Copper Culture artifacts were discovered are easily seen as distant ‘bumps’ on the horizon. Therefore, both the summer solstice sunset and sunrise are visually connected to it. In addition, there is another important attribute, one that brings the story of how Na Na Wi Gwan first emerged from the mist of time full circle.

Because of the extremely well documented native indifference towards regulated time, it became abundantly clear that Na Na Wi Gwan was no ‘calendar’ site in the western sense of the word. The step away from western ‘inward’ thinking of a ‘contained’ calendar site towards an ‘outward’ one extending the site definition and boundaries to all the surrounding hills and valleys had been taken. Neither was Na Na Wi Gwan a habitation site, something evident from the beginning as no artifacts or (credible) cultural debris were ever found there. To be expected (Steinbring 1999:10), the habitation sites would be found years later and distant from the sacred sites and venerated places (Figure 4.1).

On the 21st November 1993 one last visit to Na Na Wi Gwan was made to field-check a growing suspicion of two suspected alignments (Bender 1993). From the perspective of the elliptical stone circle on the rise directly above the main circle, both clusters of shallow pits that I was first asked to examine in September 1986 were confirmed to be in alignment with respective summer solstice azimuth sunrise and set points on the horizon. Simply put, anyone observing summer solstice sunrise from the pits on the northeast rise will see the sun rise over the Copper Culture hilltop (Figure 4.24). In the evening, anyone observing summer solstice sunset from the pits on the northwest rise will see the sun set over the highest hill near the center of the Campbellsport Drumlins, the Ashford hill (Figures 4.3, 4.3a, 4.4 and 4.24). It was obvious the pits were not random or there by chance and held their own story.

Perhaps the best way to interpret Na Na Wi Gwan is as a “world center shrine”, a place where predicted and anticipated events symbolically link the earth with the sky, thus transforming, into an “earth navel“, through which blessings from the Creator can be obtained (Hall 1985:189). It was at Na Na Wi Gwan, the “center of it”, where blessings from the Creator were symbolically received from the sun, whose warmth and light could also provide ‘direction’ in more than the literal sense, i.e. the way to find ‘truth within“ (Goodman 1992:31). Origins - Coming Full Circle

In late 1986, it had been determined through excavation that the individual pits were once much deeper than now, big enough for an average-sized person to lie in and old judging by the soil horizons. Beyond that, the only plausible explanation for the pits was that they may have been holes dug by diamond prospectors. In the late 1800s, raw diamonds had been discovered in the glacial drift only seven miles south of Na Na Wi Gwan. It was not until November 1993, and by playing a hunch, that the pits were confirmed to be aligned to the summer solstice relative to the elliptical circle and horizon solstice markers. There the matter rested for the next year, until the chance discovery of a very similar cluster of the same approximate sized pits on the Ashford hill northeast summit. On the Ashford hill top there was no mistaking that these pits were native in origin (Bender 1994, Bender 1995, Steinbring et al. 1995, Steinbring 1995). More oblong than round, each was aligned in the direction of the summer solstice sunrise.

Over the years, intensive research on the cultural landscape of southeastern Wisconsin has revealed that distinct places such as hilltops and their associated vistas appear to have been utilized solely for ritual use, never domestic. Many of the hilltops in the Campbellsport drumlin area were, like Na Na Wi Gwan, embellished as shrines, including the Ashford and Copper Culture hills (Bender 1995, Bender 2002, Bender 2003, Figures 4.1 and 4.24). From the artifact record, there can be little doubt that the integration of landscape and culture was early, beginning in the mid-Archaic. In addition to the Copper Culture artifacts found on the summer solstice sunrise hill, over 90 % of all the artifacts catalogued in the Campbellsport drumlin area during the WEPCO survey were Archaic in age (Bender 1995, Steinbring et al. 1995). Included were those found in the general area of the Ashford hill where summer solstice sunset occurs (Figures 4.1 and 4.24). So pervasive is the Archaic 66

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

Figure 4.24. Map shown in Figure 4.1 with the the Copper Culture hill identified as the place on the horizon where anyone in the northeast cluster of pits at Na Na Wi Gwan would observe the summer solstice sunrise (SSSR) rising over it and the Ashford hill identified as the place where anyone in the northwest cluster of pits would observe the summer solstice sunset (SSSS) setting over it.

Figure 4.25. Aerial photo of Na Na Wi Gwan showing the elliptical circle of stones with other performs and features found in the vicinity of the main stone circle (see Figure 4.23). Note the probable north facing bison effigy petroform. Bison or buffalo are said to come from the north where there is “life and breath” and north is considered the first created or oldest direction (Powers 1977:181&191). According to Mr. Ralph Redfox, a traditional Cheyenne elder and healer and member of the Suhtai (faction), the entire Ashford hill with its associated petroform represents a north facing bison or buffalo. For the Cheyenne, north is the original primary direction of focus and may relate to ancient memories stretching back to the end of the Ice Age (Bender 2003b:28&30; Powell 1969:27,467&617; Schlesier:62). The black arrow in photo points north. 67

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS With this discovery, it was clear that the pits first seen at Na Na Wi Gwan were not a completely isolated anomaly unknown elsewhere. Because there is much historical documentation amongst the Plains Indian people on similar sized pits used for vision quest, these pits are now thought to be ‘group questing pits’ for initiates who, while on a quest, seek a vision and blessings. Many times the vision is sought during the time of the summer solstice when the sun is farthest north and at maximum strength. Garvie (1991:105) relates that “ethnographic records also confirm a connection between the vision quest and the sun … [and that] the area chosen for the quest was typically isolated and elevated … [sometimes] the waiting place would be framed with stones … [and] medicine men … wait their quest inside a circle of power”. When juxtaposing Garvie’s narrative with the elliptical circle and pits at Na Na Wi Gwan, the description of how a similar petroform site where lines and ellipses are found and may have been utilized is compelling to say the least. Garvie (1991:107) also went on to say, “medicine wheel activity was a public activity rather than a private one … with accurate orientations indicating an interest in sunrise on one particular date”. Garvie was not alone in her observations. Medicine wheels have been determined to have been constructed for group activity by others (Eddy 1974, Hall 1985) and similar sized pits whether singular or in groups are found at many other petroform and ‘medicine wheel’ sites (Brumley 1998: Hall 1985:190-191, Noble 1968, Wedel 1961:265 and 266). Finding the pit clusters at Na Na Wi Gwan appears to represent the norm if meant or constructed for vision quest rites.

cosmological singularity where blessings are obtained. In this respect, it is not alone on the cultural landscape of southeastern Wisconsin. The sacred center can be and is multiple, a whole on-to-itself or, a synecdoche, acting as part of a larger more encompassing center. Na Na Wi Gwan is both an independent center and also part of the sacred precinct with the Ashford hill center where place is established on a grand scale. The native cultural recognition of place is cognitive. It was/is about landscape as a driving force, especially in (sacred) site selection. On the physical landscape, there exists a fundamental recognition between what are subsistence and votive or sacred sites. One is profane, the other profound and readily apparent to those who have spent decades living on the land and growing to understand how the native imprint forms the cultural landscape. After spending many years with the northern Algonquin speaking peoples, Conway (1983:14&17) stated that “… votive sites rank among the most important places on the landscape to traditional Indians … [and] that sacred and ceremonial sites contributed to an Indian band identification within a specified area as much as, or more than, food resource locations.” Such a “specified area” or place, is Na Na Wi Gwan imprinted on the cultural landscape of southeastern Wisconsin, a place according to Conway, that is “an avenue between this world and another reality”. References Aveni, A. F. 1972. Astronomical Tables Intended for use in Astro-Archaeological Studies. American Antiquity, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 531-540. Behm, J. A., Bender, H. E. & Farvour, F. 1989. The Krug Petroform Site in Fond du Lac County. Fox Valley Archeology. Published by the Robert Ritzenthaler Chapter of the Wisconsin Archeological Society, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Bender, H. E. 1988. Prehistoric Utilization of a Wisconsin Drumlin. Unpublished report on file at U.W. Oshkosh Grant’s Office & ASHCO, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Bender, H. E. 1989. Evaluation of Prehistoric and Early Native American Trail Networks in Fond du Lac County. Report to accompany grant funded by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, on file at Grant Office and with author. Bender, H. E. 1990. Unpublished field notes in Field Notes, Summer - 1989, 1990, 1991. Bender, H. E. 1991. Unpublished field notes in Field Book No. 1, December 22, 1991. Bender, H. E. 1992. Geophysical Survey and Investigation of a Petroform Site in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. The Rock Art Quarterly, Vol. 3, Summer, 1992. Bender, H. E. 1993. Unpublished field notes in Notebook No. 2, November 21, pp. 1-2. Bender, H. E. 1994. Unpublished field notes in Field Book No. 2, October 27 - December 3, pp. 105-128.

The investigation had come full circle back to where it first began. Once the relationship between the pits and the surrounding landscape was grasped, little if anything about Na Na Wi Gwan appeared to have been there by chance, including its location on the physical landscape. The visual connections from ‘within’ the bounds of the site to the surrounding landscape ‘without’ were surely part of an intentional and grand design. All at Na Na Wi Gwan was, in turn, a benefit of nature’s gift of the continental sub-divide. In native thought, this surely would have been recognized as a divine bonus, a landscape where the sun at solstice divides the water north and south, an attribute and natural occurrence unknown anywhere else on the physical or cultural landscape. Summary Na Na Wi Gwan was a place apparently sought or discovered through a familiarity with the landscape gained over generations of inhabitation, its location on the continental sub-divide, contributing to the profound power of ‘place’. Ultimately, though, Na Na Wi Gwan became what it was and what is today because ‘all the bumps’ along the horizon were in the right place. What was created there over the millennia, in accordance with nature, was or is not a ‘medicine-wheel’, but rather a physical and spiritual center which, acting with the sun at special times of the year, is transformed into a 68

HERMAN E. BENDER: SEEKING PLACE: LIVING ON AND LEARNING FROM THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE Bender, H. E. 1995. Survey Results, Comments and Recommendations Regarding the Butternut-Auburn Transmission Line Project. Report on file at State Historical Society of Wisconsin, compliance chief; and Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Bender, H. E. 1996. Strawberry Island and the Sacred Landscape. Report on file at Office of Historic Preservation, Lac du Flambeau, WI and ASHCO, Fond du Lac, WI. Bender, H. E. 2002. Some Comments on the Idea of Medicine Wheels as Calendar Sites. NEARA Journal, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 3-5, Summer, 2002. Bender, H. E. 2002b. Macktown: A Link to the Native American Trail System of Northern Illinois and the Continent. Report prepared for the National Society Daughters of the American Colonists on file at ASHCO, Fond du Lac, WI. Bender, H. E. 2003. Nature’s Attributes, Human Perceptions and a Sense of Place: An Integration of the Natural and Cultural Landscape. Sense of Place: Coming Home to Mayville, the Rock River and Horicon Marsh. Grant funded publication by Main Street Mayville, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Cultural Waters, pp. 4-7. Bender, H. E. 2003b. Manitou Stones in Wisconsin. 3rd Stone, Issue 45, pp. 26-31, Winter, 2003. Bender, H. E. 2003c. Spirits in the Sky. 3rd Stone, Issue 47, pp. 48-53, Implosion (end), 2003. Bender, H. E. 2004. Star Beings and Stones: Origins and Legends, Indian Stories Indian Histories, edited by Fedora Giordano and Enrico Comba, Otto Editore, Torino, Italy, pp. 7-22. Bender, H. E. 2005. A Natural History and Cultural Landscape Survey of the Patrick Marsh Area, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Report prepared for the Patrick Marsh Conservancy, Natural Heritage Land Trust and Friends of Dane County Parks Foundation on file at ASHCO, Fond du Lac, WI. Bender, H. 2007. Archeoastronomy Investigations on Petroform Sites in the Mid-Continent of North America: A Common Sense Approach with commentary. Journeys: The Journal of the Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology and Cultural Landscape Studies, Inc. Vol. 2, Winter 2007, pp. 1-9. Black, R. F. 1974. Geology of Ice Age National Scientific Reserve of Wisconsin. University of Connecticut Storrs, National Park Service Scientific Monograph Series No. 2, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Borowiecka, B.Z. & Ericson, R.H. 1985. Wisconsin Drumlins Field and its Origin. Zeitschrift fur Geomorphogie, v. 29, pp. 417-438. Bowden, H. W. 1981. American Indians and Christian Missions: Studies in Cultural Conflict. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London. Brumley, J. H. 1988. Medicine Wheels on the Northern Plains: A Summary and Appraisal. Archaeological Survey of Alberta, Manuscript Series No. 12, 1988.

Buchner, A. P. 1980. Archeo-astronomical Investigations of the Petroform Phenomenon of Southeastern Manitoba. In Directions in Manitoba Prehistory. Papers in Honor of Chris Vickers, edited by Leo Pettipa. Association of Manitoba Archaeologists and Manitoba Archaeological Society, Winnipeg, Canada, pp. 89-109 Conway, T. 1983. Oral History Relating to a Nipissing Indian Sacred Site. Arch Notes, The Ontario Archaeological Society, November/December, pp. 1417. Crowns, B. 1976. Wisconsin through 5 Billion years of change. Wisconsin Earth Science Center, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. Duncan, D. E. 1998. Calendar - Humanities Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year. Avon Books, Inc., New York. Eddy, J. A. 1974. Astronomical Alignments of the Big Horn Medicine Wheel. Science, 184 (4141): pp. 1035-1043. Eddy, J. A. 1977. Medicine Wheels and Plains Indian Astronomy in Native American Astronomy, edited by Anthony P. Aveni. University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 147-169. Eschman, D.F. & Michelson, D.M. 1986. Correlation of Glacial Deposits of Huron, Lake Michigan and Green Bay Lobes in Michigan and Wisconsin. Quaternary Science Reviews, v. 5, pp. 53-57. Ferguson, R. 1997. The Cultural Landscape of a National Park. Cultural Resource Management, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp.12-13. Garvie, S. J. 1991. Whiteshell Petroforms and Plains Medicine Wheels: Sunrise Alignments in Different Contexts. Manitoba Archaeological Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 95-112. Grant, B. 2000. Concise Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Wings Books – Random House, New York. Grim, J. A. 1983. The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Hadingham, E. 1984. Early Man and the Cosmos. Walker & Company, New York. Hall, R. L. 1985. Medicine Wheels, Sun Circles and the Magic of World Center Shrines. Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 30, No. 109, pp. 181-193. Hems, D. 1997. Abandoning the Cult of the Artifact Cultural Landscape Management on the Chilkoot Trail. Cultural Resource Management, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp.14-16. Hitching, F. 1977. Earth Magic. William Morrow and Company, New York. Hoebel, E. A. 1960. The Cheyennes: Indians of the Great Plains. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York. Kinietz V. W. 1965. Indians of the Western Great Lakes 1615-1760. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI. Kurtz, P. A. 2005. Creation’s Mirror. Journal of the Hanwakan Center for Prehistoric Astronomy, Cosmology and Cultural Landscape Studies, Inc., Vol. 1, Spring 2005.

69

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Krupp, E. C. 1983. Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations. Harper & Row, New York. Krupp, E. C. 1991. Beyond the Blue Horizon. Harper Collins, New York. LaBerg, G. L. 1994. Geology of the Lake Superior Region. Geoscience Press, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona. Mails, T. E. 1972. The Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Double Day & Company, Inc., Garden City & New York. Mails, T. E. 1991. Fools Crow - Wisdom and Power. Council Oak Books, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Malville, J. M. & Putnam, C. 1989. Prehistoric Astronomy of the Southwest. Johnson Books, Boulder, Colorado. McLuhan, T. C. 1971. Touch the Earth. Simon & Schuster, New York. Meeus, J. 1991. Astronomical Algorithms. WillmannBell, Inc., Richmond, Virginia. Noble, W. C. 1968. Vision Pits, Cairns and Petroglyphs at Rock Lake, Algonquin Park, Ontario. Ontario Archaeology, Vol. 11, pp. 47-64. Pond, S. 1834. Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota as They Were in 1834. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1908, 1986 reprint, St. Paul. Powell, P. J. 1969. Sweet Medicine, Vol. II. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK. Powers, W. K. 1977. Oglala Religion. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London. Rambow, C. 2004. Bear Butte: Journeys to the Sacred Mountain. Pine Hill Press, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Reuss, H. S. 1981. On the Ice Age Trail. Raintree Publishers, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ritzenthaler, R. E. 1953. Prehistoric Indians of Wisconsin. Popular Science Handbook Series No. 4, Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ritzenthaler, R. E. 1957. The Wisconsin Archeologist edited by Robert E. Ritzenthaler, Vol. 38, No. 4. Schlesier, K. H., 1987. The Wolves of Heaven. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman and London Schultz, G. M. 1986. Wisconsin’s Foundations. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, Iowa. Steinbring, J. 1970. The Tie Creek Boulder Site of Eastern Mantibo. In Ten Thousand Years Archaeology in Manitoba, edited by W. Haldy, pp. 223-269, Alton. Steinbring, J., Bender, H. & Behm, J. 1995. Petroform Research in the North American Interior. Report on file at State Historical Society of Wisconsin, compliance chief; and Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. Steinbring, J. 1997. Successful Rock Art Conservation Projects: Two Cases. Pictogram, Vol. 9, No. 2, September, 1997. Steinbring, J. 1999. Phenomenal Attributes and Elemental Forms in the Rock Art Ritualism of Western South Dakota and Eastern Wyoming, U.S.A. Pictogram, Vol. 11, No. 2. Soltman, J. B. 1986. The Archaic Tradition. In The Wisconsin Archaeologist, Vol. 67, Nos. 3-4, pp. 207238.

Taylor, C. F. & Sturtevant, W. C. 1996. The Native American. Smithmark, New York, NY. Thom, A. & Thom, A. S., 1977. Rings and Menhirs: Geometry and Astronomy in the Neolithic Age. In Search of Ancient Astronomers, edited by E.C. Krupp, pp. 39-80, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York. Wedel, W. 1961. Prehistoric Man on the Great Plains. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Whitrow, G.J. 1988. Time in History. Barnes & Noble Books, New York & University of Oxford Press.

70

Chapter 5

Stone Thresholds: Stone Arrangements as Signposts or Shrines Matthew Kelleher Introduction

to identify them as Aboriginal objects. Recent excavation of 10 stone arrangements (1,439 individual stones) at a site in Western Australia found no additional cultural features in 70 test pits (Hook et al. 2002). Only one isolated flake was found near one of the upright stones. The excavation was possible in this case because the individual stones were vertically embedded in soil rather than resting on a rock platform. Perhaps the lack of cultural material signifies something to do with the function of the stones, apparently, in this case, unrelated to archaeologically identifiable activities. Traditional owners of the site identify the stones as exhibiting ritual significance. Other excavations of stone arrangements, although few, have also found very few if any associated artefacts (e.g. Flood 1992:187; Mulvaney and Kamminga 1999:26). The default interpretation in most cases is that the constructions were ceremonial structures, although the more adroit researchers have concluded that it is difficult to be certain of their purpose.

Stone arrangements are often thought of as enigmatic and difficult to study with empirical techniques. New research in the Australian Blue Mountains of New South Wales has identified statistically significant patterns in the placement of stone arrangements and the lithic assemblages and rock art found in proximity to stone arrangements. Lithics such as geometric microliths and homogeneous track engravings were shown to form a unique pattern when found in proximity to stone arrangements. Detailed spatial analysis, encompassing both geographical and archaeological variables, indicates that Blue Mountains’ stone arrangements represent a threshold change between the more mundane and selective archaeological activities. These patterns can be interpreted as insights into how stone arrangements functioned and were perceived in the Blue Mountains. Aboriginal stone arrangements are found throughout Australia but very little quality information exists regarding their cultural function and significance. In this chapter, I show that it is possible to empirically assess the relationship between stone arrangements and the larger archaeological record. The first section discusses background information for Australian stone arrangements and outlines the various types found in Australia. The second section is a case study including a correspondence analysis of the stone arrangements in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales (NSW) Australia.

The classification of stone arrangements is problematic because little direct archaeological or ethnographic evidence is available to interpret their function or meaning. Faced with this situation we are left with anecdotal evidence and formal avenues of inquiry. In this chapter, I explore a formal line of enquiry but for descriptive purposes it is also useful to set up a few convenient categories. Australian stone arrangements can take many different forms but can generally be classified into: 1) subsistence arrangements, 2) monoliths, 3) circles and lines, 4) cairns or heaps, 5) complex arrangements combining categories 2-4 (after McCarthy 1940). Culturally recognised natural formations of stone, such as boulders with eroded features, are also important in Aboriginal culture but for simplicity are not included in this assessment.

What are stone arrangements? Stone arrangements are stones directly arranged by humans. The stones are usually arranged in lines, circles and cairns (or heaps). Stone arrangements can range from simple one-off groupings to complex multi-form structures. In Australia, unlike the megaliths of Europe, the size of stones used rarely exceed one metre, with most stones measuring between 20 and 50 cm in length and it is very rare for arrangements to comprise artificially shaped stones. Stone arrangements are usually located in exposed, relatively elevated topographic positions, such as along a ridge-top, but can be found in just about any geographic setting.

1. Subsistence stone arrangements include fish traps and hunting blinds. These are often very simple in form, usually a low ring or line (wall) of stone. Fish traps and hunting blinds can often be differentiated from other circles and lines by their wall-like appearance, meaning they are linear piles and not just arranged stone lines. Fish traps are constructed in shallow water, flood channels or tidal areas. The stones are arranged in weirs to facilitate catching fish by either directly trapping them in pools or by funnelling fish toward nets in free-flowing waterways. The best examples of fish traps in Australia are located at Brewarrina on the Darling River in NSW where a series of weirs covers a 400m2 area. Hunting blinds are small walls of stone (and usually brush) built to hide hunters waiting for prey. Hunting blinds are generally found in proximity to important resource areas,

Stone arrangements found on rock platforms are sometimes associated with rock engravings or other rock markings, such as stone axe sharpening grooves, but are rarely directly associated with lithics (flaked stone tools) or other artefacts. Because most Australian stone arrangements are simple constructions and not often associated with archaeological features, it can be difficult 71

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS such as permanent water holes where fauna congregate. An excellent example of such blinds is the large collection found around the mound spring at Strangways in arid Central Australia.

cairns and lines. These groupings of stone arrangements are usually associated with topographically selective places, often in relatively elevated positions with good vistas. Complexes can exhibit hundreds or even thousands of stones. Spatially, the various parts of stone complexes can overlap or be separated by several hundred metres. The function of stone complexes is almost always thought of as indicating a ceremonial place, although this is not supported by direct evidence. One of the better examples of a complex stone arrangement is found on Endrick Mountain in NSW. According to C C Towle (1932:41) the main stone complex is a 14m long stone oval with a longitudinal median line and is located near the edge of a cliff overlooking a pass. Each end of the oval is marked by a low pile of stones capped by a larger stone. Nearby, is another oval approximately 5m long with a large monolith at its eastern end and a heap of stone at the western end. Further up the slope is a third series of arrangements consisting of numerous stone heaps. Towle (ibid.:44) was certain that the arrangement was used for ceremonial purposes, as the isolated mountain location provided the Aboriginal people with the ability to “carry out their secret rites and ceremonies without fear of surprise or intrusion”. Towle cited the previously mentioned Wyndham account (via Mathews 1894) as evidence of the stone arrangement's ceremonial nature.

2. Monoliths (or standing stones) are the simplest arrangement, where a single (large or small) stone is fixed upright into position. Monoliths are found in all topographic settings, although they are often in conspicuous locations rather than hidden away. In traditional Australian Aboriginal culture, monoliths are often interpreted as signifying a specific place-related event. For example, an erected stone may indicate the exact spot where an ancestral event took place (Kelleher 1994:23). Several fine examples of monoliths are recorded at Serpentine, near Armidale NSW (McBryde 1974:45). 3. Circle and line stone arrangements are simple geometric arrangements, usually of medium sized stones (20-30cm). Isolated lines or circles of stone can be found in all parts of the topography. Stone lines and circles are commonly found in association with each other or other categories of stone arrangement (see complex stone arrangements). Where circles and lines of stone occur on rock platforms, they are sometimes associated with engravings. Ethnographically, stone circles are commonly associated with ceremonial activity, although direct observational evidence of their ceremonial use is very rare. One of the few direct observations of the use of stone circles for ceremonial rites is W T Wyndham’s description of a Bora ceremony held in New England NSW where he noted that "all the [Bora] circles were marked stone", which interestingly reminded him of Stonehenge and Avebury (1889:38). I think Wyndham's association with the large henge monuments is undoubtedly an exaggeration but it makes for interesting reading. Most often the stone circles or lines are interpreted as transitional markers designating a liminal zone separating the mundane outside world from the sacred inner circle. In other words, the constructions are demarcating specific places where ceremonies are thought to have occurred.

Blue Mountains stone arrangements - a case study There are many categories of stone arrangements in Australia but few sources of primary information. On close inspection, I have found most common sources actually comprise second- or third-hand accounts (e.g. Etheridge 1918; Howitt 1884, 1904; Mathews 1894; Threlkeld 1974). The difficult question for archaeologists is how to interpret stone arrangements without the assistance of direct ethnography. As a case study, I selected the Blue Mountains National Parks NSW Australia. The park is located approximately 60km west of Sydney and the portion examined here represents The Blue Mountains are approximately 1200km2. contained within the Greater Blue Mountains Reserves World Heritage Area. The topography of the mountains is an undulating, heavily dissected plateau with ovoid platform crests, rather than conical peaks commonly associated with mountain ranges. The underlying sandstone geology is often heavily incised by dramatic erosion events resulting in a remote and rugged environment, primarily accessible only via the top of interconnecting ridges. The ruggedness of the mountains makes it difficult to conduct systematic research, as the region jealously guards its archaeological treasures.

4. Heap and cairn stone arrangements also have a widespread topographic distribution, although they are often recorded at junctions or transition points in the topography. Stone heaps and cairns seem to represent the most culturally multifunctional arrangement of stone. Mundane functions include travel markers showing where to turn or signposts signifying tribal boundaries. Some of the earliest Australian explorers identified these directional mounds (e.g. Blaxland 1823; Grey 1841). In more recent times, religious interpretations have become more common. Religious functions include ritual events and the identification of Ancestral travel routes and places (cf. Mulvaney and Kamminga 1999:27; Stockton 1993:72).

The Blue Mountains are known to contain over 1,000 archaeological sites, with the most common site types being axe grinding grooves, shelters with artefactual deposits, open scatters of lithics and rock art. Stone arrangements are the fifth most common site type accounting for approximately 10% of the total. Recent systematic investigation by the author as part of a team

5. Complex stone arrangements are groupings which have multiple categories, such as monoliths and circles or 72

MATTHEW KELLLEHER: STON NE THRESHOLD DS: STONE ARRANGEMENTS R S AS SIGNPOST TS OR SHRINES S

P Plate 5.1 View w of the cliffs and a rugged va alleys in the Blue B Mountainns.

Plate 5.2 Cairn of stonee common acrross the Blue Mountains. M

Plate 5.3 Cairn of stonne (arrow) loccated along a ridge line ( M. Jacckson). in the eastern Bluee Mountains (Photo

73

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Pllate 5.4 Line of stone (arroow) near the end e of a promiinent spur whiich g sandstone pllatform. culminates in a distiinctive looking principal factor in interpretinng the function of stonee ngements. Ass Stockton (19993:72) conclu uded: arran

G Fooundation andd the funded by thhe National Geographic Australian Museum M indicaates that hundrreds more sitees are waiting to bee documented (see Taçon ett al. 2005).

Stone arranngements arre common throughoutt Australia andd are known tto play a partt in story andd ritual among people who sstill follow theeir ceremoniall traditions. The cairns of the Bluee Mountains,, f their association with rockk especially from engravings, could well mark the ‘stations’ orr significant sttages in the ttravels of anccestral beingss and of those who w reverentlly retrace thosse journeys.

Stone arranggements in thee Blue Mountains fall into three categories: monoliths, m stone circles andd lines and caairns. Cairns are byy far the mosst common coonstruction and are distributed right r across the mountaiins. The cairns c comprise moostly rough sandstone s pieeces generallyy 2040cm in lenggth, with the overall o heap raanging in size from 30cm up too 200cm in diameter. Cairns C are ussually solitary consstructions, althhough clusterrs or linear arrays a containing multiple m heapss have been foound. True too the definition, most m cairns are a located on o ridge linees in exposed locaations, althouggh exceptionss have been found f in most toppographic seettings, including inside rock shelters. Moonoliths and stone s circles and a lines are rarer. r Monoliths are difficullt to identtify as culltural m duue to the com mmon constructionss within the mountains tendency for sandstone to lodge itsself in a verrtical position. Onn the other haand, stone cirrcles and linees are more identiffiable but rareely occur. Most M are founnd in isolated settiings, usually near n or at the end of prom minent ridge lines.

Such h intuitive connclusions are intriguing bu ut they are nott baseed on empiriccal analysis, tthey are of litttle use whenn tying g to generate comparative c m models. The most recennt comprehennsive work in the Bluee untains has shed some light on thee associationn Mou betw ween stone arrrangements annd religious activity. a Thiss research by the author a undertook a detaileed analysis off with the aim of o identifyingg the mountains’ arrchaeology w ds in the material m recoord related to religiouss trend behaaviour (Kellehher 2003). T The first stage of researchh was to create a universal u moddel of religio ous behaviourr and then identify its archaeoloogical correlattes (followingg y work by de Polignac 19884; Renfrew 1985; 1 Marcuss early and Flannery 19994). This moddel was then tested t againstt Bluee Mountains data using a detailed statistical andd spatial analysis which w encomppassed both archaeological a l v Fiive places weere identifiedd and geographic variables. hin the mountaains as ceremoonial centres. The materiall with orgaanisation of these t places followed a very specificc “graaduated” spattial structuree (Kelleher 2003:55-56).. Arteefacts and geoographic featuures were show wn to displayy a paatterned increaase in formality, culminatin ng in a highlyy selecctive arrangement of ffeatures, wh hich stronglyy emu ulated religiouus patterns of spatial behaviour (ibid.:: 272)). It was shown that religious beehaviour willl physsically differeentiate itself fr from mundanee behaviour att places perceived as highly sacrred. The resu ults were bothh statistically significant and roobust, as exteensive testingg

m have been proposeed to Various archhaeological models explain prrehistoric A Australian Aboriginal site distributions in the Bluue Mountains (Bowdler 1981; 1 Johnson 19779; Lennon 19983; McCarthhy 1964; McInntyre 1990; Stocktton 1970; Stocckton and Hollland 1974). Some S of them are quite q good butt none of them m are all-incluusive. Vague untestted generalisaations, incongrruent with optimal foraging models, m abouut high ellevation, rellative inaccessibilitty, the locatioon of rock arrt and specifiically stone arrangeements have been b proposedd as identificaations and interpreetations of reeligious/cerem monial sites (e.g., Bowdler 19881; Gaul 19844; McCarthy 1948, 1964, 1983; 1 Johnson 19779; Stockton 1970, 1993). Little system matic work has been done to iddentify how sttone arrangem ments Again, aneccdotal actually fit into these models. r wass the information rather than systematic research 74

MATTHEW KELLEHER: STONE THRESHOLDS: STONE ARRANGEMENTS AS SIGNPOSTS OR SHRINES determined that the patterning could not result from chance.

interpretation of the data plots is simple (Kelleher 2003:136-141; cf. Baxter 1994:123; Greenacre 1988; Greenacre and Hastie 1987:443; Weller and Romney 1990:85). MIMs indicate the degree of presence of selected variables by utilising mutually exclusive variables, each of which is given a separate column (Table 5i). Each variable is described in binary terms (zeros and ones): zero is negative and one is positive. This approach is used to identify densities of various artefacts, relative distributions and relative distances to various geographical features. For example, distance to water (category) can be identified by variables (100m2n, homogeneous motifs; • (e) >2n, heterogeneous motifs; • (ex) ≤2n, motif structure indeterminate; • (Ev/vt) >2n, homogeneous motifs vertical position inside rock shelter

Proximity to stone arrangements CA is a great tool for uncovering the relationship between archaeological sites based on the relationship of variables but what if your site (stone arrangements) does not exhibit many attributes? Stone arrangements (as seen in the CA analysis) are difficult to directly analyse for the same reason that they can be difficult to identify because they have few directly associated archaeological features. In the same way, it is easier to understand what a building was used for by examining its contents. What is needed in this analysis is some means of bulking up the attributes associated with stone arrangements without necessarily biasing the result. I found one of the best methods was an indirect (spatial) approach which adds a variable to the sites in proximity of stone arrangements. I created the variable proximity to stone arrangement (PxStnArg) which indicates if a site, which is not a stone arrangement, is within 1,000m of a site which is a stone arrangement (a distance array was used to determine spatial proximity). In this way, I captured the basic relationship between stone arrangements and other categories of archaeological information exhibited by nearby sites. This variable allowed me to see if the proximity of stone arrangements may have been influencing archaeological organisation and activities at the surrounding archaeological sites. In short, are the trends for sites near stone arrangements different from those distant from stone arrangements?

Paintings/Drawings • (P) >2n, homogeneous motifs; • (p) >2n, heterogeneous motifs; • (px) ≤2n, motif structure indeterminate Stencils • (S) >2n, stencils only, Stencil and Paintings/Drawings • (SP) >2n, stencils and other homogeneous motifs; • (sp) >2n, stencils and other heterogeneous motifs; • (spx) ≤2n, stencil and indeterminate motif structure Motif Format • (F) Figurative – anthropomorph or animal; • (t) track – bird or roo; • (s) stencil only; • (u) indeterminate (‘n’ is the number of images) Table 5ii CA codes for rock art analysis

77

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS R oc k Art D C A Obj. 3

p sp x

p

2

sp x p

Ev SpP

SP

p SpP xe x p Pp

1

E p S

p

0

S

pS S sp p S P

p p

px

Ev E

S

ex p p

sp S S

sp spSx P p p S pp p x ppspS P p spp S p p

P p

e

ex

e

E

p

E

e

E E ex

e P

p

-1

E E

E

E E EE ex

E E

E

E

px sp x S

p

-2 -2

-1

0

1

2

Figure 5d Rock art CA object plot R oc k Art D C A Motif Obj. 3

F Ft

F

2

u

vt

F F FF u F tF

1

F

F t F s

u

0

F

Fs

u F

-1

F F FF

s

s

t t

t t

s u

F F

F

vt

F u

u

F s s

F

Fs uF FF s F F Ft F F s F

F F

F F F

t

Ft t t t

t

u

Ft t Ft

t u t t t

t u

F u F s

F

-2 -2

-1

0

1

2

Figure 5e Rock art motifs CA object plot The axial interpretation of Figures 5d and 5e displays a clear division between engravings and paintings/drawing. The overall lack of clustering around the centroid underscores the inherent differences between painting and engravings. It is also apparent that this division of technique translates into a division of subject between homogenous tracks and heterogeneous figurative motifs. Clusters of bird tracks found on open rock platforms are plotting in opposition to clusters of rock shelters containing figurative outlines of various animals. Stencils are occupying the middle ground between the paintings and engravings. Variation in topography between art found in shelter sites and art found on open rock platform accounts for much but not all of the observed distribution. Rock shelter sites which exhibit

vertical engraving (Ev/vt) are still right of the primary axis. Clearly, there is some substantial variation between techniques and between the various motifs. The geometric interpretation (Figure 5f) is the most enlightening for understanding the place of stone arrangements. The variable proximity to stone arrangements appears closest to the origin in the column profile. This ordination is important for interpreting the continuum of art in the region. Clearly, there is substantial variation within the rock art and stone arrangements are occupying the transitional area between paintings and engravings. From the object plot, it is apparent that most of the sites found in this middle ground are stencil sites. Stone arrangements and stencil 78

MATTHEW KELLEHER: STONE THRESHOLDS: STONE ARRANGEMENTS AS SIGNPOSTS OR SHRINES Rock Art DCA Var. 4 MdFks StnTools Cores 3

Cortex LgFk

Q_Fks

2

WsteFkg2 Elv6_8

SmFkle5 MSC_Fks Elv_800

BS/Ochre

GrsHth

Qry1km

1

AGG>l5 AGdpg15 Wells

AGclustr

Vis1000

Size100m

RdHhPk 180_Vis

NatDemFt

AGline

PxTrTpUn Px20AGG LwHth

PxStnArg

0

Slpl20

H2O100Shltr100 RckShltr RavRivAr

SubMtAr

-1 PxPtg

NatDemAr

Ort_NS

O_RckFce PxEgv

HwkStne HhReElv RdElvTFt H2O1_5 CliffSpr

Ort_EW NrrbStne Cmplx_St

PxMulti

ScndFt

Vis6_1k AGGle5 AGdple15

Shltr1km

Woodlds AcsOrt Elv_600 Slpg20

-2 -2

-1

0

1

2

3

Figure 5f Rock art CA variable plot sites therefore, are in effect showing a material linkage between the actions related to pigment art and those related to engravings. Moreover, this statistical picture of stone arrangements occupying the middle ground is apparent in the physical world. The actual locations of stencil sites and stone arrangements are similar.

choppers, various scrapers and flakes and split-pebble tools, 2) points, 3) geometric microliths. A further difference between the lithic groups related to the type of site the stone tools were found in. Most groups favoured one site type more than another. Six site types were also identified: 1) axe grinding groove, 2) engraving, 3) multidimensional, shelter sites, 4) painting, 5) transit, generic open camp sites, 6) unidimensional, single use open camp sites. In most cases, the association between lithic group and site type primarily related to environmental factors. For example, the more utilitarian tool group was closely associated with favourable subsistence environmental features.

Stockton (1993:74) notes that in the Blue Mountains stone arrangements sometimes indicate where to turn off a ridge to locate art assemblages. If, for argument’s sake, the stone arrangements were transitional markers, the related stencil sites might represent the flow of art-related activity from the subsistence/pigment art areas to the more marginal areas near engravings. The plot is not conclusive but the argument appears logical.

The data set for this analysis used 91 sites and 57 variables. Figure 5g shows the site information with the identified trends for lithic groups. Figure 5h shows corresponding variables.

Lithic correspondence analysis The lithics CA revealed an interesting relationship with stone arrangements. Stone arrangements were most closely associated with one particular type of stone implement: geometric microliths. The CA lithic plots displayed distributional variation in the relationship between stone implements types, which may reflect the organisation of activity. The association between geometric microliths and stone arrangements, therefore, may be an indicator of similar behaviours/activities.

The analysis identified a patterned relationship between isolated assemblages of geometric microliths (a specialised tool type) and stone arrangement proximity. The axial interpretation of Figure 5g indicates a basic division along the primary axis between stone tool assemblages. Points (p, P; see Table 5iii) are clearly plotting left and geometric microliths (g, G) are right of the primary axis, with the less specialised tools (t, T) group nicely separating the two. This division is underscored by the secondary axis, which shows a further isolation for geometrics found at transit sites, plotting predominately in the upper right quadrant. A similar trend is apparent for points associated with painting sites in the upper left quadrant. This metric interpretation

Lithics in the Blue Mountains display a large range of stone implements. In this analysis, I found it necessary to collapse taxonomies to achieve meaningful results (cf. Kelleher 2003:203). A univariate frequency analysis identified three general groupings of implements: 1) tools, combining edge ground axeheads, eloueras, 79

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS shows a gradual but distinct trend in the use of some lithic types at various sites throughout the mountains.

Site Type •

The geometric interpretation of the data begins to offer us clues as to the underlying cause of the observed statistical division. Geometrically, the scattergram can be described as depicting a classic ‘V’ configuration, indicating a meaningful distribution of variables. The upper left shows an association between points, pigment art and domestic activity and the bottom of the plot shows an association with primary production (e.g. quarries, large flakes). Not surprisingly, these areas are depicting the subsistence base of the mountains. In contrast, the variables in the upper right quadrant are depicting the outskirts of principal activity. The trend is clear at the tail, where geometric dominated classes (G) strongly associated with a proximity to engravings and stone arrangements. These geometric sites (G) are predominately pure assemblages of geometric microliths (and associated waste flakes) as opposed to geometrics (g) mixed with other identifiable implements. This suggests that the activities at these sites were more limited. It is highly probable that geometrics are evidence of a parallel (limited) activity. As Witter (2000:29, 57), among others1, has commented, the selective distribution of geometrics likely indicates special-purpose activity outside of the norm. The above CA strongly supports this notion.

(A) – Axe grinding groove class; (E) – Engraving class; (M) – Multidimensional class; (P) – Painting class; (T) – Transit class; (U) – Unidimensional class

Site type codes are used in combination with the following lithic activity codes: Tools •

(t) – denotes miscellaneous tool assemblage ≤5

•

(T) – denotes miscellaneous tool assemblage >5

Points •

(p) – denotes point assemblage ≤5

•

(P) – denotes point assemblage >5

Geometric microliths •

(g) – denotes geometric microliths assemblage in association with points or tools

•

(G) – denotes geometric microliths assemblage in isolation from points or tools

A proximity to stone arrangements in this analysis is associated with a change (or transition) in the organisation of lithics within the mountains. Geometrics

Table 5iii CA codes for points, tools and geometric microliths lithic analysis.

Points, Tools, Geometric DCA Obj. 2

Pt

P oints

Mpt Pt Mt Mt UG Mt Tp Mt Pt

1

Mt

Aptg

Mpg Mp Mpg Pt

Mpt TG Tpt TtMpt Ppt Mpt MpTg UG Mptg Ppt MtUt Mpg Mp

0

No Ge ome trics -1

Tt Mpt Ut TG

PPT Tt Mptg Mpt Mpt Mt Ut Tt Tpt Mptg Ut Mpt Mt Mt Mtg Tp MpT MpTg Mt MPt Ut Ut Mptg Mt PPT Ut UGMpTg Mptg Mt MT

-2

TG

TG

TG

TG

MpTG Tpt

TG

Ge ome trics

MT Mptg Mptg MT MPTg

MPT MPTg Mpt MpT UT MT MpT

T ools

-3 -4

-2

0

2

Figure 5g Points, tools and geometrics CA object plot

1

80

4

See Kohen (1986); McBryde (1974); McCarthy (1976).

MATTHEW KELLEHER: STONE THRESHOLDS: STONE ARRANGEMENTS AS SIGNPOSTS OR SHRINES

Points, T ools, Geometric DCA Var. 4

PxEgv

2

RckShltr PxStnArg Ptgg2 LgFkle5SmFkle5 Elv_800 Shltr100 NrrbStne HwkStne NatDemFt Swamp RdElvTFt LwHth Slpg20 CliffSpr Ort_EWPxTrTpUn SubMtAr PxPtg AccSub Px20AGG H2O1_5 H2O100 PxMulti WsteFkg2 Q_Fks MSC RavRivAr HhReElv Elv_600Cmplx_St Ort_NS Cortex NatDemAr B_FksCob Shltr1km 180_Vis Ret_Use Size100m AxesGrsHth SmMdFks Cores LgMdFks NoAccSub SmFkg5 ScndFt

0

-2

Vis RdHhPk

Qry1km LgFkg5

-4 -4

-2

0

2

4

6

Figure 5h Points, tools and geometrics CA variable plot are spatially associated with stone arrangements. Geometrics are plotting outside of the bulk of lithic activity. The indication is that the nearby stone arrangements are also associated with a similar selective purpose.

O’Connell 1987). Camps located beyond this satellite structure are separate sites altogether and are not part of the primary residential camp structure. Furthermore, where the residential camp structure often displays overlapping activities, specialised camps are likely to be spatially partitioned or otherwise distinct (Witter 2000:61). For example, Mathews (1896, 1897a,b) and Berndt (1974:11) have recorded that men’s camps and young initiate camps, where select activities were conducted (such as the preparation of ceremonial paraphernalia), are located separate from the main residential camp. The association between these specialised camps and stone arrangements is an indicator of their function. Stone arrangements were not part of the core residential camp structure; instead they operated physically away from the residential centres. Like specialised camps, stone arrangements were, in some way, the result of select activity. The analysis indicates that stone arrangements are most closely related to the activities related to geometric microliths and engravings. In short, stone arrangements display a closer association with these special tasks than with the more general residential tasks.

Threshold markers Stone arrangements displayed a proximity to key Aboriginal cultural activities but showed no sign of continuous activity themselves. The direct analysis suggests that most arrangements were very similar as a group, suggesting a similar function. The most useful approach in analysing stone arrangements was to examine their relationship to nearby sites. Using this method, stone arrangements were shown to be part of continuums, whereby stone arrangements marked a threshold between archaeological features, one side of which was distinctly utilitarian and the other decidedly more specialised. This research has found that stone arrangements in the Blue Mountains were indicators of: 1) change in the flow of cultural activity and 2) an increased association with the specialised cultural activities.

Although stone arrangements are specialised sites located on the statistical and spatial fringe, they were, nonetheless operating as part of the important transition between the art techniques. I have shown in earlier work that pigment art sites and homogeneous engraving sites served different purposes in the mountains (Kelleher 2003:211). Each technique was related to a different set of cultural behaviours. During this early research, stencil sites were identified as the primary connection between the differing techniques (cf. David 1992). The current

Both stencil and geometric microlith sites are materially and spatially separate from the general subsistence core of occupation. Both are what I have previously identified as specialised camps (Kelleher 2003:74). These specialised camps are different from a residential satellite camp, which is primarily an activity focus area extending off a residential base camp (cf. Binford 1982:11-14; 81

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS analysis confirms and adds further insight to this continuum. It is apparent that stone arrangements were also part of this transitional stage. Stone arrangements may be spatially isolated features but this does not isolate them from the continuum of material culture.

the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. In J. Richards (ed) 1979 Blaxland, Lawson, Wentworth 1813. Blubber Head Press, Hobart. de Polignac, F. 1984. La naissance de la cité grecque: cultes, espace et societe VIIIe-VIIe siecles. Decouverte, Paris. David, B. 1992. Analysing space: investigating context and meaning in the rock paintings of the Chillagoe– Mungana limestone belt of north Queensland. In J. McDonald & I. Haskovec (eds.), State of the Art: regional rock art studies in Australia and Melanesia. AURA Publication 6, Melbourne. 159–163. Drennan, R. 1996. Statistics for archaeologists: A commonsense approach. Plenum, New York. Etheridge, R. 1918. Stone structures. Memoirs of the Geological survey of New South Wales. Ethnological series No. 3:100-103. Flood, J. 1992. Archaeology of the dreamtime. Angus and Robertson, Sydney. Gaul, G. 1984. Blackfellow’s hand shelter and environs. Prehistoric archaeology 391-1, Assignment 2. University of New England. Unpublished Report for National Parks and Wildlife Service. Greenacre, M. 1984. Theory and application of correspondence analysis. Academic Press, London. Greenacre, M. 1988. Correspondence analysis of multivariate categorical data by weighted leastsquares. Biometrika. 75:3:457–467. Greenacre, M. & Hastie, T. 1987. Geometric interpretation of correspondence analysis. Journal of the American Statistical Association. 82:398:437– 447. Grey, G. 1841. Journals of two expeditions of discovery in North-west and west Australia. Boone, London. Hook, F., Veitch, B., Warren, L., Spooner, N., with the Innawonga Bunjima Naipaili and Martu Idja Banyjima Native Title Claimants. 2002. Unpublished poster shown at the Australian Archaeological Association conference. Howitt, A. 1884. On some Australian ceremonies of initiation’. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 13:432–459. Howitt, A. 1904. Native tribes of Southeast Australia. London. Johnson, I. 1979. The getting of data: case study from the recent industries of Australia. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, ANU, Canberra. Kelleher, M. 1994. Mythological mapping. Unpublished M. Prelim. Thesis, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney. Kelleher, M. 2003. Archaeology of sacred space: the spatial nature of religious behaviour in the Blue Mountains National Park Australia. Two volumes. Unpublished PhD Thesis. University of Sydney. Kohen, J. 1986. Prehistoric settlement in the Western Cumberland Plain: resources, environment and technology. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Macquarie University. Lennon, R. 1983. The great Wolgan mystery: site location and explanation model of the Blue Mountains. Unpublished BA Honours Thesis, University of Sydney.

Past perceptions of stone arrangements Stone arrangements in the Blue Mountains are predominantly cairns or heaps with a few stone circles and lines. The data does not show a significant variation between the categories. Like lithics, stone arrangements are likely to be multi-functional with different categories serving different purposes, depending on context. The data presented here indicate that Blue Mountains' arrangements are associated with transition in Aboriginal material culture. Some places in the mountains do show strong evidence of ceremonial use (Kelleher 2003:254) but there is no evidence that stone arrangements were directly used for ceremonies or rituals. Researchers must be cautious in relying on poor historical ethnographies. Identifying stone arrangements as ceremonial places should not be undertaken lightly. It may be difficult to analyse stone arrangements but, as this chapter has shown, it is possible to obtain insight into their place in the big picture. So how were stone arrangements perceived? Perceptions impact on behaviour. In order to function in the world, humans have to organise their understanding of it. The way people organise their material culture links their physical reality to their perceptual reality. Stone arrangements in the Blue Mountains were not destinations; rather, their purpose was as markers in a complex environment. I argue that they were functioning literally as signs for organising the physical world with the perceptual world. Stone arrangements make most sense if they functioned as visible cues to the person on the ground that a transition has taken place. I think they were markers of threshold change. Stockton (1993:72) asserted that cairns in the Blue Mountains marked significant stations in the travels of ancestral beings. This research has been able to show that these stone arrangements were important markers. A person passing one of the arrangements heading out to the more marginal part of the environment could be certain that something different and often special lay ahead. References Baxter, M.J. 1994. Exploratory multivariate analysis in archaeology. Edinburgh University, Edinburgh. Berndt, R. 1974. Australian Aboriginal religion. Brill, Lieden. Benzecri, J. 1992. Correspondence analysis handbook. Marcel Dekker, New York. Binford, L. 1982. Archaeology of place. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 1:5–31. Bowdler, S. 1981. Hunters in the highlands: Aboriginal adaptations in the Eastern Australian uplands. Archaeology in Oceania. 16: 99–111. Blaxland, G. 1823. Journal of a tour of discovery across 82

MATTHEW KELLEHER: STONE THRESHOLDS: STONE ARRANGEMENTS AS SIGNPOSTS OR SHRINES McBryde, I. 1974. Aboriginal prehistory in New England. Sydney University Press, Sydney. McCarthy, F. 1940. Aboriginal stone arrangements in Australia. Australian Museum magazine. 184-189. McCarthy, F. 1948. Lapstone creek excavation: Two culture periods revealed in eastern NSW. Records of the Australian Museum. 22:1:1–32. McCarthy, F. 1964. The archaeology of the Capertee Valley, NSW. Records of the Australian Museum. 26:6:197–264. McCarthy, F. 1976. Australian Aboriginal stone implements. Australian Museum Trust, Sydney. McCarthy, F. 1983. Catalogue of rock engravings in the Sydney-Hawkesbury Region. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney. McIntyre, S. 1990. Archaeological survey of the proposed Kariwara Longwall coal mine. Report for Electricity Commission of New South Wales. Marcus, J. & Flannery, K. 1994. Ancient Zapotec ritual and religion: an application of the direct historical approach. In C. Renfrew and E. Zubrow (eds.), Ancient mind: elements of cognitive archaeology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 55–74. Mathews, R.H. 1894. Aboriginal Bora held at Gundabloui in 1894. Journal and Proceeding of the Royal Society NSW. 28:98–129. Mathews, R.H. 1896. Bunan ceremony of NSW. American Anthropologist. [Orig. Series] 9:327–344. Mathews, R.H. 1897a. Burbung or initiation ceremonies of the Murrumbidgee Tribes. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of NSW. 31:111– 153. Mathews, R.H. 1897b. Burbung of the Darkinung Tribe. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 10:1–2. Mulvaney, J. & Kamminga, J. 1999. Prehistory of Australia. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. O'Connell, J. 1987. Alywara site structure and its

archaeological implications’. American Antiquity. 52:74–108. Renfrew, C. 1985. The archaeology of cult: the sanctuary of Phylakopi. British School of Archaeology Volume 18 Supplement. BSA, Oxford. Stockton, E. 1970. Archaeological survey of the Blue Mountains. Mankind. 7:295–301. Stockton, E. 1993. Blue Mountains dreaming: Aboriginal heritage. Three Sisters Productions, Springwood. Stockton, E. & Holland, W. 1974. Cultural sites and their environment in the Blue Mountains. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania. 9:36–65. Taçon, P.S.C., Brennan, W., Hooper, S., Kelleher, M. and Pross, D. 2005. Greater Wollemi: a new Australian rock art area bordering Sydney. International Organisation of Rock Art (INORA) Newsletter. Towle, C.C. 1932. Oval arrangement of stones, Endrick Mountain. Oceania. 40-45. Threlkeld, L. 1974. Australian reminiscences and papers of L.E. Threlkeld, missionary to the Aborigines, 1824– 1859. Edited by N. Gunson. Vol. 1–2. AIAS, Canberra. Weller, S. & Romney, A. 1990. Metric scaling: correspondence analysis. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, California. Witter, D. 2000. Mount Drysdale: Aboriginal Place archaeological study. Final Draft. Unpublished Report for National Parks and Wildlife Service. Wright, R.V.S. 1992. Doing multivariate archaeology and prehistory: handling large data sets with MV– Arch. Balmain (NSW). Wyndham, W.T. 1889. Aborigines of Australia. Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of NSW. 23:1:36-42.

83

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Appendix 1 n.

Variable

CA Code

n.

Variable

1

Points/ Blades PtBdle5 5

3

Axes

4

Tools 5

6

Cores

7

Cortex

8

Large flakes LgFkle5 20 mm in length) Large flakes LgFkg5 >5

9 10

CA Code

n.

Variable

Cluster flakes)

(tools, ClsterFk

43

23

Scatter flakes)

(tools, SctterFk

Variable

CA Code

High relative HhReElv 64 elevation

Low heath

LwHth

44

Water 100 m H2O1_5 2 =1000 m

30

AGG clustered Agclustr complex

51

Related elevated RdElvTFt 72 topographic feature Secondary ScndFt 73 feature

Visible from sites Vis6_1k elv. >600 m

Axes

CA Code

n.

Heath GrsHth

from Vis1000

Large modified flakes Small flakes 5 Small modified flakes Waste flakes >2

LgMdFks 31

AGG depth Agdple15 15mm

53

Spur or 2& 100sqm

Size100 m

16

Retouch/ Usewear

Ret_Use

Natural demarcated feature Subsistence material area

17

MSC_Fks 38 Mudstone/ Chert/ Silcrete flakes Quartz flakes Q_Fks 39

11 12 13 14 15

18

33

36

37

depth AGdpg15

Stencils

57

Paintings/ Drawings 2

Ptgg2

59

Visible from sites Vis600 elv. =2 motifs Elevation 100 m Shltr1km 81 600 Elv6_8 m 800 Elv_800 m

63

Ravine or river RavRivAr 84 flats

Proximity to stone PxStnArg arrangement

ComplxFk

Table 5iv CA variable codes

84

to PxPtg

Chapter 6

Prehistoric Mandalas: The Semiosis of Landscape and the Emergence of Stratified Society in the South-Eastern European Chalcolithic Dragos Gheorghiu Introduction to the methodology

[unpublished, discovered by the author in 2000], Tangaru (Comsa 1997, 150). Settlements appear to have been built on the terraces, usually close to rivers and lakes, on islands, on seasonal marshes, or on islands on lakes. Chalcolithic architecture became more solid and structurally resistant as its builders employed solid wooden structures, foundation trenches and wood platforms covered with clay (Gheorghiu 2005). Similar construction methodologies were also used on houses within tell settlements, although these were more compact (Chapman 1989; 1990). Houses were usually oriented to take advantage of the available winter sun, as well protecting the structure from the prevailing winds. Some tells were protected against winds and flooding by wattle and daub palisades embedded in clay (Gheorghiu 2006), as at Teiu (Nania 1967). This small single-phased settlement comprised 10 houses, all of them constructed on a platform of split wooden planks. In the flat landscape of the Lower Danube plain, the emergence of complex settlements, together with more efficient land utilization for cereal cultivation, was to create adverse affects on the natural environment, in particular the felling of woodland.

A landscape approach should be a complex study of processes that should include a combination of geomorphology, taphonomy, ethnoarchaeology and formation processes (e.g. Rossignol 1992, 4), while a landscape is also a cultural construct (Ucko 1997, XVIII), a cultural image (Daniels and Cosgrove 1988, 1) or a particular way to express conceptions of the world (Layton and Ucko 1999). As we are aware there are usually two outcomes to these approaches: natural and cultural landscapes. The present text will attempt to discuss only the cultural process of formation, or of the semiosis of the landscape, which could be perceived like a technological process of the construction of an object. How can it be possible to understand how ancient populations perceived the landscape? Archaeologists try to use iconography (c.f. Bradley1997, 95), and sometimes the results are rewarding (Gheorghiu 2006), but, if the conventional iconography is absent, one should look to alternative sources of documentation, which sometimes can relate the landscape to human activities. In this paper, I explore the landscapes of the Lower Danube region and suggest that a grammar occurs concerning settlement patterns during the Chalcolithic.

The Gumelnita tradition One of the most important Chalcolithic traditions in this area was Gumelnita, dating to the fifth millennium BC. This cultural phase developed in central, eastern and southeastern Bulgaria and spread northwards to the shores of the Aegean Sea. Based on the complexity and development of the Gumelnita tradition, archaeologists have recognised a number of distinct phases (Dumitrescu 1965; Hasotti1 1997). The location of the Gumelnita phase A2 settlements in the wetlands varied from settlement on the terraces (e.g. Sultana tell) (Fig. 6.1), levees (e.g. Gumelnita eponymous site) (Fig. 6.2) or slopes and, in the final phase, Gumelnita B1, became visible a new propensity to settle the islands (e.g. Cascioarele Ostrovelul) (Dumitrescu 1965). Compared with the relatively dynamic occupation of the land occupied by the Boian early tradition (Andreescu et al. 2002, 44 ff), the Gumelnita settlements are considered to be more permanent. Permanency is witnessed through the presence of features such as ditches and palisades. In addition, the surface preparation of each dwelling appears to suggest sedentism. One can identify in the process of spatial organization of the Gumelnita settlements a trend towards a very efficient use of the land, especially in the

THE LOWER DANUBE AREA The Natural landscape For an intriguing study of landscape formation, one has only to focus on the Chalcolithic activity of the Lower Danube. This area witnessed, soon after the emergence of a stratified society, a very ordered intervention in the landscape. The region divided by the Danube tributaries was characterized by the presence of large buffer lakes that collected seasonal floodwaters. In geomorphological terms, the seasonal flooding shaped large terraces and levees, which were later colonised by extensive deciduous forests (Gheorghiu 2006). The Cultural landscape The Lower Danube Chalcolithic populations used two patterns for the spatial organization of their settlements: the use and reuse of the same (settlement) surface, forming the now distinctive tells and the nearby building of (single-phased) flat settlements (i.e. CascioareleOstrovelul (Dumitrescu 1965), Radovanu, Uzunu

1 Hasotti, P. 1997. Epoca neolitica in Dobrogea, Constanta, Muzeul de Istorie Nationala si Archeologica.

85

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 6.1. Sultana tell, located on the terrace of Mosistea river.

Figure 6.2. Gumelnita, eponymous site situated on a levee near the River Danube.

86

DRAGOS GHEORGHIU: PREHISTORIC MANDALAS first stages of settlement, similar to historical and ethnographic examples of colonization during the European colonial period.

winds and the amount of available sunlight during the winter. Although these elements provide a necessary function, both wind and sun may have possessed symbolic qualities as well. In the Balkans, some settlements possess narrow east-west passageways between groups of houses, allowing the sun to penetrate the elevations and the social areas where families could meet. This social element was probably also steeped in symbolism, linking the light and heat of the sun with the social area of the tellscape. In cosmological terms, the sun represents a divine living being and this too may feature in the mindset of the tell-builders. Consequently, it is conceivable that the tell (settlement) plan is based on the mandala, the result of an ordered procedure through which the natural context, the wild landscape, determines and relates to the constituents of the cultural landscape (i.e. the settlement and the ager).

The propensity towards fixed places to build on, together with the intense use of geometry for land management and the occupation of terraces for ploughing and the development of a new architecture, in particular tells, could be attributed to an emergent stratified society.2 In addition, the differences in size and complexity of various tells (see Andreescu et al. 2003) and the presence of small flat settlements located near the tells (as at Radovanu [Comsa 1990], Uzunu, Burdusani-Popina, Valea-Argovei-Vladiceasca), support the existence of social stratification based on geographical location. Further evidence for a social control could have been the intentional burning/destruction of houses (Tringham 1992, 1994; Tringham et al. 1990, 1992; Stevanovic 1997, 2002) and settlements (Gheorghiu in press), as a ritual process, similar to the burning of fields, as a process of adding fertility to the land.

Geometry, domestication of space and social control When comparing the different levels of dwelling (especially in the context of the Balkan settlement), it becomes obvious that, in the earlier settlement levels, the geometry was hardly exploited. What I mean by this is the cognitive processes of organising space within place, what I would term a geometry for the domestication of space. This concept is of particular importance when authorising social control, especially as society becomes more complex. As a result, and proved within the archaeological record, the geometry of successive settlement layers became more complex. However, because of probable social and political turmoil, the geometry of house space becomes irregular and disorganised, until the final phase - Gumelnita B - when this tradition ended in the region of the Lower Danube.

Tells as cultural landscapes If, from an environmental perspective, tells could be perceived as an interface between wetland and dry land (Gheorghiu 2006), from a cultural perspective of the creation of landscapes they could also be seen as a process of creating an artificial, regularized, geometrical world in contrast with the chaotic irregularity of nature (i.e. turning natural spaces into social places). One of these places, the system of delineating a settlement with a temenos - a sacred precinct consisting a ditch (once filled with rainwater and seasonal melt water) and palisade - transformed the sometimes chaotic random development of the tell into a constructed, geometric place. Analysed from a semiotic perspective, tells are a sort of mandala, distinct physical places that set themselves apart from the outer world. There are many definitions of a mandala (Brauen 1997, Cammann 1950, Tucci 1973); however, all refer to the strict geometrical shape of a mental or material representation, which symbolise an ordered world (see Jung 1972, 1976).

Similar geometric control is found in the patterns painted or incised on ceramic vases (for isomorphism between architecture and ceramics see also Van Berg & Cauwe 1998) (Fig. 6.3). Between the strict geometry of the production of cultural products and the chaos and irregularity of shapes of the wilderness, there was an intermediary set of shapes represented by, in particular, cultivated land constructing regularly spaced plough lines or the uniformity of the ager, for example (Diaz Alvarez 1984, 18). For the ager, it is possible to imagine geometric patterns comparable to those of the settlement.

Geomorphology and cultural decision The construction of tells appears to have obeyed a strict set of rules. Location and settlement morphology form part of a semiotic package interacting between the natural and the cultural landscape. One of the semiotic rules in the Gumelnita tradition concerns the position of the settlement in relation to water, the river, in most cases, being situated to the north of the tell (or flat settlement). Examples from the Lower Danube are at Sultana, Uzunu, Limanu, Panduru, Scarlatesti-Popina and Tangaru and from the Balkans at Kalajazidere, Ovcarovo, Teketo, Bajacevo, Targoviste, Dalgac and Goljamo-Delcevo. This orientation was probably determined by prevailing

I would suggest that the formal geometry characteristic of Chalcolithic societies was not entirely the result of ergonomic and technical innovation but also from a symbolic decision (see Gheorghiu 2005). Symbolism would have an essential role in establishing group hierarchies. The control of space would have been paramount in establishing social and political order over other group members. A physical and cognitive control of the cultural landscape could have had a major effect on group dynamics and the social relations of production. One example could be the temenos, a geometric sacred precinct that was located away from settlement and enclosed within a ditch (Fig. 6.4) or a series of trenches and a palisade (Fig. 6.5). In this instance, geometry could

2 This period is incidentally characterised also by the emergence of animal pulled vehicles; see Gheorghiu 1994),

87

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS be perceived as being a magical-cognitive way to conquer the space, at a macro social level of the settlement or at the micro social level of the residence.

The relationship between the two landscapes It is possible that, with the advent of tells in the southeastern European Chalcolithic, new spaces undemanding to be mentally represented were designed to control people and space. Tells were positioned to allow special and restricted visibility, especially the exterior vista of the settlement (Gheorghiu 2003, 45; see also Andreescu et al. 2003, 74). In turn, the visibility of the landscape, from the interior of the settlement, was determined by openings in the palisade, which, in turn, were determined by the inner geometry of the settlement (Fig. 6.6). In the semiotic relationship between the two kinds of landscape, it is the cultural (i.e. the geometry of the settlement and the ager) that has control over the wild. The positioning of the houses according to the orthogonal pattern of the settlement was resolved by the openings in the temenos, the palisade and ditch, which were determined by the cardinal directions. These openings allowed a visual and a ritual link with the exterior, controlling (in the sense of order and ritual) the outer space of the landscape; in this perspective, I see the process of perceiving the landscape as a complex semiosis linking the rites of passage to the universe.

Figure 6.3. Vase painted with graphite from the Sultana tell (Giurgiu Museum)

Figure 6.4. Temenos. Experiments by the author 2004 Figure 6.6. The landscape perceived from inside the settlement The genesis of the cultural landscape: the process of construction/deconstruction as a process of semiotization The process and development of dwelling is at the same time of process of landscape semiosis, the tell being an attractor for parts of the environment. Incorporating materials from the surrounding landscape into the settlement is a semiotic process that integrates the secondary signs of the landscape into the built structure in a sort of “walling-in” process, which redesigns it in a geometrical fashion. The primary semiotic process includes taming the landscape by, say, felling trees or quarrying clay; this process is easy to control.

Figure 6.5. The palisade trench. Experiments from Vadastra 2004

One can find analogies of meaning between the categories of building material and components of the 88

DRAGOS GHEORGHIU: PREHISTORIC MANDALAS landscape, whereby the builders are metaphorically drawing in the landscape from the space to the place: •

clay resulting from the digging of the temenos ditch, from the foundation trench of the palisade and from the foundation trenches of the houses could be perceived as representing the “earth”, as a symbol of the saltus (Fig. 6.7);

•

water from rain and melting snow collecting in the temenos ditch around the tell could be seen as representing the surrounding wetland of the dwelt area (Fig. 6.8);

•

straw taken from the cultivated land, which was used for daub-making, could represent the fields of the ager and symbolise a domesticated material (Fig. 6.9);

•

wooden posts could represent the forest and the timber could have originated from different places with a symbolic value, in relationship with the settlement (Fig. 6.10); and

•

bunches of reeds used as roofing material could have been symbolic of the wetland (Fig. 6.11).

Figure 6.9. The daub making process

Figure 6.10. The positioning of the wooden posts and twigs for making the wall (Vadastra 2005)

Figure 6.7. Soil excavated from the foundation trenches (Vadastra 2005)

Figure 6.11. Making the reed thatch for covering the roof (Vadastra 2003)

Figure 6.8. Water collected in the ditch after a short summer rainstorm (Vadastra 2003)

89

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS From a ritualistic perspective, the process of semiosis of the landscape by incorporating the abovementioned materials could be partitioned into the stages of a rite of passage. The first stage is that of separation, of decontextualizing the materials collected, which includes the digging (Fig. 6.12) followed by the collection of building materials. The second stage is that of liminality, that is, the transformation of materials (decorticating, shaping and chopping) (Fig. 6.13) and a third stage is the reincorporation of the landscape after reordering it through the strict geometry of the ditches and the palisade. These two structures too would have had a relationship with nature with the oriented openings in relationship with the sun and the sun’s relationship with the buildings (Fig. 6.14), as well as of the spatial organization of the buildings inside the temenos perimeter (Fig. 6.15). This last, centripetal, and additional stage creates a visual pattern similar to a mandala and could be perceived as an image of the wider world outside the tell, incorporating the celestial order, the dry land and the wetland (Fig. 6.16).

Figure 6.14. The timber structure of a house prior to being covered with clay and straw (Vadastra 2003) Historical data supports the existence of a founding rite of passage, which separates dwelt space from the environment through the construction of a temenos, which was subject to complex rituals.3 What is important to observe in this ritual is present in the act of separation. Here, the ditches and palisade act as a protective belt dividing settlement (place) from landscape (space); the tell therefore becomes a type of mandala or a holistic image-of–the-world. The mandala of the tell incorporates the following symbols: the earth (represented by clay and wood), the sky (represented by the route of the sun materialized through the openings in the palisade or in the walls, Fig. 6.17), the fire (represented by the ovens and hearths of each house) and water (represented by the perimeter ditch). The process of construction is followed by the process of deconstruction (Gheorghiu 2002), the demolition of buildings being sometimes followed by their deliberate burning (see Tringham 1992; Stevanovic 2002, Haita 1997, 88). There is also the transformation into ceramics of part of the clay from architectural features such as wattle and daub (Fig. 6.18). Part of the ceramic fragments resulting from the combustion of the building reintroduced in the cyclical technique of building (Gheorghiu 2002) can be seen as having been recycled fragments of the cultural landscape, by filling the space between the wooden screens of the palisade or by filling the space of the houses’ walls (Marinescu-Bilcu 19961998, 111). Other fragments of burnt walls and floors were collected in pits (Comsa 1990, 90), together with ceramic fragments from broken vases, bones, ashes and other inorganic and organic waste, an analogous action of incorporating the cultural landscape through buildings.

Figure 6.12. Digging and preparing the daub (Vadastra 2006)

Figure 6.13. Preparing the trees for the house posts (Vadastra 2005) 3

90

For an extensive Latin literature see De Coulanges 1908

DRAGOS GHEORGHIU: PREHISTORIC MANDALAS

Figure 6.15. Plan of the Ovcearovo tell settlement, level VIII (after Todorova 1982: 200, fig. 149)

Figure 6.17. The movement of the light on the wall (Vadastra 2005)

Figure 6.16. House protected by a timber palisade and temenos ditch (Vadastra 2004)

91

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS by water which overlap the fragmented daub of the fired houses. I believe that the charcoal layers overlapping the alluvial deposits are the result of the fired wild vegetation, a consequence of some rite of purification of the place after the contamination of the flooding. There seem to have been different kinds of firing of the surface of the tell: an initial combustion of the built environment, followed by the combustion of the wild vegetation grown on the quenched and alluvial soils (Fig. 6.19). We shall imagine these immense fires as crucial events in the landscape’s economy, as ephemeral dominant locales that impressed the imagination of people. The cyclicity of these firescapes would generate singular rituals and certainly was incorporated into the material culture. In my opinion, a special group of objects in Gumelnita tradition, the house-like braziers, can be related to the firescapes mentioned.

Figure 6.18. Fired architectural object. Experiments from Vadastra 2004

Firescapes: The Cascioarele model Among these objects mentioned is the “sanctuary” from Cascioarele (see Dumitrescu 1965, Dumitrescu 1970), which I identified through experimentation and comparison with the plans of tells from the Lower Danube and the Balkans. The sanctuary is a functional as well as a symbolic object, a brazier representing the tellsettlement with houses ordered in rows and surrounded by a high palisade (Gheorghiu 2002, 2005) (Fig. 6.20). Trying to visualize a settlement with a large number of houses as a small object, the prehistoric ceramist modelled only the first row of buildings, the rest of them being represented indexically as the hearths of the missing houses, which he/she materialized as perforations on the surface of the object which allowed air-draught and the evacuation of smoke. The number of perforations corresponds with the number of the houses found on the tells in the Lower Danube area (see Comsa 1997; Dumitrescu 1965) and this supposition is supported by other architectural pyro-objects from Gumelnita or Sultana tells, to cite only the house-like brazier from Sultana (Oltenita Museum) with 12 perforations on its surface (Fig. 6.21).

Figure 6.19 A fired house covered by vegetation one year after the combustion, Vadastra 2007. The use of fire to reincorporate the cultural landscape offers a new perspective on the relationship of the intentional combustion of buildings or of the settlement and the environment, with a good example being the tell on the island of Cascioarele. Its stratigraphy (see Dumitrescu 1986) shows an obvious relationship between the firing of the settlement and the action of the environment (Gheorghiu 2006), since, after each firing of the settlement (and subsequent abandonment of the place), the dwelt surface was flooded, being no longer protected by a palisade.

The novelty of the present approach is the semiotic interpretation of the mentioned object in relationship to landscape. In my opinion, the brazier could be perceived as an object-landscape since it stands for the settlement seen from the distance and would symbolize the relationship between dwelling and fire. Experiments with this object used as a brazier produced a similar image to a village perceived from afar, with the smoke of the houses raised into the sky, being therefore an image of a cultural landscape (Fig. 6.22). If, when not in use, the Sultana brazier displayed the synechdocical message of a 12dwelling settlement materialized under the shape of a single house shape, when fired it produced a more dramatic image of a house consumed by flames. This seems also to have been the subliminal message of the Cascioarele object (Fig. 6.23).

A story of the post-firing landscape that can be seen in many stratigraphies is the following: after the firing and subsequent abandonment, the cultural landscape of the tell and of the cultivated lands was left to return to a wild state; the alluvium layers covered the fired houses, palisade and ditch, the rains washed the unfired material and wild plants covered the conquered land. In the stratigraphy of tells positioned in the flooding zone, the described situation is materialized as tiny layers of charcoal covering the alluvial layers of fine sand with charcoal, shells and small fired daub fragments rounded 92

DRAGOS GHEORGHIU: PREHISTORIC MANDALAS

Figure 6.23. Firing a palisade. Experiments from Vadastra 2004

Figure 6.20. A ceramic replica of the Cascioarele architectural model (made by Andreea Oprita). Experiments from Vadastra 2004.

Figure 6.24. The modelled landscape under the shape of a megaron house. Experiments Vadastra 2005 One can infer that the use of such pyro-objects with such a powerful symbolism related to the consumption of houses by fire was related to a particular fire cult and fire rituality and to a special attitude towards the firing of the house, perceived as sacrifice and therefore as a sacred action.

Figure 6.21. A brazier from the Sultana tell, in the form of a house with perforations on its walls and roof (Oltenita Museum).

This is the basis for my belief that these models functioned also as firescapes, with a special cultic role I related to the emergence of a stratified society in the South Eastern Europe Chalcolithic. These firescapes I associate to a sort of pyro-potlach that compelled the community to periodically rebuild the settlement, thus controlling in a cyclical fashion both the landscape and people. Conclusion: Nature’s chaos and the order of culture The emergence of elite groups in the Lower Danube Chalcolithic society is seen through the new strategies of modelling the landscape. The evidence for this is seen through the ordered, geometric, spatial organization of the tell-settlement’s space (Fig. 6.24). Figure 6.22. The Gumelnita tell brazier in function. Experiments from Vadastra 2004

In the attempt to control the environment, the elites tried to create an analogy between the cosmic order (of the route of the sun or the direction of the prevailing wind flow) and the social, earthly, order. Consequently, the 93

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS degeneration in time of the rigour of the initial mandala pattern of the first levels of settling (a process well documented in the Balkans, see Todorova 1982, 182 ff) can be seen as a sort of “relaxation” of the control of the environment.

the Ministry of Culture, Slatina Department and the financial help of Dr. Romeo Dumitrescu’s Foundation. The author sincerely acknowledges their generosity Bibliography

In an initial, centripetal stage, the landscape was incorporated into the internal organisation of the tellsettlement (which acts as a type of semiotic attractor4) through the incorporation of building materials. In a secondary stage, it is perceived through the geometry of the lived space that social order is paramount in stimulating social stratification and the coherence of the group.

Andreescu, R., Mirea, P. & Apopei, St. 2003. Cultura Gumelnita in vestul Munteniei. Asezarea de la Vitanesti, Jud. Teleorman, Cercetari arheologice XII, pp.71-87. Bradley, R. 1997. Symbols and signposts understanding the prehistoric petroglyphs of the British Isles. In C. Renfrew & E.B.W. Zubrow (eds.) The ancient mind. Elements of cognitive archaeology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 95-106. Brauen, M. 1997. The Mandala, Sacred circle in Tibetan Buddhism Serindia Press, London. Cammann, S. 1950. Suggested Origin of the Tibetan Mandala Paintings The Art Quarterly, Vol. 8, Detroit. Chapman, J. 1989. The Early Balkan village, Varia Archaeologica Hungarica II, pp. 33-53. Chapman, J. 1990. Social inequality on Bulgarian tells and the Varna problem. In R. Samson (ed.) The Social Archaeology of Houses. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 49-98. Comsa, E. 1990. Complexul Neolitic de la Radovanu. Cultura si civilizatie la Dunarea de Jos VIII, Calarasi. Comsa, E. 1997. Tipurile de asezari din epoca neolitica din Muntenia, Cultura si Civilizatie la Dunarea de Jos XV, pp. 144-164. de Coulanges, F. 1908. La Cité antique, Librarie Hachette et Cie, Paris. Daniels, S. & Cosgrove, D. 1988. Introduction: Iconography and landscape. In S. Daniels & D. Cosgrove (eds.), The iconography of landscape, Cambridge University Press, pp.1-10. Diaz Alvarez, J.R. 1984. Geografia y agricultura. Componentes de los espacios agrarios, Cuadernos de estudio, Serie geografica 4, Madrid, Ed. Cincel. Dumitrescu, V. 1965. Principalele rezultate ale primelor doua campanii de sapaturi din asezarea neolitica tarzie de la Cascioarele, SCIV, 16, 2, pp. 215-237. Dumitrescu, V. 1970. Edifice destine au culte découvert dans la couche Boian-Spantov de la station-tell de Cascioarele. Dacia NS XIV, pp. 5-24. Dumitrescu, V. 1986. Stratigrafia asezarii tell de pe Ostrovul de la Cascioarele, Cultura si civilizatie la Dunarea de Jos 2, pp. 73-82. Gheorghiu, D. 1994. Horse-head scepters – First images of yoked horses, The Journal of Indo-European Studies 22, pp.221-250. Gheorghiu, D. 2002. On Palisades, Houses, Vases and Miniatures: the Formative Processes and Metaphors of Chalcolithic Tells. In A. Gibson (ed.), Behind Wooden Walls: Neolithic Palisaded Enclosures in Europe. Oxford: BAR Publishing, BAR International Series 1013, pp.93-117. Gheorghiu, D. 2003. Water, tells and textures: A multiscalar approach to Gumelnita hydrostrategies. In D. Gheorghiu (ed.) Chalcolithic and Early Bronze

In this way, the perception of the world appears to conform to a social geometry. The underlying structure appears to be cosmological, associated with the myth of landscape and the heavens above, in particular, the movement of the sun. This also signifies that, in general terms, the order of the world, at a cosmic, social and religious level, was sometimes moulded from the chaos of nature (ibid. 87). The Dharma of the Chalcolithic tradition was the process of construction/deconstruction by fire of the tellsettlement. This process was associated with social stratification of the landscape and of the celestial vault (Fig. 6.25). Similar to the geometry of the temenos, firescapes or the smoke rising on the sky’s vault or the ager fields were the materialization of the cultural ordering of the natural chaos, materialising in Dharma.

Figure 6.25. Sunset luminosity on the central pillar of a megaron house. Experiments from Vadastra 2003 Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Bogdan Capruciu and George Nash for the improvement of the English text. The experiments presented in the text were undertaken in Vadastra village between 2003 and 2005 and supported by several grants from CNCSIS (Nos. 1612 and 945) and 4

This is a concept from the theory of chaos which is commonly applied.

94

DRAGOS GHEORGHIU: PREHISTORIC MANDALAS Age hydrostrategies. Oxford: BAR Publishing, BAR International Series 1123, pp.39-56. Gheorghiu, D. 2005. Symbolic technologies, www.semioticon.com Gheorghiu, D. 2006. The Formation of tells in the Lower Danube wetland of Late Neolithic. Journal of Wetland Archaeology. Vol. 6. pp. 3 – 18. Gheorghiu, D. (in press). Build to be fired, The building and combustion of Chalcolithic dwellings in the Lower Danube and East Carpathian areas. In L. Nikolova (ed.) Circumpontica, BAR International Series. Gheorghiu, D. (i2006). The rhetoric of landscape in Cucuteni-Tripolye culture, In A. V. Yevglevski (ed.), Structural and semiotic investigations in archaeology, Vol 2, Donetsk. Haita, C. 1997. Micromorphological study. Cercetari arheologice X, pp. 85-92. Jung, C.J., 1972. Mandala Symbolism (translated by R.F.C. Hull) Princeton University Press. Lipner, J. 1998. Hindus: Their religious beliefs and practices. London: Routledge. Marinescu-Bilcu, S. 1996-1998. Santierul arheologic de la Bucsani (jud. Giurgiu). In Buletinul Muzeului “Theohari Antonescu”, (2-4): 93-111. Nania, I. 1967. Locuitorii gumelniteni in lumina cercetarilor de la Teiu, Studii si articole de istorie, IX, Bucuresti, pp.7-23. Rossignol, J. 1992. Concepts, methods, and theory building. A landscape approach, In J. Rossignol & L. Wandswider (eds.), Space, time and archaeological landscapes, Plenum Press, New York. Stefanovic, M. 2002. Burned Houses in the Neolithic of Southeastern Europe. In D. Gheorghiu (ed.), Fire in Archaeology. Oxford: BAR International Series 1098, pp. 55-62. Tringham, R. 1992. Households with faces: The challenge of gender in prehistoric architectural remains. In J. Gero & M. Conkey (eds.), Engendering archaeology. Women in Prehistory. Blackwell: Oxford, pp. 93-131. Tucci,Giuseppe 1973. The Theory and Practice of the Mandala trans. Alan Houghton Brodrick, New York, Samuel Weisner. Ucko, P. 1997. Foreword, in J. Carmichael, J. Hubert & P. Vidal de la Blanche (eds.) Sacred sites, Sacred places. Routledge: London, pp. XIII-XXIII. Ucko, P.J. & Layton, R. (eds.) 1999. The archaeology and anthropology of landscapes. Routledge: London. Van Berg, P-L. & Cauwe, N. 1998. De l’objet aux façons de penser: nouvelle approche paléo-ethnographique des civilisations préhistoriques, Anthropologie et préhistorie 109, pp.293-307.

95

Chapter 7

Places for the Living, Places for the Dead and Places in Between: Hillforts and the Semiotics of the Iron Age Landscape in Central Slovenia Phil Mason separated from the area to the north by the Gorjanci hills and from the coastal area to the west by the heavily forested Dinaric mountain chains of Kočevjski rog and Notranjska. The position of the area close to the head of the Adriatic makes it a natural corridor between the Italian peninsula, the Pannonian plain, the Eastern Alps and the Balkans.

Introduction The Iron Age landscape of central and south-eastern Slovenia was dominated by hillforts and barrow groups. It arose in the 8th century BC and marks a departure from the preceding late Bronze Age landscape, which was characterised by extensive undefended settlements and flat cremation cemeteries, located on terraces in the river valleys (Teržan 1999, 101-119). However, the departure is not as radical as it may seem at first sight.

The Iron Age Hillforts Early Iron Age hillforts occupy dominant positions in the landscape. They are frequently located on the edges of interfluves overlooking the major river valleys, e.g. Vinkov vrh (Dular et al., 1995, 110-115), Vinji vrh (Dular 1991, 20-24) (Plate 1), Libna (Guštin 1976), Marof (Križ 1997, 21-29), on isolated hills within a lowland area, e.g. Cvinger pri Dolenjskih Toplicah (Dular & Križ 2004, 211), Kučar (Dular et al. 1995, 7-11) (Plate 2), Metlika (Breščak 1992, 255-256; Dular 1985, 89-94), or in river meanders e.g. Črnomelj (Mason, 1999, 33-41) and Pusti Gradac (Dular 1985, 67-68). They are generally larger than the late Bronze Age sites, which rarely exceed an area of 1 ha, the largest covering an area of 2.5 ha. The early Iron Age sites range from 3 ha at Cvinger to a massive 21 ha at Stična (Gabrovec 1994, 32) but most fall within the median range of between 5.5 ha at Črnomelj and 12.6 ha at Vinji vrh.

There is evidence of an upsurge of upland settlement in the 9th and 8th centuries BC with at least 42 such sites being known (Dular 1993, 101-112; Dular et al. 1991, 65-205; Dular et al. 1995, 89-168; Dular et al. 2000, 119170; Dular et al. 2003, 159-224) (Fig. 1). These sites are often located at visible points on the edges of interfluves above river valleys or on major route ways. They are at best surrounded by palisades and not by the monumental ramparts that are so typical of the early Iron Age hillforts. Sixteen of the 24 known early Iron Age hillforts are located on the site of previous late Bronze Age upland settlements but many Late Bronze Age upland settlements did not develop into early Iron Age hillforts. This radical change in settlement pattern is traditionally explained by the agency of invasion from the Balkans or the Pannonian plain (see Mason 1996 for literature). The fact that the appearance of hillforts coincides with the appearance of an elite barrow burial rite and the acquisition of iron technology suggests that major social reconfigurations were underway. The aim of this paper is to examine the symbolic expression of these social changes as expressed in the structure of hillfort centres with particular emphasis on the role of the technology of iron production in what proved to be a long-lived symbolic system.

The hilltop and valley edge sites are without exception univallate contour hillforts defended by massive drystone revetted ramparts, although in some cases there is evidence of early timber revetted ramparts (Guštin 1978, 100-121; Dular & Križ 2004, 217-221) (Plate 3). The ramparts were frequently repaired in the early Iron Age and at the end of the late Iron Age phase. The rubble and earth rampart fill often incorporates numerous potsherds and slag fragments, which suggests that occupation debris was deliberately incorporated in it. There are usually two entrances, generally found on the south and north sides of the hillfort, e.g. Vinkov vrh (Dular et al. 1995, 111), Vinji vrh (Dular et al. 2000, 134-135) (Fig. 7.2), Dobrnič (Dular et al. 1995, 103), Novo mesto (Križ 1997, 21) (Fig. 3); but there is one example of a single southern entrance at Cvinger (Dular & Križ 2004, 212) (Fig. 7.4). The latter is subject to elaboration with an external banked roadway, as is also the case with the south-eastern entrance at Vinkov vrh. The hillfort sites on river meanders were possibly promontory forts but there is a general lack of information on the defences, due to later building activity (Črnomelj) or a lack of excavation (Pusti Gradac).

The Natural Setting The landscape of central and south-eastern Slovenia is essentially a karst landscape with deeply incised river valleys, dominated by the river Sava in the north and east, the river Krka in the centre and the river Kolpa in the south-east. These river valleys form the major east-west and southwest – northeast lines of communications. The central and northern part of the region (Dolenjska) contains extensive but localised lowland areas in the river valleys and karst basins, which are divided from each other by forested hilly interfluves. The lowland karst of the south-eastern part of the region (Bela krajina) is

97

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 7.1. Distribution of LBA upland settlements and EIA hillforts in Central Slovenia (After Dular 1993, 103, figure 1, with additions from Dular et al. 1995, 90, figure 1; Dular et al. 2000, 120, figure 1; Dular et al. 2003, 160, figure 1).

98

PHIL MASON A : PLACESS FOR THE LIV VING, PLACES FOR F THE DEAD D AND PLACES S IN BETWEEN N

Plate P 7.2. The Kučar hillforrt from the sou uth (Photo: Križ). Borut K vrh but the exam mples from Črrnomelj have a north-southh ntation. It wouuld thus seem m that house orrientation wass orien at leeast partly dicttated by the loocation againsst the rampart.. The only clear evidence for thee organisation of the centrall part of a hillfort comes from C Cvinger (op.ccit., 224-225).. Thiss area is chaaracterised byy a deep nattural shaft orr swalllow hole andd was occupieed by a numb ber of storagee pits but no dwelllings or pathss were presen nt. The smalll a make it impossible to o draw manyy excaavated areas also concclusions abouut the layouut and orienttation of thee dweellings within hillforts butt it would seem that thee centtral areas werre relatively empty, in co ontrast to thee densse occupation zone directly behind the raampart.

Plate 7.1. The T Iron Age paved p road at Požarnica. View V from the souuthwest towardds the Iron Agge hillfort of Veliki V V Vinji vrh (Photo: Maateja Ravnik, by permissionn of Gojko Ticca).

Thee extra mural zone t ramparts m must also be considered c ann The area outside the gral part of the hillfort centtre. Early Iron n Age barrowss integ clustter around hiillforts, usuallly in groupss, up to 1km m from m a hillfort (M Mason 1992,, 32-38; 1996 6b, 274-272).. They y frequently contain mulltiple inhumaation burials,, whicch are arrannged in conccentric circles within thee barrow mound. The T burials aare often accompanied byy h-status goodss and weaponnry. This type of barrow iss high charracteristic of the early Ironn Age and iss known as a “Sip ppenhugel” orr clan barrow w. These aree thought too represent the buriial place of a corporate gro oup. Thus thee vidual barrow ws and barrow w groups seem m to representt indiv corp porate groups and elites associated witth the hillfortt centtre in questionn (Mason 19996a, 20, 76-85). Exampless of th his may be seeen at Vinji vrrh (c. 150 barrrows) (Dularr 1991 1) (Fig. 7.2), Stična S (c. 1500 barrows) (Gaabrovec 1994,, 36-4 40) and Novo mesto (40 baarrows) (Križ,, pers comm.)) (Fig g. 7.3). Barroow groups m may define approaches a too hillfforts, as is the case at Vinji vrh, or they may m cluster att a diistance from one or bothh of the entrrances, as att Cvin nger (south) (Fig. 7.4), Vinkov vrh (so outheast) andd Kučar (north, souuth) (Fig. 7.5).

Limited excaavation of hillfort interiors does not peermit many concluusions aboutt the organissation of intternal settlement space. s Evidennce suggests the presencce of dense domeestic occupatiion in the zone z immediiately behind the ramparts, eitther directly against the inner b an rampart facee or in rare cases separatted from it by intermural coobbled road surface, s as at Vrhtrebnje (D Dular et al. 1991, 69-76). Cobbled paths andd surfaces betw ween residential sttructures weree also excavaated in the intterior of the earlyy Iron Age /late Iron Age A settlemennt at Črnomelj, suuggesting that the interior may m well have been divided intoo discrete reesidential plots. However,, the central part of this site has h not been excavated annd is Mason heavily distturbed by laater urban seettlement (M 1999b, 33-344). h plans from f Črnomeelj (Mason 19998b, The partial house 19; 2006), Kučar K (Dular et e al. 1995, 33-70) and Vinjji vrh (Dular et al. a 2000, 137-138) indicate some off the dwelling struuctures were rectangular inn plan with a low drystone beddding wall, whhich formed thhe foundation for a timber log--cabin-style superstructurre. Howeverr, a continuation of the traditioon of late Bronze Age post--built structures cann be seen in thhe partial planns from other sites, such as Cvinnger near Doolenjske Topliice (Dular & Križ 2004, 221-2224). The orienntation of the dwelling d strucctures at Kučar waas west /northhwest - east/ssoutheast withh the single excavvated entrancee located in the west/northhwest end. A simillar east-west orientation iss apparent at Vinji V

n smelting/woorking areas Iron n smelting/woorking areas are found in i the zoness Iron betw ween the barrrow groups and the en ntrances. Thee north hern entrancee to Vinji vvrh is separatted from thee barrow groups byy a possible L Late Iron Age iron smithingg 99

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figuree 7.2. The EIA A centre at Vinnji vrh (Adaptted from Dula ar, A. 1991, figg. 3; with addiition of recentt data). Key EIA Barrow EIA A Barrow – susspected LIA/Roman L flaat cemetery EIA Settllement metallurggical zone land above 300 m land above 200 m land above 180 m

w early Irron Age/late Iron I Age ironn zonee (Fig. 7.2) whilst work king/smeltingg is found bothh between thee northern andd soutthern barrow groups at thhe Kučar hilllfort (Masonn 2006 6a; Mason et al. 2006) (Fig. 7.5). This association iss more clearly illusstrated by the cases of Vink kov vrh (Križ,, perss. comm.) andd Cvinger, where large eaarly Iron Agee smellting zones liie between thhe southern barrow b groupp and the southern entrance to tthe hillfort (F Fig. 7.4). Thee iron smelting zonne at Cvingerr is particularrly extensive,, d of 122 extending over ann area of 50000m2 with a density furn naces in the sinngle excavated area of 18m m2, although itt is diifficult to assees the numberr of furnaces in use at anyy one time on this site s (Dular & Križ 2004, 22 28-231). Ironn smellting was thuus an intensivve activity usiing local ironn ore, which is relaatively evenly distributed over o the entiree on. It providded the econnomic basis for f the elitess regio asso ociated with the hillforts and barrow w groups. Itss presence in close proximity to bboth further reinforced thiss conn nection. c Thee symbolic orgganisation off the hillfort centre The organisationn of hillfortt centres is traditionallyy interrpreted in terrms of the eexpression off elite power,, inclu uding the moonumentality of the hillfo ort itself, thee econ nomic wealth of the iron production zones z and thee elitee barrow buriials. They doominate the laandscape andd form med nodal pooints in the eexchange systtem and coree zonees in the landsscape (Masonn 1992, 32-38; 1996b, 273-282)). However, a deeper undeerlying symbo olic system iss visib ble in the sam me organisationnal system.

Plate 7.3. The rampart of o the hillfort at Cvinger neear Dolenjsske Toplice duuring the 19911 excavations (Photo:: Borut Križ).

100

PHIL MASON A : PLACESS FOR THE LIV VING, PLACES FOR F THE DEAD D AND PLACES S IN BETWEEN N

Plate 7.4. T The LIA road surface and drainage d channnels during th he 2001 excavvations at Malleričeva hiša in i Črnomelj (Phooto: Philip Ma ason).

Figure 7.3. The LBA A and EIA centtre at Novo mesto (Adaptedd from Križ 19997, 21).

101

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 7.4. The EIA centre at Cvinger near Dolenjske Toplice (After Križ 1992, 88). of the hillfort, although the location of the iron smelting zone is as yet unknown.

Approaches, Entrances and Ironworking Initially barrows seem to define approaches to the settlement, guiding the visitor through monuments to the ancestors and the corporate groups, which were resident in, or based on the centre. On the one hand, these emphasise the importance of the centre to the visitor; on the other hand, they were an icon of the symbolic world to the groups based on the centres. Approach to the centre was a physical progression through the barrow cemeteries lining the approach to the hillfort, a symbolic progression from the outside through the world of the ancestors to the physical and symbolic boundary of the hillfort rampart and on into the settlement, the world of the living (Fig. 7.6). There seems to be an emphasis on the northern and southern sides of the hillfort with regard to entrances, barrow group location and iron smelting/working zones. Access to the hillfort from the barrow groups runs through the iron smelting zone at Cvinger and Vinkov vrh, where elaborated entrances are visible on the south side of the hillforts. The distribution of the barrow groups at Stična also suggests an emphasis on the southern side

The main emphasis seems to be on the northern entrance at Vinji vrh. However, the line of approach is marked by a series of barrow groups in a south-north direction before it turns east and then south to complete the approach from the north (Fig. 7.2). A possible paved ceremonial way at Požarnica (Tica 2003, 226-228), approximately 2km from the Kožjane barrow group at the southern end of this approach, is oriented north/northeast towards the highest visible point of Vinji vrh but possibly leads to the Kožjane barrow cemetery (Plate 7.1). It may well be the start of the approach to the hillfort, the line of sight giving the false impression that the approach was from the south, the final north-south approach being hidden behind the hillfort itself. A further approach to the southern entrance may be marked by a late Iron Age cremation cemetery. Magdalenska gora (Tecco Hvala et al. 2004 13-16) also exhibits a southern entrance with associated external iron 102

PHIL MASON: PLACES FOR THE LIVING, PLACES FOR THE DEAD AND PLACES IN BETWEEN

Key

EIA Settlement EIA Barrow EIA Barrow - destroyed LBA flat cemetery LIA flat cemetery metallurgical zone metallurgical zone land above 175 m land above 150 m modern quarry

Figure 7.5. The LBA and EIA centre at Kučar near Podzemelj (Adapted from Dular, Ciglenečki, & Dular 1995, 8, fig. 2; with the addition of recent data).

Figure 7.6. The LBA and EIA Symbolic system in Central Slovenia.

103

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS smelting and approaches marked by barrow groups from both the south and the north. There are no extant entrances at Kučar but the position of the large northern barrow groups and the large isolated barrows and iron smelting zone on the south suggest that the situation is similar (Fig. 7.5). Libna differs in that it has a northern entrance and barrow groups to the east (Guštin 1976, 9, 13-21) whilst Karlin (Dular & Križ 1990, 531-556) is approached along the east-west line of a ridge, with both approaches being marked by barrow groups.

deposition at Iron Age enclosures in Southern Britain (Hill 1995). Metalworking debris is also frequently associated with paths inside and outside hillforts. Caches of iron ore and occasional polished stone axes were associated with the road surface at Požarnice, which was otherwise kept clean (Tica, pers. comm.). The association of polished stone axes with iron ore, slag and secondarily re-fired ceramics can also be observed in the paved areas and paths in the late Iron Age phase at Črnomelj (Mason 1999, 34-36) (Plate 7.4). Iron smelting is associated in this instance with fire or lightning (stone axes are thunder bolts in recent folk belief). Paved communications are thoroughfares and can thus represent liminality inside settlements – the physical and symbolic separation of household units and movement between them, as well as into and out of the settlement. Drainage channels beside or cutting these paved areas at Črnomelj are functional but also symbolic. Flowing water, rivers and marshy ground are also liminal zones dividing the living settlement from the mortuary zone in the late Bronze Age, early Iron Age and in the late Iron Age. The occurrence of drainage channels and paths in association with iron slag and polished stone axes would thus link the two together to emphasise the liminal nature of thoroughfares inside and outside settlements. Thus travel is also equated with liminality and is thus linked with fire/smelting and flowing water, agents of change, transformation. The presence of isolated barrows and barrow groups in the wider landscape may also mark lines of communication and would serve to bound paths as liminal areas.

It would thus appear that there was a preferred orientation to some extent but that this was adapted to the terrain. What was important was the juxtaposition of barrow groups and iron smelting areas on hillfort access routes. This may be interpreted in the light of recent work on the role of iron working in the Iron Age. Fire and smelting are symbolic of change, fertility and regeneration. They are inherently dangerous. Thus smelting and metalworking areas mark transitions in space and time, from the outside to the inside, between the world of the living and the world of the dead. This is true of both traditional African societies and the British Iron Age, where iron smelting areas and products (slag) are found in similar contexts (Hingley 1997, 9-18). Access to the hillfort centre was thus a progression from the world of the living (the bounded settlement) through a liminal zone of change (iron smelting area or processing) to the world of the ancestors (the barrow cemetery) (Fig. 7.6). This defines the core zone of the centre, beyond which lies the outside, the foreign. Iron Age central and south-eastern Slovenia lacks evidence of major anthropogenic landscape features (linear banks and ditches), which would tend to reinforce the emphasis on the hillfort as a structured centre within a relatively unstructured landscape. This does not preclude the potential importance of natural landforms, which may well have rendered visible man-made boundaries unnecessary to some extent.

The early Iron Age (8th to mid 4th century BC) The early Iron Age elites based on the hillfort centres in central Slovenia participated in a prestige exchange system, which involved different elite groups in athletic contests and feasting (Mason 1996a, 78-85, 90-112). The figural scenes on contemporary bronze sheet situla vessels, belts and belt plates (the so-called Situla Art) depict these games, feasting and the processional arrival of participants (Mason 1996a, 113-116; Turk 2005, 1745). Formalised approaches to elite centres are to be expected in this context. People from outside would have to be integrated into the centre at certain times. Equally, participants would also return to their own centre and would have to be re-integrated into society. Thus the structure of a hillfort centre was more than an expression of elite power through monumentality and display of economic power. It embodied the ethos of the communities that created these centres. It would also have operated at the level of everyday life when people left the hillfort centre to work in the fields or when members of communities dependent on the hillfort centre but not resident there entered the hillfort.

Ironworking debris Metalworking debris is also incorporated in hillfort ramparts along with settlement debris, which symbolically reinforces the hillfort rampart as a liminal zone (Mason 1996b, 276-277). In this case, it bounds the living community, the symbolism here potentially being connected with regeneration and fertility. The very presence of large quantities of stone in the ramparts may also be connected with field clearance and as such would be symbolic of agricultural land associated with the hillfort (Mason 1992, 36). There is also a case where a layer containing burnt fine ware was deliberately incorporated as a foundation deposit beneath a new early Iron Age rampart at Libna (Novaković, pers comm.). This may well commemorate communal feasting, perhaps immediately prior to rampart construction, but it is important that the remains of this communal event were deliberately transformed by fire before incorporation in the rampart. Such activities would serve to reaffirm group solidarity and may be paralleled in the structured

The late Iron Age (mid 4th to 1st century BC) The early Iron Age elite system was disrupted and came to an end during the 4th century BC (Mason 1996a, 83, 104

PHIL MASON: PLACES FOR THE LIVING, PLACES FOR THE DEAD AND PLACES IN BETWEEN 106-107). However, the appearance of middle La Tène groups did not lead to the disruption of the spatial and symbolic organisation defined above, which remained valid in the realm of everyday life. A number of former late Bronze Age settlements were reoccupied but occupation continued on many of the major hillfort centres (Dular 1993, 101-112; Dular et al. 1991, 65-205; Dular et al. 1995, 89-168; Dular et al. 2000, 119-170; Dular et al. 2003, 159-224). These centres were further elaborated using the same symbolic system.

Slovenije) for their advice. Tica Gojko supplied the Požarnica photo. Finally, I would like to express my thanks to Ildikó Pintér, who produced the drawings and put up with me while I finished the article. References Breščak, D. 1992. Metlika - Mestni trg. Varstvo spomenikov 34, 255-256, Ljubljana Dular, A. 1991 Prazgodovinska grobišča v okolici Vinjega vrha nad Belo Cerkvijo (Die vorgeschichtlichen Nekropolen in der Umbegung von Vinji vrh oberhalb von Bela Cerkev). Katalogi in Monografiji 26, Ljubljana. Dular, J. 1985. Topografsko področje XI (Bela krajina). Arheološka topografija Slovenije, Ljubljana. Dular, J. 1993. Začetki železnodobne poselitve v osrednji Sloveniji (Der Beginn der eisenzeilichen Besiedlung in Zentralslowenien). Arheološki vestnik 44, 101-102, Ljubljana. Dular, J. Ciglenečki, S. & Dular, A. 1995. Kučar: Železnodobno naselje in zgodnjekrščanski stavbni kompleks na Kučarju pri Podzemlju (Eisenzeitliche Siedlung und frühchristlicher Gebäudekomplex auf dem Kučar bei Podzemelj). Opera Instituti Archaeologici Sloveniae 1, Ljubljana. Dular, J. & Križ, B. 1990. Železnodobno naselje in grobišče v Brezjah pri Trebelnem (Die eisenzeitliche Siedlung und Nekropole in Brezje bei Trebelno). Arheološki vestnik 41, 531-556, Ljubljana. Dular, J. & Križ, B. 2004. Železnodobno naselje na Cvingerju pri Dolenjskih Toplicah (Die eisenzeitliche Siedlung auf dem Cvinger bei Dolenjske Toplice). Arheološki vestnik 55, 207-250, Ljubljana. Dular, J., Križ, B., Svoljšak, D. & Tecco Hvala, S. 1991. Utrjena prazgodovinska naselja v Mirenski in Temeniški dolini (Befestige prähistorische Siedlungen in der Mirenska dolina und der Temeniska dolina). Arheološki vestnik 42, 65-205, Ljubljana. Dular, J., Križ, B., Svoljšak, D. & Tecco Hvala, S. 1995. Prazgodovinska višinska naselja v Suhi krajini (Vorgeschichtliche Höhensiedlungen in der Suha krajina). Arheološki vestnik 46, 89-168, Ljubljana. Dular, J., Križ, B., Pavlin, P., Svoljšak, D. & Tecco Hvala, S. 2000. Prazgodovinska višinska naselja v dolini Krke (Vorgeschichtliche Höhensiedlungen im Krkatal). Arheološki vestnik 51, 119-170, Ljubljana. Dular, J., Križ, B., Pavlin, P., Svoljšak, D. & Tecco Hvala, S. 2003. Prazgodovinska višinska naselja v okolici Dol pri Litiji (Vorgeschichtliche Höhensiedlungen in der Umbegung von Dole pri Litiji). Arheološki vestnik 54, 159-224, Ljubljana. Gabrovec, S. 1994. Stična I. Naselbinska izkopavanja (Siedlungsausgrabungen). Katalogi in Monografiji 28, Ljubljana. Guštin, M. 1976. Libna Posavski muzej 3, Brežice. Guštin, M. 1978. Gradišča železne dobe v Slovenije (Typologie der eisenzeilichen Ringwalle in Slowenien) Arheološki vestnik 19, 100-121, Ljubljana. Hingley, R. I997. Iron, ironworking and regeneration: a study of the symbolic meaning of metalworking in

Late Iron Age metallurgical workshops were later located between the hillforts and early Iron Age barrow groups on the northern sides of both Kučar and Vinji vrh, indicating that this association between liminality and ironworking continued on into the late Iron Age. The readoption of the cremation rite in the late Iron Age also meant that these might also combine ideas of transformation by fire and the mortuary zones in one entity. This can be seen at Novo mesto, where the late Iron Age flat cemeteries are associated with earlier early Iron Age barrow groups, which in one case were also located on the site of a Late Bronze Age cremation cemetery (Križ 1997, 23-29). Conclusion The underlying symbolism of hillforts as places for the living community, surrounded by the cemeteries that were places for the dead, is a long-lived concept in the 1st millennium BC in central Slovenia. The concept of transformation of matter by fire may have been present in the association of some late Bronze Age settlements with cremation cemeteries but it is integral to the cemeteries themselves. The rise of early Iron Age hillfort centres incorporated late Bronze Age settlements in both the hillfort centres themselves, as at Vinji vrh, Črnomelj and Metlika, as well as ancestral places beneath early Iron Age cemeteries, as at Griblje in the Kučar complex (Mason 2001, 7-27). Late Bronze Age cemeteries were also incorporated in early Iron Age mortuary zones, as at Novo mesto (Križ 1997, 23) and Kučar. However, the technology of iron production was central to the new early Iron Age symbolic system, in which entry into the world of the living centre was mitigated by a zone of transformation (iron smelting) before entry to the world of the ancestors and beyond. This system was long-lived and continued to be restated by additions of late Iron Age cemeteries and iron smelting areas to pre-existing Early Iron Age hillfort centres in a process of legitimation that lasted until the Roman occupation at the end of the 1st century BC. Acknowledgements This paper is based on a paper presented at the 10th Annual meeting of the EAA in Lyon. I would like to thank George Nash for the opportunity to contribute to this volume. I would like to thank Borut Križ (Dolenjski muzej) for many discussions on Iron Age hillforts in the Dolenjska and Bela krajina, Janez Dular (SAZU), Jana Horvat (SAZU) and Peter Turk (Narodni muzej 105

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Iron Age Britain. In A. Gwilt and C. Haselgrove (eds.) Reconstructing Iron Age Societies, Oxbow monograph 71, 9-18, Oxford. Križ, B. 1992. Arheološko območje Cvinger. Varstvo spomenikov 34, 81 - 90, Ljubljana. Križ, B. 1997. Kapiteljska njiva, Novo mesto. Novo mesto. Mason, P. 1992. Iron, Land and Power: The Social Landscape of the Southeastern Alps and the Karst in the Iron Age. Arheo 15, 32-38, Ljubljana. Mason P. 1996a. The Early Iron Age of Slovenia. British Archaeological Report International Series 643, Oxford. Mason P. 1996b. Iron, Land and Power: The Social Landscape in the Southeastern Alps in the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. In: Jerem, E. and Lippert, A. Internationales Symposium, Die Osthallstattkultur. Archaeolingua, 274-282, Budapest. Mason, P. 1998a. Črnomelj - Ul. Mirana Jarca št. 7 in št. 9. - Varstvo spomenikov 37, 18-19, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 1998b. Črnomelj - Ul. na utrdbah. - Varstvo spomenikov 37, 19, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 1998c. Črnomelj - Ul. Mirana Jarca št. 7. Varstvo spomenikov 37, 20, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 1998d. Črnomelj - Ul. Mirana Jarca. - Varstvo spomenikov 37, 20-21, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 1998e. Črnomelj - Ul. Mirana Jarca 8. Varstvo spomenikov 37, 21, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 1999a. Črnomelj – Arheološko najdišče. In Batič, J. Kulturne poti 1999: vodnik po spomenikih. 33-41, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 1999b. The Road to the South: the role of Bela krajina in the long-distance exchange networks between the Adriatic and the Eastern Alps in the early 1st millennium BC in the light of recent settlement excavation. V: Jerem, E. in Poroszlai, I., Archaeology of the Bronze and Iron Age, Environmental Archaeology, Experimental Archaeology and Archaeological Parks. Proceedings of the International Archaeological Conference, Százhalombatta, 3-7 October 1996, Archaeolingua 7, 143-155, Budapest. Mason, P. 2001. Griblje in problem nižinskih arheoloških kompleksov v Sloveniji. Varstvo spomenikov 39, 727, Ljubljana. Mason, P. 2006a. Črnomelj - Historično mestno jedro Ulica Na utrdbah, Varstvo spomenikov (in press). Mason, P. 2006b. Podzemelj - Arheološko najdišče Kučar, Varstvo spomenikov (in press). Mason, P., Vareško, N. and Pintér, I. 2006. Podzemelj Arheološko najdišče Kučar, Varstvo spomenikov (in press). Tecco Hvala, S., Dular, J. & Kocuvan, E. 2004. Železnodobne gomile na Magdalenski gori (Eisenzeitliche Grabhügel auf dem Magdalenska gora). Katalogi in Monografiji 36, Ljubljana. Teržan, B. 1999. An Outline of the Urnfield Culture Period in Slovenia Arheološki vestnik 50, 97-143, Ljubljana. Tica, G. 2003. Požarnice pri Družinski vasi. In B. Djurić (ed), Zemlje pod vašimi nogami. Arheologija na avtocestah Slovenije, 226-228, Ljubljana.

Turk, P. 2005. Podobe življenja in mita. Narodni muzej Slovenije, 2005.

106

Chapter 8

A Hunter’s Perspective of Rock-Art: The Rock-Art Paintings in Central Norway May-Tove Smieth are near impossible to classify and are thus generically classified as cervids. One of these panels depicts salmon (at Honnhammeren III). This figure is the only specie depicted, which makes the panel very rare in Norway, as salmon are usually shown with other animals, such as cervids (e.g. the panel of Leiknes in Nordland). The Tingvoll panels also have the only painted whale figure known in Norway (fig. 8.3).

The rock paintings at Tingvoll In a recent discussion of landscape and rock-art, I shed some light on an aspect that has partly been missing from the debate concerning the way hunter art was used and looked at in prehistory. Although in the contemporary world many ethnic groups in both northern Norway and the rest of the world still use a traditional way of hunting, I wish to focus on the people who still use this landscape to hunt the animals in areas where rock-art is present. I am particularly interested in the synergy that might exist between the way animals were hunted then and now. Moreover, I am interested in the attitude and thoughts of the modern hunter; it is probable that the ancient hunter experienced similar thoughts and aspirations. The paintings discussed in this paper are located on the archipelago of Tingvoll in the county of Møre og Romsdal, on the west coast of Norway (figs. 8.1 & 8.2).

The location of the panels provides some indication of the period when they were in use. Shoreline dating methods indicate that the upper panels date to the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition whilst the lower ones are Neolithic or early Bronze Age (Sognnes 2003). At this time, deer, elk and possibly reindeer would have been present within this area (Meisingset 1998; BangAndersen 1992). A History of Vegetation/Flora

The Tingvoll rock paintings are found on two headlands, Hinna and Honnhammeren. These sites were known as early as 1773, when they were described by G. Schøning, who was travelling through the country on behalf of King Christian IV. Schøning was on a boat when he saw the paintings from a distance (Schøning 1778 [1979:110]), but he dismissed them as veins of quartz. This is not as far-fetched as it would seem, as there are veins of red feldspar within the rock that form the fjord coastline, some lying next to the paintings. One hundred years later, B.E. Bendixen visited the same site. Bendixen discovered that they were indeed paintings, but insisted that they where made by Dutch or English timber traders during the 14th or 15th centuries (Bendixen 1878:103).

To be able to picture the landscape at the time of the likely origin of the paintings, one has to use available and reliable data. This will have consequences for the further discussion of animals and their habitation. Published results from analyses of pollen in marshes and bogs in the mid Norway area show that, during the Sub-boreal (5,000-2,500 BP) and Sub-Atlantic (2,500 BP to present) periods, the temperature went from a warm climate, where trees such as oak and linden flourished, to a slightly colder climate that favoured birch and pine (Hafsten 1987). On the basis of these analyses, one can estimate the average temperature in July to have been 16 degrees centigrade or more. This tells us that, during the Sub-Atlantic period, the only difference from today’s vegetation was the entry of spruce (Hafsten 1987:111). This indicates that animals such as elk, deer and possibly reindeer inhabited the area. This would probably have been the same for wild salmon. Salmon pass through the Tingvoll fjord on their way up to the Driva River in the neighbouring municipality of Sunndalsøra. Salmon were said to have been important locally throughout the 18th century (Schøning 1778 [1979:110]) and this might indicate that the Tingvoll fjord contained abundant wild salmon also in earlier times.

In 1910, the Swedish archaeologist Gustaf Hallström visited Tingvoll to verify Bendixen’s earlier notes (Bendixen 1878:103) regarding the paintings (Hallström 1938:390). Hallström had by then made similar discoveries in northern Sweden and realised that such paintings were most likely of Stone Age origin. Following Hallström’s visit, the sites at Tingvoll were examined and documented by Norwegian archaeologists Gutorm Gjessing and Theodor Petersen (Gjessing 1936) and in recent years, Kalle Sognnes, professor of archaeology at the University of Trondheim, has been responsible both for new discoveries and extensive documentation of the panels (Sognnes 1990; 1992; 1993). The sites now constitute a major rock-art area of Norway, especially as all the panels are painted rather than carved.

A Question of Analogy Egil Bakka suggested that one should, where possible, use analogies in archaeology, thus providing possibilities and probabilities. He suggests using “models built on local tradition and historical sources and controlled deduction back into prehistory, or models built on

These paintings depict for the most part cervids, mainly elk and reindeer. Some figures are thought to be deer, but 107

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figure 8.1. Map over Norway N and deetail of Tingvooll.

Figure 8.3: Picture showiing the painteed whale at paneel V.

Figure 8.22. Statens Kartverk og Fjelllangen Viderøøe Kart as (Sourrce: Fjørtoft 2002). 2 ethnographicc data from recent or sttill living huuntergatherers” (B Bakka 1978:822). Fig gure 8.4: The panel Hinna seen from abo ove. It is the same s panel ass shown on plaate 3. Photo: May-Tove M Smiethh.

mpt to Using Bakkaa’s approach, I will in this section attem combine loccal hunting traditions, t ussing a varietty of historical soources, with the skills and attitudees of contemporaryy hunters. I am a interestedd to learn whhether contemporaryy hunters havve a somewhatt different vieew on the landscape from hunters who were involved in either e executing or watching rockk-art being peerformed?

8.4). These areass are also sheltered from unfavourablee weatther conditioons. Along ssuch natural harbours iss usuaally a source of fresh watter (Stafseth 2006; Bjerckk 1989 9). Did these areas also suupport wild gaame and weree they y rich huntingg areas? Wouuld the topography of thiss land dscape indicatte a habitat foor specific aniimals that wee do not n see roam ming today, suuch as reindeeer? I wouldd argu ue that, withhin this predominantly hu unter-gathererr econ nomy, the preesence of aniimals within an area is ass impo ortant a factorr as settlementt.

o topographyy Ambiguity of t from thee Trondheim fjord Rock-art pannels, such as those area, are ussually locatedd in areas with w safe seclluded harbours, ideal for settleement and moooring boats (fig.

108

MAY-TOVE SMIETH: A HUNTER’S PERSPECTIVE OF ROCK-ART: THE ROCK-ART PAINTINGS IN CENTRAL NORWAY Today, most Scandinavian hunters do not depend on hunting for survival; however, many contemporary hunters still use the ideology and skills inherent in traditional hunting, which are passed orally from generation to generation. Contemporary hunters trust to these skills to give them the best outcome once the hunt is on. In order to understand these skills, one must learn how game, such as elk, reindeer and deer, behave in the local landscape, understanding seasonal migration, food, their relationship with water, the fjord etc., what I would term instinctiveness. Without this instinctiveness, both the prehistoric bow and the modern rifle would be rendered useless. Instinctiveness would also include the clues that animals such as cervids leave; tracks and droppings would indicate the age, size and availability of the animal. Interestingly, much of this information has been subtly incorporated into the Tingvoll rock-art panels and other complex examples.

at Tingvoll/Honnhammeren might have acted as a temporary dwelling site on the long journey, the site being chosen for its surplus of resources such as, deer, elk and salmon.

As mentioned earlier, these paintings are situated on steep cliffs by the sea. Based on the location, would these panels act as viewing platforms allowing the artist and the hunter to see game either swimming the fjord or moving across the fjord’s edge? It is conceivable that the panels lie close to, or on, seasonal migration paths. It could be said that the seasonal migration paths of humans and animals cross at certain points in the landscape. As animals might cross water, humans migrate across land and vice-versa.

The animals depicted on one of these panels include elk and reindeer, together with geometrical motifs, despite the fact that reindeer, according to local people, prefer other landscapes and, consequently, other food sources. In fact, reindeer are likely to prefer the higher altitudes of the neighbouring mountains, although, it is stated that they might migrate out to the coast if conditions are favourable (Vike et al. 2004). During the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, the mountains would have been free of ice (Gustafson 1986) and it is thus probable that the Tingvoll panels and other sites mark recognized hunter locations along the ancestral migration routes.

The paintings at Tingvoll are situated on a series of steep cliffs and overhangs, each panel facing the sea. There is no possibility of stumbling across them from the landward side. Their landscape position indicates that they where meant to be viewed from the sea and at the time of their execution would have been clearly visible – vibrant red pigment on light brown, almost beige and white rock. It is probable, given the palaeo-shoreline, that these paintings were executed from boats or at least that the panels were approached from the sea. This scenario may also be appropriate to other rock-art panels in this area. The connection to the water and palaeo-shoreline is striking (Gjessing 1936; Hallström 1938; Sognnes 2003).

Other animals depicted include fish, possibly salmon and a curious animal referred to as a ‘turtle’ (figs. 8.5, 8.6 & 8.7). These animals along with elk and reindeer would have provided a rich resource for the hunter-gatherer.

Along with reindeer, the elk depicted would, in the real world, clearly prefer open wooded locations, away from the steep craggy rock outcrops of the fjord shoreline. This point was made clear to me when talking with local hunters. But, as they said, elk and deer might come to shoreline locations on the headlands at times of heavy snowfall to take advantage of the slightly warmer climate by the sea and to feed on exposed vegetation. To stay within the snowline of the intermediate slopes of the mountains would be too perilous for these migratory animals.

Migration paths There are similar paintings within the neighbouring municipality; these are located in the same extensive valley as those at Tingvoll, except that they lie at 3-400m above sea level, beside the Driva River. This river flows into the Sunndalen fjord, which becomes the Tingvoll fjord towards the coastline, approximately 7km north-east of the Tingvoll paintings. The two landscape settings are diverse and may represent different ideologies to hunters in prehistoric times, although the same animals are painted on both sets of panels. Stone Age settlements dating to 8,800 BP are found in the Oppdal Mountains (Gustafsen 1986:20). The tools are made from flint, which is not found in the mountains and would thus have been imported. These tools closely resemble those used at the Fosna settlement, by the coast of Kristiansund, which is known to be one of the earliest Stone Age settlements in Norway (Gustafsen 1986; Svendsen 2007). These finds indicate that the fjord and valleys leading from the coast up to the mountains were used at an early date as migration paths. From this mountain plateau, the distance to Sweden’s rock-art paintings is not great. One can imagine the contact this area would have had in this eastwest connection, travelling by water and valley systems. These seasonal migrations could have been the result of reindeer hunting in the mountains, where the rock-art site

Local knowledge Following discussions with local people, I have concluded that animals such as elk, reindeer and deer would need to be driven by beaters into an area where they could be hunted. This strategy would have worked well with herd animals such as deer and reindeer but elk, being solitary animals, would require another form of hunting. In recent times, leading fences made of brushwood would stay erect for several seasons with some maintenance; similar stone structures found in the mountains would remain standing for centuries (Vike et al. 2004). These fences would assist in steering the game towards the cliff and then over it, the animals ending up in the sea below (a similar strategy was used by Palaeolithic hunters in Jersey and France). The animals would be injured and/or disorientated, thus making the kill easier or quicker; however, as the contemporary 109

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS hunters inforrmed me, cerrvids are veryy good swimm mers. There is no conclusive archaeologica a al evidence, either e close to the Tingvoll pannels or elsewhhere, for the early p of the couuntry; use of leadinng fences, not in the lower part however, it is i not unlikelyy that these fences f rotted away a when not reeplaced or inn use. Stone structures inn the mountains sttill exist and, when glacieers melt afterr hot summers, onne can also finnd sticks of woood with piecces of bark attachedd to them useed for scaringg animals intoo the leading fencees (“birch scarres”). This waas economicall way for the hunteers, as building stone fencces took timee and effort. Wherre manpowerr was lacking, wooden sticks s would have been used. Thhe fewer peopple the greateer the k how aniimals move inn the economic gaain. Hunters know landscape.

deerr, elk and reinndeer. It wouuld appear thaat there is ann inheerent drive too use ancestrral routes an nd prominentt land dscape features probably asssist the animaals in markingg and re-marking thhese routes (M Meisingset 199 98, Vike et al. 4). 2004 king at the map m and compaaring the info ormation from m Look locaal hunters, the area is likelyy to have been n rich in wildd gam me and salmonn. As we cann see from fiigure 8.4, thee land dscape surrounnding Honnhaammeren is narrow n in twoo places. Like hum mans, animals pprefer dry gro ound and willl avoiid wetland whhenever possibble. The area northwest off Hon nnhammeren, especially, coonsists of glaacial depositss and this drains thhe ground andd contains waater in naturall basin ns. As one can tell, botth areas willl work as a bottlleneck for animals migratiing to the coaast to feed onn the vegetation free fr from snoow. This wo ould work ass mal hunting areas, a where cchasing and other o forms off optim huntting would ressult in a succeessful outcomee.

r in thaat they are sollitary Elk differ froom deer and reindeer animals; andd one has to work w hard to kill several elk e in one hunt. Reeindeer, howevver, move in large l herds annd the herd will moove as one whhen driven intoo pitfalls, watter or other kinds of trap. Thee same can be said of deer, r although deeer tend to spread out wheen in flight rather than staying together. Thhis knowledgee will differ from a may be onne of several ways to plann and site to site and read the laandscape, as the animalss prefer diffferent biotopes. where However, there are prehisstoric rock-artt panels elsew s in Europe thaat are roughlyy contemporarry and which show beaters workking alongsidee hunters (e.g. Levantine Sppain). This methodd was also useed in the Norrwegian mounntains until 200 yeaars ago whenn hunting deerr (Farbregd 1980). If the Tingvooll site does represent r a location on a cervid migration paath, one can allso envisage beaters b drivinng the animals towaards the hunters, where theyy were killed using u conventionall weapons suuch as the bow. b This would w suggest that rock-art panels, such as those at Tinggvoll, were special hunting places, as well as rock-art sitess, the panels thus having h a dual purpose. p

Figure F 8.5: Onne of the “turtlles” on Honnh hammeren. Photo: Eva M M. Skeie.

The hunting of wild gamee forms the soocial, political and economic baase of hunter-ggatherer socieety and this caan be considered thhe principal motive m for the seasonal traveelling which mightt have occurreed several tim mes a year; ceervids are known for f their seassonal migrations and for their reuse of [aancestral] traails year afteer year. Thiis is especially knnown for deer and reindeer (Vike et al. 20004). Such strategiic knowledge would provee important foor the available foood resourcees. This “ffarming” of the landscape, knnowing when and where too hunt, would have been essentiaal to the prehhistoric hunterr. However, cervid habitats havee been greatlyy disturbed annd many anceestral migration rouutes have eithher been interruupted or destrroyed by anthropoggenic activity,, such as deveelopment and road construction (Vike et al. 2004). Traditional hunter knnowledge iddentifies ceertain a where game g would pass decade after favourable areas decade at a certain tim me of the hunting h calendar. Interestingly, and withhin the life fetime of many m contemporaryy hunters, dissturbed land, when abandooned, once more beecomes a miggration route for f animals such as

Figure 8.6: 8 Salmon att Honnhammeeren. P Photo: May-Toove Smieth. ncerning the loocation of thee rock painting gs this begs a Con chicken-and-egg question: whhich one camee first? Weree 110

MAY-TOVE SMIETH H: A HUNTER’S PERSPECTIV VE OF ROCK-A ART: THE ROCK-ART PAINTIINGS IN CENTR RAL NORWAY Y the pictures placed there to “magicaally” call onn the goodwill of the place - a so-called hunnter magic theeory? Or were thhe paintings placed theree because off the resources fouund within thhe immediate area? With thhis in mind, we havve to focus noot only on the archaeologicaal material, buut also on the t hunter-gaatherers’ wayy of thinking. Soome informaation can be b derived from ethnographicc sources, althhough hunter--gatherer sociieties in other partss of the worldd have differennt ideas relatinng to hunting or gathering g and are dependeent on local skills. s However, soociety is compplex and the way w contempoorary and ancient hunters approoached huntinng and art aree also d different. Hoowever, the knnowledge andd the way of doing things by thee modern huntter may shed some s light onn how rock-art waas used andd its relatioonship with the surrounding landscape andd the hunter’s world.

Figure 8.7 P Panel V

Figuure 8.8. Map over o strategicc hunting stations in the Honnnhammeren area.

111

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS References

Sognnes, K. 1992. Gransking av bergmalingar. Lokalitet Honnhammeren VIII, V, II, VI. [Honnhammeren, gnr 87/1, Tingvoll, Møre og Romsdal]. Rapport i Topografisk arkiv, Vitenskapsmuseet, seksjon for arkeologi og kulturhistorie, NTNU, Trondheim. Sognnes, K. 1993. Gransking av bergmalingar. Lokalitet Honnhammer VII. [Honnhammeren, gnr 87/1, Tingvoll, Møre og Romsdal]. Rapport i Topografisk arkiv, Vitenskapsmuseet, seksjon for arkeologi og kulturhistorie, NTNU, Trondheim. Sognnes, K. 2000. Dokumentasjon av bergmalerier i Norge. I: Torsten Edgren och Helena Taskinen. Ristad och Målad. Aspekter på nordisk bergkonst. Museiverket, Helsinki. P. 46-54. Sognnes, K. 2003. On shoreline dating of Rock-art. Acta Archaeologica. Vol. 74. p. 198-209. Sognnes, K. 2007. Rock Paintings in open and hidden Landscapes: A case study from central Norway. Cognition and Signification in Northern Landscapes. In print. Stafseth, T. 2006. Sirkler, linjer og punkter – en analyse av veideristningenes kulturlandskap gjennom de indre deler av Trondheimsfjorden. Unpublished thesis in Archaeology at the University of NUST, Trondheim. Svendsen, F. 2007. Lokaliteter og landskap i tidlig mesolittisk tid. En geografisk analyse fra NordvestNorge. Unpublished thesis in Archaeology at the University of NUST, Trondheim. Vike, A-K., Ringstad, D., Strand, P. E. 2004. Jakt og fangst i Nesset. Nesset Fjellstyre. Betten Grafiske, Tingvoll.

Bahn, P. G. 1998. Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Bang-Andersen, S. 1992. Rennarsundet - en nyoppdaget bergmaling med veidemotiver i Sandnes kommune, Rogaland. Viking, Bind LV, s. 55-76. Bendixen, B. E. 1879. Fornlevninger i Nordmøre og Romsdal. Foreningen til Norske Fortidsmindersmerkers Bevaring. Aarsberetning, 1878, s.63160 . Bjerck, H. B. 1989. Forskningsstyrt kulturminneforvaltning på Vega, Nordland. En studie av steinaldermenneskenes boplassmønstre og arkeologiske letemetoder. Gunneria 61. Trondheim. Farbregd, O. 1980. Veideristningar og veidemåte. Festskrift til Sverre Marstrander på 70- årsdagen. Universitetets Oldsakssamlings Skrifter. Ny rekke, nr. 3. s. 41-47. Fjørtoft, M. 2002. Tingvoll – Ut mellom fjordane lange. Abrakadabra forlag, Tingvoll. Gjessing, G. 1936. Nordenfjeldske ristninger og malninger av den arktiske gruppe. H. Institutt for sammenlignende kulturforskning. Serie B, skrifter Bind XXX. Aschehoug & Co. Oslo. Gjessing, G. 1945. Norges steinalder. Boktrykkeri A/S, Oslo. Gustafsen, L. 1986. Fangstfolk i fjellet. Spor – fortidsnytt fra Midt-Norge, Nr. 1. s. 18-23. Trondheim. Hallström, G. 1938. Monumental Art of Northern Europe from the Stone Age – I. The Norwegian Localities. Bokförlaget aktiebolaget Thule, Stockholm. Hafsten, U. 1987. Vegetasjon, klima og landskapsutvikling i Trøndelag etter siste istid. Norsk Geografisk tidsskrift 41, s.101-120. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo. Helland, A. 1911. Topografisk Statistisk Beskrivelse over Romsdals Amt. Første del. Kristiania. Aschehoug & Co. Meisingset, E. 2003. Hjort og hjortejakt i Norge. Naturforlaget, Tangen. Mikkelsen, E. 1978. Seasonally and Mesolithic Adaptation in Norway. I: K. Kristiansen & C. Paludan-Muller (eds.) New Directions in Scandinavian Archaeology. National Museum of Denmark. Odense. Nordbladh, J. 1978. Images as messages in society. Prolegomena to the study of Scandinavian Petroglyphs and Semiotics. I: K. Kristiansen & C. Paludan-Muller (eds.) New Directions in Scandinavian Archaeology. National Museum of Denmark, Odense. P. 63-79. Schøning, G. 1979. Reise som giennem en deel af Norge I de aar 1773, 1774, 1775 paa Hans Majestæt Kongens Bekostning er giort og beskreven af Gerhard Schøning. Del I. Trondheim. Tapir. Sognnes, K. 1990. Undersøkelse av Bergkunst. Lokalitet Honnhammeren I, II, III, IV, V, VII. [Honnhammeren, gnr 87/1, Tingvoll, Møre og Romsdal]. Rapport i Topografisk arkiv, Vitenskapsmuseet, seksjon for arkeologi og kulturhistorie, NTNU, Trondheim. 112

Chapter 9

Landscaape, Semiiotics andd Rock-A Art in Kuu-Ring-G Gai Chasee J John Clegg r stonne arrangemennts, understannding Landscape, rock-art, and interpreetation can interact i semiiotically at many m different leveels and scales. This paper discusses d exam mples of apparent semiotic mateerial at the Aboriginal A rocck-art a Elvina Tracck site, West Head, Ku-ring-gai site known as Chase Nationnal Park, Sydnney. Figu ure 9.1. Two species sp of flathhead, both sho own in profilee as well w as plan (iin Barry Hutcchins and Rogeer Swainston 1986: 447).

Semiotics deeals with trannsfer of meanning from onne or more sendeer(s) to reeceiver(s) thhrough mediiating material(s) and a process(es). The obvioous weak spoots in the transfer are a in encodinng and decodinng meaning. Other O peoples’ meaanings are diffficult to discoover, appreciaate or interpret corrrectly. In dealing with lanndscape and rockr art from diffferent culturess, we are dealling with a seecond level of sem miotic transaction, betweenn us and the past makers and users, througgh various mediating m mateerials that may surrvive incompletely, and of which we maay be only partly aware. a In dealiing with landsscape and rockk-art, we may havee some understanding and access to ourr own decoding buut must find out about past p encodingg and meaning from m artefacts annd other physiccal material.

Figure F 9.2. Wobbegong W shaarks from Huttchins and Swainston: 21

Users of picctures may haave connotatioons and meannings different froom those of o the makeer. Contempoorary witnesses, evven the artistss themselves, may get it wrrong. When artistss are asked too explain or ascribe a meaninng to their works, some have beeen known to reply to the effect e c put theiir work into words, w they would w that if they could not go to thee effort of makking it. This problem p appliies to a greater or lesser extent to all produccts and statem ments. a correct in interpreting some conform mation Even if we are as a represenntation of a coow, car or kanngaroo, we maay be missing reliigious, symbolic or polittical significaance. Marks on a rock r could reppresent a toteem, mother-inn-law, food, childreen’s pet, groupp allegiance orr subversion.

o three-dimennsional objectts rather thann clearr renditions of plan nar projectionss. A Abooriginal rock-aart often depicts an animall If Australian it seeems to resem mble then, as in identificattion manuals,, diag gnostic or impportant characcteristics are usually u shownn carefully. The coondition impliied by this iff is important;; we cannot c know whether the assumption that t marks onn rock ks that to our o eyes reseemble animaals (or otherr subjects) ever reepresented or denoted th hem to theirr kers or originnal users. Thhis unfortunatte fact is nott mak acceepted by Morw wood (2002:1557-8), who wrrites: taken t to its loogical conclussion, this wou uld mean thatt figurative f art could not bbe used to in nfer anythingg about a past thinngs or events

o Either outlinne or silhouettte can easily describe an object so that it is recognisable but other infformation mayy not transfer so reeadily. Picturees in identificaation manualss may have contraddictory demandds if some of an object’s crrucial diagnostic atttributes are visible v in proffile, others in plan. Flathead, an Australian fiish group, neeed two picturres to Barry convey the shapes of thhe body andd the tail. (B Hutchins andd Roger Swainnston 1986: 477).

a are generally g and aapparently shown life-size,, All animals hum mans appear fuull-face, mostt other mamm mals and birdss in profile p and sm mall ground-ddwelling creaatures in plann view w. Most anim mal depictions are easy to recognise r butt theree are problem ms with large ssea creatures, where sharkss and whales may be confusedd because thee tails alwayss appeear in their brooadest view aand may perhaaps be twistedd away y from conforrmity with the remainder of o the animal.. Onee whale figuree at America’’s Bay Track, West Head,, look ks startlingly lifelike with its regarding ey yes. The samee figurre seems less real in a recoording that miissed the eyess and shows the whhale’s fins annd other distraactions. But a p almostt rotattion of the draawing flips thee whale into profile, like an optical illuusion (q.v. Cllegg 2005) an nd shows it ass

Most sharks can be readiily identified from their prrofile but bottom-ddwelling Wobbbegong sharkks have diagnnostic plan views ass well as tails. The artist’s solution s is to show s a plan view w, with the reear end twistted to displayy the shapes of tail and caudall fins. This suubtle but effeective w for idenntification beccause way of drawiing probably works of the readerr’s knowledgee of biaxial syymmetry in faauna; it also powerrfully changess the perceptioon of picturess into 113

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS a sounding orca. o The twisst to the tail beecomes signifficant as depicting the t action.

Whiile it is obviouus enough thaat pictures aree best viewedd in th he correct oriientation, it m may be possiible to derivee hintss of meaning or semiotics from figures’’ orientations.. As Coles (20055:87) says (ffor Swedish engravings),, ney’s rock picctures are orieented on the ro ock surface ass Sydn thou ugh to be view wed from dow wnslope. Thu us Daramulann figurres have theirr bodies vertical, although the positionss of th heir legs ofteen imply a ssitting posturee, rather likee tedd dy bears. This may modify an interpretattion that theirr proffile view impliies an animal nature.

Figure 9.3.. Whale engraaving at Amerrica’s Bay Traack, W Head. Phhotograph Davvid Lee West

Figu ure 9.6. Amerrica’s Bay Traack Daramula an figure seen upslope. From Stanbuury and Clegg: 62. On the other hannd the small Daramulans I know aree wn with theirr bodies crosss-slope, so ho orizontal, butt show the raised r arm makes m them seeem precariou usly balanced,, or ass though in motion..

Figure 9.44. America’s Bay B Track whaale engraving as puublished in Staanbury and Cllegg: 62

Figure 9.7. Upslope U photoograph of Elviina small Daramulann figure (Photoograph Adam Black). d cann The generalisation that size annd view are diagnostic be used u to diagnnose (or guesss) puzzling pictures. p Plann view w pictures thatt look like chhildren’s ballo oons with twoo legs, and occur with w pictures of penguins, could depictt welling birds – the guesss is penguinn smalll ground-dw chicks.

Figure 9.5. America’s Bay Track whhale recordingg s orcaa (in Stanbury and rotated, shoowing it as a sounding Cleegg: 62). 114

JOHN CLEGG G: LANDSCAPE E, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-A ART IN KU-RIN NG-GAI CHASE E h feet shown in plan; Daaramulan pictu ures are alsoo with gian nt; they appearr in profile annd have a plan n human foot,, emu u-bum, and soometimes two heads. They are clearly off creaatures not knoown in nature.. Platform 1 of the Elvinaa Tracck site has six or more non--mundane figu ures and otherr indiccations of saccredness (a giiant emu with h four toes, a Daraamulan, a giant fat man, a strangely androgynouss 1.1m m leaping figuure, several m mundoes acco ompanying ann engrraving of a foorearm and a small Daram mulan). All off them m are close to a geological jjoint-line on the t east of thee site. By this infference, this ppart of the site s could bee gnosed as haviing especially sacred signifi ficance. diag The black dotss on the map above are scaledd d Clegg 2005)) representations off “snames” (ssee Barry and perh haps caused by b small firess. They congrregate on thee east of the site, around two llong joint-lin nes which aree bellished in tw wo places, linkking two natu ural lines intoo emb pictu ures that resem mble ladders oor giant segm mented worms,, one near engravings like threee shields to the t north, thee ond half-wayy between tthe fat man n and smalll seco Daraamulan to the south.

Figure 9.88. 300mm enggraving at Bassin Track, Weest Head, inferreed to represennt a penguin chick c (From Clegg, C 2002, figgure 5, p.104).

Figure 9.9. Map by Miichael Barry of Platform 1 at d are scaleed representaations Elvina Trackk. The black dots of snames (seee Barry and Clegg 2005).

Fig gure 9.10. Noorthern instancce of two geollogical joints l linked by engrraved lines

Similar inferrences from generalisationn might diaggnose pictures that are of supernnatural or at least l non-munndane beings. Traaditionally, itt is usual to call oveersize depictions inn the Sydneyy area culturee heroes (MccMah 1965:27; Hiiggs 2003: throughout); t among them m are examples off heroic-sizedd kangaroos and eels, but the best-known are identified with suppernatural beeings Baiame andd Daramulann. The two sometimes seem complementaary, appearinng at oppositee ends of a site. Baiame pictuures look likee very large engravings e off men

Therre are severral ways wee might learrn about thee messages and traansmission off past semioticcs. We needd W can seekk dataa and evidencce that it hadd meaning. We spatial patterns of associatioon and distrribution in a dscape, includding possiblee paths, imp pediments too land walk king, resourcces such as water, shellter, ambientt weatther associateed with arteffacts or otherr evidence off hum man presencee. Distance, accessibility and inter115

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figure 9.111. Two geologgical joints linnked by engraved lines at Elvvina Track sitee half way betw ween the fat man m and sm mall Daramulaan to the east of o platform 1 (Photograaph David Leee) Fiigure 9.12. Kuu-ring-gai Chhase National Park, (from Gregory’s 19984: 121).

visibility maay be importtant. At Elviina track sitee the apparent sepparation betweeen rock platforms can deepend on vegetatioon, which is subject to weather w and fire. Platforms thaat seemed disttant or are nott noticed in noormal circumstancees may sudddenly appearr closer aftter a bushfire or burn-off. Som me data suchh as awe-insppiring s geoloogical formattions dependd on views or strange essentially suubjective recoognition of sttrangeness orr awe that might empathetically e y connect wiith past emottions. Such attributtions could be tested by experiment, saay by asking subjeects to rank thhings in photographs, checcking conclusions in i the field. But B they cannnot easily be tested in practice, and a seldom, iff ever, are. Thhere is an on-ggoing problem of verifying connclusions by seeking exam mples that do not conform: awee-inspiring pllaces that havve no religious meaaning.

o

•

y punctuated,, Religiouus sites tend tto be spatially with spaaces both bettween sites an nd separatingg locationss within one siite.

boriginal site,, West Head,, Ku-ring-gaii Elviina Track Ab Cha ase National Park, P Sydneyy Mosst of the exaamples and illustrations used in thiss chap pter are from one of many Aboriginal en ngraving sitess on the t West Heaad promontorry of Ku-Rin ng-Gai Chasee Natiional Park to the t north of Syydney. The ch hosen place iss an Aboriginal A rocck-art site know wn as the Elv vina Track sitee or th he Tesselatedd Pavement. IIt is at the co orner of Westt Head Road and Elvina E Track, with a 1.5km m gentle walkk a Lovett’s B Bay. acceess to Elvina and

Statistical tests performedd on significaant populationns of p m lead to convincing geeneral may observable phenomena patterns andd conclusionss (see Kellehher, this voluume). Kelleher (20003) made a careful staatistical study of associations and locationss of potentiall religious sittes in M w west of Syddney. He makes m the Blue Mountains, convincing cases c that: •

Strange or uunusual naturaal formationss or featuress (geological features,, waterfalls etcc.);

w prom montory roughly 12km NE-Wesst Head is a wooded SW and 10km accross. The riddges are 200m m or so abovee ora, with dryy sea level. It has scatterings of varied flo me rainforest,, heatth, open eucaalyptus woodland and som and is bounded by b sea with rrich littoral reesources. Thee n route throuugh the prom montory, now w West Headd main

Reliigious sites tend to be at awe-insppiring locaations, which may m have: o Extensivve views from m high ground;;

116

JOHN CLEGG G: LANDSCAPE E, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-A ART IN KU-RIN NG-GAI CHASE E

Figuree 9.13. Elvinaa Track Site (w white hand sym mbol) from To ourist map off Ku-ring-gai C Chase Nationa al Park (Department of landss, NSW). Road, windss close to thhe main ridgee-top. Trackss and creeks go doown to the sea on either sidee. The promonntory has very manny Aboriginall rock-art sitess; some in vallleys, mostly on topps of hills andd ridges. The country rock is Triaassic Hawkesbbury sandstonne. It m (136 miles northn outcrops on a land area 2220km x 85km i an south by 522 miles eastt-west). Geollogically it is uplifted and eroded deltaa the size off the Brahmapputra c and sandbanks. Some S delta, with innterweaving channels of the channeels may appeaar as geologiccal palaeochannnels, differing sligghtly from other o areas inn colour, texxture, structure or minerals. m The sandstonne is current-bedded, and made of sandd and an assortmennt of other miinerals some of which bindd the sand grains into sandstonne. Some minerals m (incluuding m silica and, paarticularly, feerruginous minnerals) are mobile within the roock body. Iroonstone pebblees are commoon in some places and there aree bands of iroonstone withinn the rock and aloong the lines of cracks. Some have ennough iron content to be resistaant to erosionn and accordingly, protrude above the surrounnding surface..

Fiigure 9.14. Irron-rich bandss at the edge of o a joint on P Platform 1, Elvvina Track. past as a palaeocchannel, siltedd up with a clay c and sandd mixtture later subject to shrinkaage and cracking. m visitorss The tesselationss are impreessive to most unfaamiliar with thhem.

me other placces) the sandsstone At Elvina Trrack, (and som has cracks or lines of weakness aloong joints, which w c sometimes form straange configgurations called tessellations.. They sometiimes manifestt as almost regular hexagons 0.55 – 1m across, sometimes as a long rectangular forms trendiing north-norrth-east alongg the line off the palaeochanneel with somee continuous joint-cracks more m than 100m loong. These tesselations loook as though they may be alongg lines of weaakness connectted to the rockk’s

s jointss running alon ng the axis off Onee of the long straight the palaeochannel p l is broken. Booth parts havee: • •

117

Non-munndane engravvings on eith her side, andd close to the t ends Many deepressions perrhaps caused by fires (seee Barry annd Clegg) are along and on either side off it

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figgure 9.15. Aeerial view of thhe southern ennd of Platform m 1, Elvina Trrack Site show wing tessellatio ons, West Heaad road at the top right, andd two large snnames at uppeer right. Photoograph: Davidd Branagan, circa 1990.

•

Where thhe long joint runs close to o (~0.3m) andd parallel to another jooint for 3-4m m the parallell lines aree joined by engraved lines at regularr ~0.3m spaces, makking a join nted columnn conformaation.

Thiss line in its context is very reminiscent of thee engrraved dotted line at Devvil’s Rock that t is oftenn interrpreted as a ritual path ppast pictures used u in malee initiation rituals, as a discussed bbelow. der the effectss of sun, windd, rain, fauna and flora thee Und surfa face expands and contracts to variable depths. Thee sand dstone weatheers and erodes leaving patteerns accordingg to th he habits of living plantss and lichenss, acidity andd wateer-courses. Thhe resulting ssurface may be horizontall overrall but is lum mpy in detail.. Overall it is i a dissectedd plateeau shape at the t largest scaale, the local scale of Westt Head and the maccro scale of the site itself. The site consissts of sevenn main rocck platformss distiinguished by areas of veggetation. Platfform 1 is thee best known but there t are Abooriginal engrav vings also onn platfforms 0, 2, 3, 3 and 4 andd a stone arrrangement onn platfform 6. The stone arrangeement was no ot reported inn prev vious work. m of rockk The sandstone haas occasional prominent masses h high iron coontent. High R Rock between n Platforms 4 with and 5 at Elvina Track T is very imposing from the W andd m the stone arrrangements, whose w surfacee SW and seen from B of itss is 3 or 4 m lowerr than the mainn platforms. Because bbly shape, im mposing heigght seen from m the east andd knob diffeerence in coloour from the generally ho orizontal greyy sand dstone aroundd it, High Rock may qualify q as a sign nificant featuree. Its iron conntent is mark ked enough too

Figure 9.16. 9 Photograaph of northerrn part of longg straight joint, also appearring in figuress 11 and 15. Scale S 0.5m.

118

JOHN CLEGG G: LANDSCAPE E, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-A ART IN KU-RIN NG-GAI CHASE E

Figuure 9.17. The 7 platforms att The Elvina Track T site mapp by Michael B Barry. Elviina Track is on o a ridge-topp and has extensive views.. Both h the tessellateed pavement and High Rocck are strangee and unusual naturral features. m High Rock.. The site has an ovverall gentle sslope SW from E to SSW. Itss Platfform 1 is a loong rectangle running NNE high hest points aree at the northerrn end. The western w part off its northern n end iss an uneven ooval dome, som me half metree prou ud of its surrouundings. nerals outliness A seeries of red liines colouredd by iron min the southern s part of the dome. T The red lines are shown onn the map below. The T eastern pparts of the reed lines weree d by surveyedd traceed, the locatioon of the others is indicated dotteed trend-lines. h red lines aree often obscuured by microflora or otherr Such stain ns, and not all a easy to seee, but in mo ost conditionss som me parts are cllear. The com mbination of red lines andd ovall dome gives this part of thhe platform a natural shapee that is whale-like in both shapee and size. ny authors have comm mented upon n rock-art’ss Man integ gration of nattural shapes innto pictures (C Conkey 1980,, Faraadjev 1992, 1993, 1995, 19999, 2002; Ogawa, O 2005).. Faraadjev’s detaileed study of pettroglyphs in Karelia K (2002)) mak kes a convinncing case tthat some natural n formss sugg gested signifiicant objects and were recognised r ass depiictions of theem. They toook on religiou us (or other)) sign nificance. Oveer time, the ddepictions weere artificiallyy emb bellished, becooming petrogglyphs. The Elvina Trackk evid dence fits the scenario that the natural ov val dome andd

e Figure 9.188. High Rock at Elvina Track, from the east. a scratchhed contempoorary deflect a coompass. It attracts graffiti, whicch may be furtther evidence of significancce. 119

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figure 9.19. High Rock R at Elvina Track, from the t west.

P 1, Elvvina Track sitee (Drawn by M Michael Barryy, from data Figure 9.20. Uneven ovval dome at thee far NW of Platform surveyed by Michael Barrry, John Cleggg, Judith Ham mmond, Jenniffer O’Hallora,, and Mary Peearce. Contou urs at 100mm intervals abbove an arbitrrary datum).

120

JOHN CLEGG G: LANDSCAPE E, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-A ART IN KU-RIN NG-GAI CHASE E

Figure 9.21. 9 Uneven oval o dome witth natural redd lines at the far fa NW of Platf tform 1, Elvinaa Track site (D Drawn by Michael Baarry, from datta surveyed byy Michael Barrry, John Cleg gg, Judith Ham mmond, Jenniffer O’Hallora an and Mary Pearce. Conntours at 100m mm intervals above a an arbittrary datum).

Figure 9.22. Red lines beelow and behinnd the engravved whale at Elvina E Track site. The whalle’s tail and beelly fin are in the upper up part of the t photograph, red lines arre below and continue c to thhe left.

121

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 9.23. Uneven oval dome with natural red lines with Aboriginal whale engraving at the far NW of Platform 1, Elvina Track site (Drawn by Michael Barry, from data surveyed by Michael Barry, John Clegg, Judith Hammond, Jennifer O’Halloran and Mary Pearce. Contours at 100mm intervals above an arbitrary datum).

Figure 9.24. Uneven oval dome with natural red lines and Aboriginal whale engravings at the far NW of Platform 1, Elvina Track sit ( Drawn by Michael Barry, from data surveyed by Michael Barry, John Clegg, Judith Hammond, Jennifer O’Halloran and Mary Pearce. Contours at 100mm intervals above an arbitrary datum). red line were recognised as whale-like. An engraving of a whale, about half life-size was made in that place, occupying only a part of the dome. Some red lines conform particularly closely to the lower body of the whale.

beyond and partially occluded by the first. The second whale is on a flatter area of rock at the very edge of the oval dome. At Elvina Track site there are three instances of incorporating natural features into petroglyphs, presumably imbuing natural features with denotatory or depictive representativeness, which may have religious and/or ritual significance. Besides the whales/red lines

Perhaps as late as the nineteenth century (See Clegg forthcoming) a second whale was added in front of the whole whale, representing an accompanying whale 122

JOHN CLEGG G: LANDSCAPE E, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-A ART IN KU-RIN NG-GAI CHASE E

Figure 9.225. Michael Barry’s B photog graph of Elvinna possum. The pengguin is drawnn in a way thatt makes it easiily recognisabble to Europeaan vision. and oval doome there aree the two insttances of groooves made to join short joints to the long joiints shown onn figs. m 11 and 12. The long joiints are associated with many snames andd engravinggs, so theyy may harrbour significance.. Representattions that are in the rock before they get enhhanced by arttificial engravving seems too pin some figuress to particularr places, and may m be relevaant to discussion of o religious locative cossmologies (S Swain 1993:120-2)..

bird and fairy peenguin. All llook as thoug gh they weree a who woorked from liffe rather thann designed by an artist vention. Thhe brush-tailled possum is the onlyy conv depiiction of that species in thhe whole corrpus; it lookss lifeliike even thoough it confforms to thee practice off depiicting small annimals in plann.

o semiotics as a the This chapterr has focused on the idea of m froom physical things t to a site’s s transfer of messages community of users. I have tried too substantiatee my e guesses of thheir meanings. There are a few loose ends. One is the appearance of a single goanna or lizard l engraving att many sites in West Head. Exampless are found at thee two sites neear America’ss Bay Track (e.g. figs. 4 and 6)). When I wass first shown some s of these sites in the 1960ss, it was suggested that thhe goanna figgures represented a local guide that welcomeed visitors to each site. I do not n know whether this ideea has ever been supported; ass far as I knoow, it has not been studied. If a solitary goannna or lizard attends a individdual sites, then the three at Ellvina’s platfoorms 1, 2 and a 4 signify a punctuation or o separation between thesee platforms. When W working at the t site, we reegard the plattforms as sepparate entities, eveen though theeir separationn may be shhown mainly by epphemeral floraa or a drift of pebbles. p u (or at least A second loose end is thhe matter of unique unpublished)) figures at the Elvina Track site. The evidence for their uniquenness is that thhere is nothingg like them in the entire publishhed corpus off Sydney area rock E engravings. There are foour such figuures at the Elvina b p possum, leapping figure, flying f Track site: brush-tailed

Fiigure 9.26. Ellvina penguin Photograph: David Lee. The en-pointe feet fe shown oon the leapin ng figure aree i awkward, closely observed if 123

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS Thesse four figuures suggest a powerful but abstrusee message and theyy must have hhad a strong effect on thee mmunity that first f used them m, if only reccognition thatt com theirr designer waas a very goodd artist with (h his) own wayy of seeing. s Alterrnatively, deppicting thingss not beforee depiicted and depiicting things iin new manneers may signall chan nge. Such signnals could bee read both by y the originall com mmunity and by b those (us) w who study thee past. Somee migh ht say they siggnal survival aand adaptation n. Thee stone arranggement Therre is a stone arrangementt on Platform m 6 of Elvinaa Tracck site. It connsists of two conjoint ovalls. The stoness are fist to headd size, the oovals about 2m 2 diameter.. metres lower than t the otherr Platfforms 6 and 5 are a few m platfforms, and separated s froom them by High Rock,, scram mble-boulders, bushes, andd tens of metrees. Just how (if at all) the stone arrangementss’ meaning orr ot known. Thee use articulates wiith the rest of the site is no most relevant and useful ethnnographic acccount of malee initiation sites is R.H. Maatthews (1895) (and seee 0, chapters 2 – Massman, Kay andd Margaret Joohnstone 2000 5 for an account of the contexxt) which relattes to an areaa som me 500k from Elvina track. It refers to th he Macquariee Marrshes, where trrees, sand andd clay, rather than t rock, aree the materials avvailable. Theere are paralllels betweenn Mattthews’ accounnt and the Syydney sites of Elvina Trackk and Devil’s Rocck Maroota. Both have pictures andd posssible evidencee of associatted fireplacess along whatt coulld have been a ceremoniaal track, as well w as stonee arran ngements that could haave been in n some wayy equiivalent to the structures s Mattthews mentio ons:

Figurre 9.27. Elvinna leaping figuure tracing. David Lee’ss Photograph of the flyinng bird looks less awkward andd more in persspective.

One O hundred and twenty yyards beyond Baiame’s B firee was w the goom mbo, a cleareed area with four moundss decorated d withh various weaapons, which terminated t thee track. t The finnal ceremony in which fourr youths weree initiated i was held three w weeks after th he last of thee visiting v groupps arrived. Thhis time could d very to suitt the t people. Thhe punching oout of a front upper as partt of o the initiatiion had ceased in the reg gion and thee practise p of ciccatrisation (sccarring), thoug ght to be partt the t ritual, did not appear too take place (Masman ( andd Johnstone:38) J .

Figure 9.28.. Elvina flyingg bird (photoggraph David Lee). L

The idea that thhe stone arranngements som me 100-200m m m the engravinng sites at booth Devil’s Rock R Marootaa from and Elvina trackk could be a Sydney equiivalent of thee goom mbo seems feasible, bbut it is inadequatelyy subsstantiated. Therre remains onne problem or conflict. In th hese cases, thee ston ne arrangemennts seem to bbe placed beyo ond the otherr relig gious sites, which w is incconsistent witth Kelleher’ss finding (this volum me) of stone aarrangements on the way too sitess. In practise,, it would bee possible or even easy too procceed along a circuitous routte through the site, from thee ston ne arrangemennts at platforrm 5 with the dominatingg High h Rock, to the t southern end of Platfo form 1. Thee appaarently nearesst route past P Platforms 4, 3 and 2, bringss visittors to end with w the largge Daramulan n, rather thann

Figurre 9.29. Traciing of Elvina flying f bird.

124

JOHN CLEGG G: LANDSCAPE E, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-A ART IN KU-RIN NG-GAI CHASE E

Figure 9.300. Stone arranngement at plaatform 6, Elvina Track site (Drawing by Sam Higgs).

Figuure 9.31. Stonne arrangemennt with human n scale (Photoograph David Lee). e with the small Daram mulan starting at thhe southern end figure, as feeels more approopriate.

park k where Elvinna Track meeets West Head Road. Thiss apprroach is a few w hundred meetres on levell ground, andd brings visitors to three wallabyy engravings (not ( shown onn p) not quite coonnected to thhe main plattform, then too map the whales w and Daramulan D figgure. I alwayss take visitorss anticclockwise arround the ssite, beginnin ng with ann intro oduction to Syydney engravvings and how w to see them m at th he wallabies, then movingg on to the whales, w smalll man n, eel and soutth to the fish complex. Thiis way we seee the mundane partt of the site before movin ng east to thee supeernatural, begginning at thee small Daraamulan figuree

I have alwayys approachedd the site froom the south, as I drive from Sydney along West W Head Rooad. I used to walk t the south ennd of up the old traack from the road cutting to the site. Thiis involves a steep clamber and brings the visitor to thee site near thee clump of fissh, flying birdd and other engravvings. The present entrance is from the north, n via Elvina Track T itself (w which comes from the seaside settlement 2kkm or so aw way). There iss a conveniennt car 125

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS near the southern end of the long joint, which we follow to the large Daramulan and emu at the far end. At that stage we decide to return to the car, or visit the other platforms and High Rock with a view of the stone arrangements.

of the Daramulan type in composite human and animal guises, and I would regard the whole peninsula as one ceremonial complex or track (1983:161-2). While I disagree with his interpretations of some figures and think that he has missed the important evidence of the association between the long straight joint lines, snames and what seem special sets of engravings, yet in spite of semiotic and landscape theory, I do not know how to determine whether McCarthy’s view or mine is better. McCarthy’s insight that most of the many sites in the peninsula interconnect remains an important point that is still to be explored.

I have often wondered how the site was approached, particularly if part or all of it was forbidden to some people. A southerly approach would fit with two large snames that might mark the location of large signal fires to the south of the platform. Such large fires could have worked as a warning to inappropriate persons to avoid the site. A kilometre farther to the south and west is a small creek that flows west to the sea, and an engraving site that McCarthy reported but is now obscured by sand and vegetation. An approach from the north could come from Elvina or further along West Head. There are also large snames on Platform 2 that could mark locations of warning fires addressed to potential visitors from that direction.

References Barry, M. & Clegg, J. 2005. ‘Snames and Science’ in J. Huang and E. Culley (eds.) Making Marks: Graduate Studies in Rock-art Research at the New Millennium American Rock-art Research Association Occasional Paper No. 5, pp. 65-80. Clegg, J. 2002. Variability and Information in Rock-art. In Sean Ulm et al. (eds.) Barriers, Borders, Boundaries: proceedings of the 2001 Australian Archaeological Association Annual Conference TEMPUS, Vol. 7, pp. 101-8. Clegg, J. 2005. Aesthetics, Rock-art, and Changing States of Consciousness. In T. Heyd & J. Clegg (eds.) Aesthetics and Rock-art London, Ashgate, pp. 159-76. Clegg, J. (forthcoming). Support for a new sky hero from a conquered land, Chapter for Memorial Volume for Alexander Marshack, ed. Paul Bahn. Coles, J. 2005. Shadows of a Northern Past: Rock Carvings of Bohuslän and Østfold Oxbow Books, Oxford. Conkey, M. W 1980. Context, Structure, and Efficacy in Palaeolithic Art and Design. In M. LeCron Foster & S.H. Brandes (eds.), Symbol as Sense: New Approaches to the Analysis of Meaning, New York: Academic Press, pp. 225-47. Faradjev, A. 1992. Rock-art of the White Sea. In Rock-art of the Old World, M. Lorblanchet (ed.), Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, New Delhi, pp. 429-438. Faradjev, A.1993. Zalavruga's Petroglyphs and the Prehistoric Ego. Rock Art Research 10 (2):134-137. Faradjev, A.1995. Rock Art Research: A Genesis of Approach. In NEWS-95 International Rock-art Congress. Abstracts of Academic Symposia lA-New Approaches, Centro Studi e Museo D'Arte Preistorica, Pinerolo, Italy, pp. 37-38. Faradjev, A.1999. Metaphysical opportunities as a tool of rock-art research. In News95 - International Rock-art Congress, North, East, West, South, 1995 IRAC Proceedings. International Federation of Rock-art Organizations, Pinerolo, Italy, p. 46. Faradjev, A. 2002. Petroglyphs of Karelia. Ph.D. Thesis, Moscow State University Press, Moscow. Gregory’s 1984. Gregory’s National Parks of New South Wales Gregory’s Publishing Company, St Peter’s.

While writing this chapter I have become impressed by the way it is possible to integrate an understanding of the rock-art in a large site with its geological and landscape properties, incorporating Kelleher’s model of the distribution of religious sites in relation to landscape and each other and Faradjev’s model of the enhancement of natural marks to become petroglyphs. The exercise has enhanced my appreciation of the site and suggested that detailed study of many other rock-art sites could be equally complicated and rewarding. But I cannot at present think of a way to test the overall insights. The first publisher of the site, F.D. McCarthy, who recorded the site in 1941 with a team of six people in all, interpreted it thus: The presence of a large spiritual ancestor of the Darmulan type in the composite guise of hero and emu indicates that this is a ritual site of great importance, as the emu is the totem of Daramulan and he is associated here with the two of them, possibly also with the whales. The koala [my small Daramulan] … … also has a human-like foot. Historical rites re-enacting episodes from the mythology of the local clan, and possibly increase rites for emus and other animals, were probably performed at this site. Otherwise the other figures compromising 18 fish, 5 birds, 2 rock wallabies (or bandicoots), 3 goannas, 1 wallaby, and other animals demonstrate the interest of the artists and their people in sources of food. Shields dominate the weapons of which the only other one is a small boomerang, and only two men are represented in this large series. This group cannot be regarded as an entity in itself. There are many groups of engravings between McCarr’s and Topham Trig Stns along Lambert peninsula, which juts into Broken Bay and forms the W shore of Pittwater. In some of these groups, notably near Topham Trig. Hill, large and important figures of spiritual ancestors also occur, two of them 126

JOHN CLEGG: LANDSCAPE, SEMIOTICS AND ROCK-ART IN KU-RING-GAI CHASE Higgs, S. 2003. Emu-bums & 2nd generation knobs: a taxonomic look at some Sydney region rock engravings. BA (Hons) thesis, Prehistoric Archaeology University of Sydney. Hutchins, B. and R. Swainston 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Perth: Swainston Publishing. Kelleher, M. 2003. Archaeology of sacred space: the spatial nature of religious behaviour in the Blue Mountains National Park Australia. Two volumes. Unpublished PhD thesis. University of Sydney. Masman, K. and M. Johnstone, 2000. Reedbed country: The Story of the Macquarie Marshes Macquarie Marshes Catchment Management Committee. Matthews, R.H. 1895. ‘The Burbung of the Wiradhuri Tribe’ Journal of the Anthropological Institute, Great Britain. Vol. XXV, pp 295-318. McCarthy, F.D. 1983. Catalogue of Rock Engravings in the Sydney-Hawkesbury District N.S.W. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney. McMah, L. 1965. A Quantitative Analysis of the Aboriginal Rock Carvings in the District of Sydney and the Hawkesbury River. BA (Hons) thesis, Department of Anthropology, the University of Sydney: 27. Morwood, M.J. 2002. Visions from the Past: the Archaeology of Australian Aboriginal Art. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest. Ogawa, M. 2005. Integration in Franco-Cantabrian Parietal Art; A Case Study of Font-de-Gaume Cave, France. In T. Heyd & J. Clegg (eds.) Aesthetics and Rock-art London, Ashgate, pp.117-129. Swain, T. 1993. A Place for Strangers: Towards and history of Australian Aboriginal being. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

127

Chapter 10

Accenting the Landscape: Interpreting the Oley Hills Site Norman E. Muller Introduction The Oley Hills in Berks County of eastern Pennsylvania is a beautiful area of rolling hills and valleys, punctuated by a network of streams and rivers. In 1732, this area was deeded to the heirs of William Penn by the American Indians and shortly afterwards German settlers moved in, first to the fertile river valleys and later to the poorer terrain in the hills. It was the hill area that first attracted me when, in 1997, Fred Werkheiser, a shoe salesman and amateur archaeologist from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, showed me a privately owned site in the Oley Hills that he had visited numerous times. We visited the site on a cold November day, after a late evening ice storm had covered everything with about half a centimeter of ice, turning the late fall landscape into a winter wonderland. The drystone features he showed me so captivated my attention that, from that point on, I was determined to find out who built them and when. I was well acquainted with colonial walls and other stone features from this period but what I had been shown that morning was very different and visually impressive: unusual looking curved walls, two huge flat-topped cairns, a massive boulder, a large terrace, a large inclined cairn and a platform. A previous owner of the property claimed the features were Celtic but Fred himself believed them to be American Indian, constructed before the area was settled in the early- to mid-18th century. At the same time, I was well aware that any dry wall masonry of unknown origin, such as walls or larger features found in the woods of the Northeast, was generally ascribed to colonists by archaeologists. Any consideration that American Indians built impressive works of stone has usually been dismissed out of hand and this attitude continues to the present day.

Figure 10.1. Map of the Central Ridge Site, Oley Hills, Pennsylvania. Over the next two years, I closely followed Werfel’s advice, using the site in the Oley Hills as a test case. Deeds were carefully studied and copied in the county court house and in the State Archives in Harrisburg and from them I was able to piece together a fairly accurate history of the land. I also realized that I needed to understand basic facts about the site besides its history, such as its geology, soil, vegetation and setting and these subjects became an integral part of my research. Furthermore, it was important to discuss the issue of whether the cairns at the site were nothing but field clearing piles, as so many archaeologists in the region have claimed.

Recognizing the difficulties I would have investigating this site, I sought outside advice. Dr. Stephen Werfel of the Pennsylvania State Museum in Harrisburg was instrumental in guiding me in the right direction at the beginning of my research. He suggested that I approach the investigation by playing devil’s advocate and attempt to prove that the features were colonial. This, he said, could be done two ways: First, by tracing the deeds for the property back to the original owner to see if any of the property lines coincided with present stone walls or other features. And second, by searching the historical record to determine if there was any prior mention of the features, and who might have constructed them. If, at the end of the search, nothing turned up suggesting that the features were colonial, then other hypotheses could be entertained in its place (Werfel 1998).

Before I did anything, however, I felt the first step was to have an accurate map made of the site. I had made little sketches of my own attempting to show the general layout of the site and the relationship of the various features to one another and to the landscape, but they lacked precision. At that point, I enlisted the help of John Waltz, a good friend, surveyor and engineer by training. Over a winter weekend, we traversed and surveyed the site, marking every manmade feature, from small rock stacks on existing boulders to larger cairns to the massive terrace. These are all accurately indicated on the map (Fig. 10.1). The small and larger loosely piled-up cairns are shown as small crosses. Archaeologists usually ascribe cairns to field clearance but building cairns on existing boulders in what is still rocky ground is not field 129

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS clearance as it is currently understood. Farmers wanted to get rid of unwanted stone as quickly as possible and get on with the work at hand and stones that had been forced to the surface through frost action in the spring were carted to the edges of fields and simply dumped in large irregular piles (Fohl 2004, Muller 2003a). The huge cairns and other features at the site are quite distinct from the smaller cairns, in that they are exceptionally well constructed and even artistic in nature, demonstrating a vision and design that sets them apart from what we think of as the normal, day-to-day agricultural activities of the colonial farmer.

gradual at 15-20 degrees. From the Central Ridge summit extending to the south, the terrain is rolling, consisting of a few dips, outcrops and rises before terminating at a farm. While boulders of various shapes and sizes are found scattered all over the ridge, they are much more numerous on the east slope of the ridge than on the west. Except for these, the remainder of the area immediately to the west is mostly devoid of them. This characteristic changes, however, as the ridge is followed to the south. The bedrock in this region is granitic gneiss, a gray to buff colored metamorphic rock containing tiny crystals of hornblende, biotite and quartz. This rock has a planar fracture and helps to explain the roughly flat-surfaced rocks that are characteristic of the area. There are only a few clearly exposed areas of bedrock, one being the rounded ledge where the South Row makes a sharp turn to the west (see Fig. 10.1) and the only other type of rock present is diabase, which is found in a short dike on the ridge crest. The weathered blocks of stone scattered about are either composed of diabase or bedrock (Buckwalter 1957).

History Thomas Penn acquired the land on which the Oley Hills site is located by treaty with the Indians in September 1732 (Munger 1991). This treaty included land lying between the Lehigh hills and the Kittatinny Mountains along the Schuykill River watershed. Immediately after the treaty was signed, German immigrants began arriving on the newly available land, settling first in the fertile river valleys. Those who arrived in the 1740s moved further inland to the Oley Hills area, a scenic but difficult farming area among the hills to the south. Two German immigrants settled on the land under discussion. The first was Nicholas Mertz, who arrived in the United States from southern Germany in the mid-1730s and probably moved to the Oley Hills in the 1740s; and the second was Christian Abendschön, who bought his 67-acre property in October 1751. Abendschön’s land included the Central Ridge site that is the focus of this study and adjacent land to the north and south.

The soil throughout the Oley Hills site consists of the Chester series, which usually develops from weathered granitic gneiss to form a deep, silty loam soil consisting of coarse fragments of weathered gneiss interspersed with gritty to sandy material. Usually, the Chester series soils can be up to 2m thick, but at the Oley Hills site, with outcrops of bedrock visible in places, the soil is very shallow. At the very summit, the topsoil is only 0.10 0.15m deep before one encounters the stony soil characteristic of the periglacial period. The stony character of the soil in the higher Oley Hills made for very poor farming and this is probably the reason why farmers such as Nicholas Mertz, whose land abutted that of Christian Abendschön, and who was probably more prosperous than most, rented land in the valleys below to grow his crops.

From my research, I knew that Christian Abendschön, the first owner of the property, held onto his land until about 1762, when he abruptly left Pennsylvania and moved to North Carolina, literally abandoning his land and leaving behind a legal mess that would only be resolved in 1875, when six landowners of his former property petitioned the state for a resolution to their claims of ownership, to which the state acceded. I was able to establish that there were nine owners of the property before the present one and after examining their deeds, and plotting all the various metes and bounds on a master map, I was able to establish that only one stone wall, aligned east-west on land separating the properties of Abendschön and Mertz, was colonial in date. There was no mention in the deeds of existing stone features, such as cairns, but this is not uncommon in searching through old deeds.

The ridge is covered with second-growth deciduous hardwood, consisting primarily of oak. Most of the trees are small and seem to be no more than 30 or 40 years old. Stumps of very large and much older trees can be seen here and there on the ridge, indicating that tree harvesting has been an on-going activity for many decades and perhaps over the past 200 years. Even now, older trees are colour banded for cutting. In addition to the trees, the ridge has pockets of heavy undergrowth, consisting of vines, green brier and blackberry bushes. Dense tangles of this growth obscure much of the stonework and make travel and investigation difficult and tedious.

Setting Scope of Research The wooded ridge on which the features are found is oriented north-south and is drained by two small brooks in the valleys to either side; the one on the east side flows intermittently. This long ridge is approximately 305m above sea level but only 33m or so above the two valleys. The summit is broad and generally flat but to the east the slope is a steep 25 degrees whereas the west one is more

All of the features on the site, and what few small artefacts that were discovered on the ground, were photographed and catalogued. Throughout the year, and for about five years running, I visited the site innumerable times, from various directions, in all seasons and in all kinds of weather. Each of these visits lasted 130

NORMAN N E. MULLER: ACCENTING THE T LANDSCA APE: INTERPRE ETING THE OLE EY HILLS SITE E most of the day, d and somee were made in the companny of friends and outside o expertts as Dr. William Sevon of o the Pennsylvaniaa Geologicall Survey, and a Dr. Micchael Stewart, proffessor of anthhropology at Temple T Univeersity in Philadelphhia. In recentt years, the innterpretation of o the features at thhe Oley Hills site and theeir relation too the landscape haas been aidedd by the landsscape archaeoology and phenomeenology of Riichard Bradleey and Christoopher Tilley, both of whom write w from thhe perspectivve of 2 English and European arcchaeology (Brradley 1998, 2000; Tilley 1994, 1996, 2004). Much of the thrusst of landscape archaeology has occurred in Great Britainn and wealth; only fairly f in countries of the Britissh Commonw a s taken an intterest recently havee American anthropologist in the subjject, primarilly as it relates to rockk art (Steinbring 1990). 1

hly weathered outcrop of roock that, over time, becamee high detaached from thee bedrock by ddifferential weeathering. w when tthe trees are free f of leaves,, Duriing fall and winter, the Boulder B can be b seen from the valley im mmediately too the east, e looming ominously abbove the ridge to the west,, a daark form that is i curiously uuninviting and d tantalizinglyy begu uiling at the same s time (F Fig. 10.2). Th he closer onee apprroaches, the leess imposing it appears, allthough at 3m m tall and 5m longg, it is hardly tiny. As is clear from a dy of the mapp in Figure 100.1, arranged around it aree stud two large featurees: the curveed Row-Platfform and thee Terrrace. We willl discuss all thhree features as one group,, since I believee the two manmade feeatures weree consstructed becauuse of the pressence of the Boulder.

At the end of my researchh period, I hadd exhausted alll the possibilities of a coloniial explanatioon for the stone s w the feaatures features andd still had no idea what represented, who construccted them or why. Initiallly, I b many archhaeologists in their followed thee model used by published fieeld reports by giving backgground inform mation such as the vegetation, v geoology, historyy and then movve on to a descripttion of the feeatures themseelves. But I soon realized that this did not help h to explaiin the featuress and their relationnship to each other and to the land andd so I refashioned the argumentt and attempted to undersstand v signnificant aboutt the site. For what was visually example, waas there an outtstanding featuure that seem med to dominate thhe site to which other manmade m feaatures seemed to bee related? Byy erasing all thhe cairns and other manmade strructures from m my mind’s eye, leaving only the natural landscape l as it might havee appeared before anyone arrived at the ridge, it quickly dawned d on mee that s whichh I simply labbeled the large bouulder on the summit, as the ‘Bouldder’ on the maap, dominatedd the landscapee and was the hearrt of the site, the focus of at least two large features, thee Row-Platforrm and the Terrace. T We will examine this group of threee features firsst, followed by b the two flat-toppped cairns, Pllatform B andd finally the large Inclined Cairrn.

Figu ure 10.2. Bouulder and Row w-Platform fro om southwest. The Boulder has nearly verticcal sides which taper to a nclines at a 300 ratheer flat top (Fig. 10.3). Thee north end in degrree angle, makking it appearr like a truncated trapezoid.. Thou usands of yeaars of weatheering along beedding planess of th he gneiss havve caused som me exfoliation of the stone.. From m the east, thee oval form apppears truncatted, due to thee fact that several large blocks oof stone from the south endd oliated from frost fr action annd are now arrranged on thee exfo grou und in a roughh semicircle arround it. Beneath the northh end,, two small staacks of stoness are wedged in place (Fig.. 10.4 4). When Bill Sevon first saw them in 1998, hee remaarked that thee Boulder mayy once have been b balancedd in su uch a way thaat it could be rocked simplly by pushingg agaiinst one endd. The smaall stacks of stones, hee conccluded, were wedged undeerneath to keeep this from m happ pening. As water w entered cracks in thee stone on thee soutth end and froze, fr it wedgged loose larrge pieces off ston ne, tipping thee weight to onne end and bringing b to ann abru upt end its rocking r charracteristics. It is highlyy posssible that it waas this unique feature of thee Boulder thatt led builders to construct the Row-Platfo orm and thee Terrrace in the firsst place.

The Boulderr Complex b of itss size One is naturaally drawn to the Boulder because and shape, dwarfing d everrything aroundd it. When I first began to studdy the site, I assumed a that the Boulder was w a glacial erratiic, simply beccause it lookeed like ones I was familiar withh in New Englland, and the way w it appearred to perch precariiously on the summit ridgee just above a rock fall. But firsst appearancess can sometim mes be misleaading. The Wisconssin ice sheet, which was thhe last of the great glaciers to sppread from thhe arctic abouut 25-30,000 years y ago, ended its southern movement abbout 30km too the north. Everyything immeddiately to the south of thiss line was in a zone subject to periglacial actiivity, which means m that this areaa was at the southern marggin of the ice sheet 10-11,000 years y ago, when w freezinng, thawing and permafrost coonditions prevvailed. The booulder in quesstion, which may loook like an errratic, is in facct a tor, whichh is a

Onee intriguing feeature is the sshort stone row connectingg the Row-Platform R m to the Bouldder at its brok ken edge (Fig.. 10.1). It seems likke an afterthoought. The pieeces of gneisss mprising it are much more angular, the edges e sharperr com and fresher lookking, and thee lichen coveer a bit lesss a the cobblees from the South S Row orr extensive, than are 131

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figgure 10.3. Booulder as view wed from the east.

Figure 10.44. Stone stackks underneath north end of the t Boulder. onial farmers had no ritualiistic attachmen nt to boulderss Colo and preferred to get g them out oof the way ass soon as theyy A Indiaans, they ofteen singled outt coulld. But for American largee glacial errattics for ritualiistic veneratio on. There aree num merous exampples recorded of them butt one area inn partiicular comes to mind. A At Côteau des Prairies, inn soutthwest Minnessota, is a fam mous pipestonee quarry usedd by American A Indiians as a sourcce for the soft reddish stonee for peace p pipes. And just beelow an escaarpment, on a level area where the Indians mined pipesttone, are fivee hugee erratic bouldders of gneiss all in a row, several of thee largeest being calleed the “Three Maidens.” These boulderss

t construucted elsewhere. It also seemss to be less tightly than the Souuth Row. Thhese points arrgue that the short row is more recent than thhe Row-Platfoorm. One ideaa that m mind was that t this connecting featuree was came into my meant to em mphasize the broken b edge of o the Boulderr and the fact that its rocking chharacteristics had ended. I had observed inn other loccations that split boullders, presumably having been broken aparrt by frost acction, s reconnected by constructiing a were often symbolically short stone roow between thhem or else fiilling the split with small rocks (Muller 20000). This shorrt row could be a t variation of this. 132

NORMAN N E. MULLER: ACCENTING THE T LANDSCA APE: INTERPRE ETING THE OLE EY HILLS SITE E

Figure 10.55. Terrace fro om the east. and ending in a wide w platform in front of it (Figure ( 10.2).. Faullkner (1999) has h raised thee possibility that t the Row-Platfform represennts a serpent.

are isolated and a impressive, having whaat have been called c “phenomenal attributes” (Steinbring 1992). W When George Catliin visited thiss site in the 18830s, he described in consideraable detail thhe rituals thhat Sioux Inddians conducted inn front of thee boulders annd the petrogllyphs that had beeen carved beneath b the “Three Maiddens” (Catlin 18422: 164, 202-2203). Similarrly, the Dakoota in Minnesota worshipped w a god who resided r in stoones, whom they named Taku--Shkan-Shkann or “the onee that m, certain unuusual moves” (Ponnd 1986: 87,889). To them looking errattics possessedd locomotion and were moved m by an invisibble force. Thiis was long beefore anyone knew k about geologgical forces annd glaciers trannsporting bouulders hundreds off miles and then depositinng them. Beender (2003) has also pointed out that thee Indians attaached t unusual loooking sacred propeerties or powerrful Manitou to boulders or thhose that weree isolated.

Thee Terrace m Platform B, there is a nnatural route to the Terracee From and Boulder southh along the baase of an outcrrop below thee A its base, the Terracee presents a At Soutth Row. form midable fortreess-like unduulating wall of rock thatt com mpletely obscuures the Bouldder from view w (Fig. 10.5).. Meaasuring 12.5m m long, 2.1m m high and more m than 3m m thick k at the base, it is the largesst construction n on the ridgee and forms an arttificial extension of the flaat summit onn whicch the Bouldeer rests, projeccting beyond the lip of thee ridge. The centrral portion off the Terrace has partiallyy collaapsed, resultinng in a cascaade of boulders forming att the bottom b and exxposing a 0.3m m thick fill off small stoness at th he top. In spite of thiss, one can sttill sense thee undu ulating, curvvilinear façadde, which can c be bestt apprreciated by waalking counterrclockwise aro ound its base.. From m its projectinng northeast corner, and standing s on a surfa face composedd of small pavvement-like sttones, one hass a magnificent, if limited, view w of the land d and featuress belo ow, such as the Inclined Cairn to th he north andd Platfform B below w. To the noortheast, one glimpses thee Lehiigh Valley thhrough the treees. There arre no obviouss solsttice or equinoox alignmentss from this loccation but thee fact that the Terrrace faces eaast towards th he rising sunn gests that it was w constructeed to take adv vantage of itss sugg expo osed east-faciing location aand to form a visual andd perh haps functionaal connection with the Boulder behind.. The top of the Boulder B is the highest spot on the ridgee un’s rays firstt and one might sppeculate that when the su strucck the top off the Boulder, perhaps att the summerr solsttice, it signaaled an evennt that could d have beenn

Row-Platforrm The Row-Plaatform beginss at the top off the ledge outtcrop where the extension of the t South Roow makes a sharp s S Row haas a wedge-shhaped angle to the west. The South profile, withh a near vertiical face abouut 1m high and a a tapered backkfill whereas the Row-Plattform is geneerally rounded. Where W the twoo rows mergee, the Terracee lies about 18.2m m away and itt is symboliccally joined too the Row-Platform m by two sm maller parallel rows leading to it (Figure 10.11). The Roow-Platform seems s to forrm a dividing linee between the rough and roocky terrain too the east and souuth and the smoother groound to the west. w Once past the t corner, and a Row-Plaatform complletely changes shappe, evolving innto a structuree with near verrtical sides and a flat top. Ass it nears the Boulder, thee row becomes sofftly undulatingg on its westt side as it snnakes around the roocky area beloow the Bouldeer before wideening 133

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS transmitted audibly to those below by rockingg the Boulder.

m Veracruz, Mexico, M it wass senssitivity, similaar to clays from stateed in the reporrt that “if the ssignal is taken n to be all TL,, then n the TL age would be 1130 ± 260 yeaars” (Bortolott 2002 2). Because thhe signal wass so low, how wever, and soo littlee work has beeen done on ssamples of th his nature, thee date may be suggeestive of greatt age and noth hing else.

In the winterr of 1998, Johhn Waltz wass investigatingg the base of the Terrace and found half a dozen piecees of fused, cindeer-like materiial. Anotherr piece was then discovered in i a small vooid beneath the t paving stoones, implying it had h been placced there inteentionally andd had not fallen intto the crevice accidentally. More than half h a dozen such pieces werre collected on two sepparate m of them at the base of the Terrace, and occasions, most presumably having fallenn there whenn a portion of the w sent to Robert Terrace collaapsed. One laarge sample was Gordon, a specialist in industriaal ecology and archaeometalllurgy at Yalle University,, in January 1998 for study (Fiig. 10.6). Affter examiningg the cinder piece, p he wrote: “Itt is almost cerrtainly debris from a hearthh that held a ratherr hot wood fiire. The piecce contains biits of shale and lim mestone that were w probablyy used to consstruct the hearth. Clay C lining off the hearth haas reacted witth the stone to forrm a lightweeight, porous slag. I see no evidence thaat this was from f a metaallurgical proccess” (Gordon, peersonal comm munication, 9 February 19998). Interestingly, the Adenaa and the Hopewell peeople man remains in large, clayy-lined basinss dug cremated hum into the grouund (Dragoo 1963), and peerhaps the cinnders should be more m closely examined e witth this thought in mind. Also, Adena buriaals have beenn found alongg the Atlantic coaast in Delaware and Marryland, far too the southeast of the t Oley Hillss site (Ritchie & Dragoo 19959).

ols and pointss Besiides the sampples mentioneed above, too mad de of jasper annd extensive jasper debitage have beenn foun nd in fields to the north of tthe site, in add dition to toolss mad de from quaartzite, quartzz and chert. The jasperr presumably camee from one off the local dep posits of whatt is caalled the Readding Prong, aan elongated area a of jasperr extending diagonally 96km thrrough the sou uthern parts off Lebaanon, Berks, Lehigh and Northampton n counties inn Penn nsylvania. Soome pieces havve been heat treated, t whichh has turned t the muustard-coloured jasper to a deep d red. Flatt-Topped Caiirns me 20m south of the Bouldder is a strang ge, 0.7m high,, Som and carefully coonstructed stoone row thaat appears too ng curve andd emerge from thee ground, maake a loopin ge into a large, flat-toppedd cairn 2.1m high h and 2.4m m merg long g (Fig. 10.7). As viewed from the sid de, this cairn,, whicch is labelled Flat Topped Cairn A, is built b against a largee slab of gneiiss tipped at aan acute anglle (Fig. 10.8),, whicch imparts considerable c eenergy to the cairn. Att anotther angle, thhe slab exteends out from m the cairn,, look king like a groowth that the ccairn somehow w was able too dom minate. Oval in i shape, the cairn is tightlly constructedd of co obbles of gneiiss averaging .15-.20m in diameter. d Thee sides taper in att about a 700 degree ang gle, impartingg ngth and stabiility. At the south end of the cairn, thee stren row emerges and continues south to a junction j withh anotther row, makkes a sharp rright-hand turrn (west) andd even ntually ends on o the down sslope of the Central C Ridgee site. B is thee Furtther to the wesst, but only 177m from the Boulder enorrmous Flat-Toopped Cairn B (Fig. 10.9),, an awesomee struccture indepenndent of any sstone row and d constructedd on a large bouldder. The cairrn measures 2.1m 2 high byy 5.8m m long and 1.88m wide, and,, like the prev vious cairn, itss sides taper in at 70 degrees. While Cairn A appears too havee a rather unccomfortable reelationship wiith the slab off gneiiss it is built against, Cairnn B grows naaturally out off the boulder b it is onn, in an organnic manner. Therre are cone-sshaped cairns in the valleey below, butt flat-topped cairnss on the ridge crest; early on o I wonderedd ficance to thiss. Might thee wheether there waas any signifi flat- topped cairnns have been ssymbolic recreeations of thee ulder, since thhe latter had a flat top an nd somewhatt Bou tapered sides, esspecially if itt is viewed from variouss anglles? Tilley (1996) has poinnted out that some s dolmenss and cairns on Boddmin Moor inn Cornwall aree within sightt mposing tors and a thus they may have beeen constructedd of im to mimic m them. Each of the flat-topped cairns c on thee ridge crest is withhin sight of thhe Boulder an nd the profilee C B, including the boullder it is consstructed on, iss of Cairn very y much like thhe Boulder (coompare Figs 10.3 & 10.9)..

Figurre 10.6. Cindder sample from m Terrace. m was later The frothy, ochre-coloreed binding material tested by X-ray diffraaction analyssis at Princceton University. The analysis determinedd that the binnding material had the elementall components of clay but ovverall it was a sodium hyydrogen phosphate hyddrate. r to have the Meanwhile, in 2002, fundds had been raised L), a cinder bindeer tested forr thermoluminnescence (TL technique thaat is often useed to date anccient pottery. The sample was sent s to Bortollot Daybreak in Connecticuut for analysis. Although A the sample hadd a very low w TL 134

NORMAN N E. MULLER: ACCENTING THE T LANDSCA APE: INTERPRE ETING THE OLE EY HILLS SITE E

Figgure 10.7. Fllat-topped Caiirn A from norrth.

Fiigure 10.8. Flat-topped F Ca airn A from eaast. by small s crosses in Figure 10.1. The centrral focal pointt in th his area was thhe platform ittself, a flat-top pped, roughlyy rectaangular structuure that stradddles the crest of the saddle.. It was w built of coobbles of gneiiss, approxim mately .15m inn diam meter, resting on a base off large projeccting boulderss that resemble the buttresses of gothic cathed drals. Overall,, 3m wide andd the structure meaasures 6.7m long and 3.3 f 1m on thhe west to 2m m on the east,, variees in height from this discrepancy being b due to its location on n the edge off s slope. At A the northwest end of thee platform is a the steep curio ous curved teerrace wall thaat extends ou ut 2m to meett som me large bouldders. The othher end has a split façade,, with h a steep incclined ramp ggiving accesss to the top.. Smaall stones .10m m or less in ddiameter and somewhat s flatt – what w I refer too as ‘paving’ stones – cov ver the upperr

It is also posssible that the shape of the cairns has notthing to do with thhe Boulder annd is simply ann artistic variiation of the platfoorm cairns thhat will be discussed shorttly, a type of struccture that is foound not onlyy at the Oley Hills site but throuughout the Noortheast. A Platform B Area At the end off a graded patth leading up a steep slope from a farm below w is an unusuual feature callled Platform B, a roughly rectaangular structture resting onn a flat plateaau or saddle just too the north off the ridge sum mmit (Fig. 100.10). Forming a roough band exttending from the t cart path to t the north to just below Platforrm B are num merous small cairns c placed on exxisting bouldeers; these cairnns are represeented 135

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Fiigure 10.9. Flat-topped F Ca airn B from eaast.

Figure 10.10. Platform B from north.

F Figure 10.11. Inclined Caiirn from southh.

136

NORMAN E. MULLER: ACCENTING THE LANDSCAPE: INTERPRETING THE OLEY HILLS SITE surface. From the top, and facing east, one can stand and look out over the features below and at the Boulder over one’s right shoulder, looming against the skyline to the southwest. In addition to the cobbles of gneiss comprising the structure, there are also several substantial pieces of quartz mixed in with them; two are located on the east-facing side, while the other is found on the northwest corner.

piezoelectric light that was released when quartz was broken or else when two pieces of the mineral were rubbed together (Whitley 1999). Supposedly, the power it possessed entered the person holding it, such as a shaman. The quartz found on the Central Ridge site is generally, but not exclusively, on the side of features facing east. This is the case with the large Inclined Cairn, for example, and the North Row in the vicinity of Platform B. Its presence in these and other features (but not for example the two large flat-topped cairns to be discussed), suggests that those which have quartz and those that do not were perhaps constructed at different times.

West Stone Row and Inclined Cairn As with the curved stone row that leads into Flat Topped Cairn A, the West Stone Row, just to the west from Platform B, also emerges from the ground and heads directly west to engage what I call the Inclined Cairn. From the side, it looks like the angled prow of a tugboat (Fig. 10.11) with a 2.1m high east-facing front that in 4.6m tapers to 1m. As with all the other large cairns, this is constructed on a 1m high boulder. Four large quartz cobbles are incorporated in the east-facing side; none is found elsewhere and the top is covered with a paving surface of small pieces of gneiss. Along the north facing side of the cairn is a surface projection that creates a steep, inclined ramp, although it is in serious disrepair. It is similar in a way to the one found on Platform B, which would have permitted easy access to the top. A few small pieces of heavily weathered dolomite with a thick rind were found on top of the Inclined Cairn in 1998. Dolomite is found in the valley below and not on the ridge; it must therefore have been gathered deliberately and placed on top of the cairn for reasons unknown.

A Broader Perspective After completing my initial study of the Central Ridge site, one central question remained unanswered and that was whether two of the most distinctive features on the ridge, the flat-topped and platform cairns, were unique to the area or could be found further afield. Cone-shaped cairns, either tossed together in a pile or carefully stacked, brick-like, are ubiquitous in the Northeast, and they did not appear to offer a good distinctive example to study. The flat-topped cairns and Platform B appeared unusual and distinctive and for the next five years, from about 2000 to the present, I traveled widely in New England to see what similar examples I could find. A clue that the flat-topped cairns were perhaps more widespread was found right on a section of the Central Ridge site itself, about 400m to the south, on property that was once owned by Nicholas Mertz. On the west slope of the ridge, four large cairns were discovered, all constructed against or on existing boulders. Not as large as the ones on the Central Ridge, being at most 1.5m high and 2.5m long, they were nevertheless built with care and exhibited, on a smaller scale, the type of cairn found at the Central Ridge site.

The milky quartz cobbles found in the Inclined Cairn, the West Stone Row and Platform B all seem to have the same general characteristics, in that they have thin veins of iron running through them, two flat parallel faces and are roughly .10m thick, even though the outside dimensions can vary widely; one piece in a row between the Terrace and the beginning of the Row-Platform measured .46m across! Most, however, are .15-.20m in diameter. A comparison of all the pieces suggests that they came from the same location, which must have been a large exposed vein of quartz. Quartz by itself is such a common mineral that to find it anywhere in most places in the Northeast should come as no surprise. But when Bill Sevon visited the site in late summer 1998 and saw the quartz, he remarked that it could not have come from the ridge, since the bedrock there was gneiss. He suggested that the quartz must have come from the valley below, more than 2km away, from a formation in which veins of quartz might be expected (personal communication). This was a very significant observation because it meant, obviously, that quartz was deliberately incorporated in the features and not placed there arbitrarily and is therefore a cultural attribute. Farmers wishing to clear their fields of stone would hardly have trekked to the valley below, 1.6km or more away, to select quartz to bring back to the cairn construction site. Quartz, however, had a symbolic and ritualistic importance to American Indians because of its light translucent colour and peculiar attributes, such as the

More than 320km to the northeast, in the small town of Killingworth, Connecticut, 40km east of New Haven, is a cluster of features which confirmed that the ones at the Oley Hills site are not unique. There, on private land bounded by colonial walls, are three impressive flattopped cairns, two about l.5m high and contiguous with one of the walls and another, larger cairn, 2m high, constructed on a smooth outcrop of bedrock (Fig. 10.12). Within this same area are some smaller flat-topped cairns and an impressive turtle effigy. When I first saw the site in 2001, the property was slated for development and the developer contracted an archaeologist to survey the stone features, which he concluded were colonial in date. In an attempt to preserve the features from destruction, a local preservation group had Curtiss Hoffman, an archaeology professor at a small college in Massachusetts, do a statistical analysis of the various stone features on the site to determine whether there was any validity to the claims of the contract archaeologist. Addressing each of the five main points the contract archaeologist raised in attempting to prove his case, Hoffman framed his argument as five distinct hypotheses, which he answered 137

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figure 100.12. Platform m cairn at Killingworth, Coonnecticut.

F Figure 10.13. Platform cairrn at Smith farm site, Rocheester, Vermonnt. with a statistical analysis of probabilitty. By examining the piles inn this scienttific and syystematic maanner, Hoffman conncluded that the t site “as a whole shoulld be considered as a a ritual or sacred area” and not part of a farmer’s whimsy (Hoffman 2004: 24). Because of o the me of the feattures, large size off the stones coomprising som Hoffman conncluded that thhey may havee been construucted when draft animals a were available, a durring a period when w the Indians still s practiced ritual at sitess that had reccently been purchased by Englissh settlers. It is unclear att this time whetheer the cairns in question will be saveed or destroyed.

often n dictated by the bedrock oor boulder on n which manyy of th hem are consttructed. Somee are found on n steep slopess so th hat the downnslope side is often signifiicantly higherr than n the upslope side s and one sside is often no n higher thann 1m. Others have extensions or ‘tails,’ an nd some havee Large quartz cobbles aree smalller satellite cairns. L som metimes a consspicuous part oof the constru uction. We doo not know the purrpose of thesee cairns but many m of them m bour to movee represent a consiiderable expennditure of lab ny tons of stonne (Muller 20003a: 8-9). man y are found from Pennsyylvania to New N England.. They Outsside Vermonnt, significantt sites are in i Brooklyn,, Con nnecticut andd Bear Broook State Paark in New w Ham mpshire. Withhin Vermont iitself, importaant locales aree in South S Newfanne and Stockbbridge, both of o which havee imprressive platfo form cairns with promin nently placedd quarrtz cobbles (M Muller 2003b).

Much more data has beeen obtained from a studdy of platform caiirns. As I see them, thhey all have well constructed outside o walls and the interiior is usually filled f with smalleer stones. The shape can be circcular, rectangular, crescent or of some inddeterminate shhape, 138

NORMAN E. MULLER: ACCENTING THE LANDSCAPE: INTERPRETING THE OLEY HILLS SITE By far, the largest concentration of this cairn type is found at an upland site of approximately 50 acres in Rochester, Vermont, located in the central part of this state. Here, on a steep, rocky and wooded east-facing slope drained by numerous springs are more than 150 cairns and other stone constructions of various sizes and shapes, including circular, oval, square, rectangular and crescent. Some constructions are nothing but carefully made small terraces placed against the side of a knoll, others are massive platform cairns (Fig. 13), some with extensions or ‘tails,’ and some with smaller versions of themselves built directly below. Quartz sometimes forms a conspicuous aspect of the construction (Muller 2003b: 9). This site is unique not only for the variety, size and number of cairns found on the property but also because we have detailed information on the activities that were conducted here from 1847 to 1888, when the 250-acre property was owned by a Chester Smith. By sheer good luck, I was able to locate the five ledgers or daybooks of Chester Smith no more than 16km from where I live. I carefully poured through each of the daybooks looking for any evidence that Smith or one of his helpers had constructed the cairns but there was none. Smith was too busy with the duties of a farmer to bother with piling stones neatly and so I could only conclude that the piles predated Smith and everyone else who owned the land before him.

When I first encountered the great number of platform cairns about four years ago, these forms reminded me of Mississippian geometric earthen mounds, which were built about 1000 years ago, or perhaps the Adena or Hopewell mounds of an even earlier period. At the great Centres, such as Cahokia in Illinois and Moundville in Alabama, flat-topped mounds predominate and it dawned on me that perhaps the stylistic influence for the flat topped stone mounds or cairns could be traced to the central part of the United States, such as Ohio and Illinois. Architectural influences from the Hopewell Indians have been found at a stone walled ‘fort’ in Lochmere, New Hampshire, that was described by Ephraim Squier in 1851 (Squier 1851: 144-149). Unfortunately, the stones for the walls of this structure proved to be too tempting for those who wanted to build a local dam and, by the mid-1840s, all traces of the ‘fort’ had been erased. Unbeknownst to most is a square earthen Mississippian mound in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, near the Housatonic River. It measures 61m at its base, is approximately 15m high, and has a flat top measuring 29m along each side (Hoskins 1972: 63). This is the only known Mississippian structure in New England but perhaps its form, on a much smaller scale, is reflected in the numerous stone platform cairns throughout the Northeast. It should be recalled that Victor Bortolot said that, if the thermoluminescence of the cinder fragment found at the Oley Hills site were considered all TL, then the date would be about 1000 AD. This neatly fits into the time frame of the Mississippian culture. Of course, this cannot be confirmed until or if some culturally diagnostic artefact, or dateable carbon, is found in one of the cairns.

Conclusion Beginning in 1997 with a group of mysterious stone features in Pennsylvania whose cultural affiliation was unknown, this study has expanded to include similar, well-constructed monumental stonework throughout the New England states and beyond. To me, these features are not the product of a talented but misguided colonial farmer, but most probably were constructed by American Indians. Why so many of them were built, for what purpose and when are questions that have not yet been answered but perhaps a clue to the latter can be found in the form most of these dry masonry features took, especially when looked at from a broad regional perspective.

Acknowledgments This study could not have been accomplished without the encouragement and support of many individuals and one important organization. Those whom I would like to personally thank are Fred Werkheiser, John Waltz, Ted Timreck, Lisa Gannon, Ros Strong and the New England Antiquities Research Association, Victor Bortolot, Herman Bender and, particularly, Ernie Clifford, who first introduced me to many magnificent sites in Rochester, Vermont, and elsewhere in that gorgeous state.

For one thing, all of them are flat on top, even though they may be round, oval, square, rectangular or some other shape. Many of them are large and visually impressive and they often have quartz cobbles carefully incorporated in their design. They are also all exceptionally well constructed, exhibiting a concern for exacting workmanship that places them into the category of monuments or sculpture rather than tossed-together field clearing piles. There is no confusing this distinction. And because the form is so widespread, particularly the platform cairn type, we are actually witnessing a widespread, culturally-related phenomenon rather than seeing this myopically as the whim of a local farmer with too much time on his hands. Were these constructions the result of a regional response to landscape or some agriculturally-related endeavor, surely there would have been something written about them before now, but this is not the case.

References Bender, H. 2003. The Spirit of Manitou across North America, NEARA Journal 37 (1), 3-13. Bortolot, V. 2002. Thermoluminescence report on cinder sample, April 12. Bradley, R. 1998. Ruined buildings, ruined stones: enclosures, tombs and natural places in the Neolithic of southwest England, World Archaeology 30, 13-22. Bradley, R. 2000. An Archaeology of Natural Places, London and New York.

139

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Buckwalter, T.V. 1957. Pre-cambrian geology of the Boyertown Quadrangle, Pennsylvania Geological Survey, 4th Ser., Atlas 197. Catlin, G. 1842. Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians, Vol. II, New York. Dragoo, D.W. 1963. Mounds for the Dead: An Analysis of the Adena Culture, Annals of the Carnegie Museum Pittsburgh, PA, Vol. 37. Gordon, R., personal correspondence, February 9, 1998. Faulkner, C., personal correspondence, 1998. Fohl, T. 2003. Confessions of a Former Professional Rockpopper, NEARA Journal, 37 (2), 13-15. Hoffman, C.R. 2004. Analysis of Stone Features: The Ridges At Deer Lake Housing Development Property Killingworth, Connecticut. Hoskins, S and A. 1972. The Pleasure-Book of the Litchfield Hills and the Berkshires, Lakeville. Huntington, F. 1982. Preliminary Report on the Excavation of Flagg Swamp Rockshelter. Institute for Conservation Archaeology, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, (ICA 214: 16-17). Muller, N. 1999. Stone Rows and Boulders: A Comparative Study. www.neara.org/stonerows.htm Muller, N. 2003a. The Cairns in our Midst: Historic or Prehistoric? NEARA Journal, 37 (2) 5-12. Muller, N. 2003b. Vermont Platform Cairns, www.neara.org/Muller/Platformcairns.htm. Munger, D.B. 1991. Pennsylvania Land Records, Wilmington. Pond, S.W. 1986. The Dakota or Sioux in Minnesota as they were in 1834, St. Paul. Ritchie, W.A. and Dragoo, D.W. 1959. The eastern dispersal of Adena, American Antiquity, 25: 43-50. Sevon, W., personal correspondence, 21 January 1999. Squier, E.G. 1851. Antiquities of the State of New York, Buffalo. Steinbring, J. 1992. Phenomenal Attributes: Site Selection Factors in Rock Art, American Indian Rock Art, 17: 102-113. Tilley, C. 1994. A Phenomenology of Landscape, Oxford/Providence. Tilley, C. 1996. The powers of rocks: topography and monument construction on Bodmin Moor, World Archaeology 28: 161-176. Tilley, C. 2004. The Materiality of Stone: Explorations in Landscape Phenomenology, Oxford/New York. Werfel, S. Personal correspondence, April 23, 1998. Whitley, D.S. et.al. 1999. Sally’s Rockshelter and the Archaeology of the Vision Quest, Cambridge Archaeological Journal 9: 221-247.

140

Chapter 11

A New Proposal for the Chronology of Atlantic Rock Art in Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula) Manuel Santos Estévez stylistic similarities, their geographic location - generally along the coast, and on occasions their similar panel compositions (Bradley 1997). This means that rock art can provide another witness, along with pottery and metalwork, of what are known in general terms as ‘Atlantic relations’, with the likelihood of long-distance maritime trading routes.

Abstract This paper presents the results of an archaeological excavation in front of a panel with designs in the Galician Atlantic Rock Art Style: cup and ring marks, concentric circles, stags, hunting scenes, footprints and humans. During this excavation, a layer was found with archaeological evidence that possibly relates to the rock carvings. Radiocarbon dating from this layer gave a late chronology, from the 8th – 4th centuries cal. BC. These results agree with other data such as the chronology of the riding scenes, labyrinths and small shovels carved in Galician Rock Art. I suggest that Atlantic rock art style has a long chronology, from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age until the First Iron Age, thus extending this tradition a further 2,500 years into the later prehistoric period.

This article presents preliminary findings from a series of excavations carried out in the area of Campo Lameiro in Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula, and attempts to analyse the implications these results have with regard to the chronology of Atlantic rock art. Campo Lameiro is in a zone marking the transition between the south-western coast of Galicia and its interior, with one of the highest concentrations of Atlantic-style rock art, that includes several hundred rock carvings, outstanding not only for their density, but also for their iconographic content (Figure 11.1). The repertoire of the Atlantic style includes concentric circles, labyrinths, footprints, red deer, horse, serpents and metal weapons such as daggers and swords. It is also the Galician region with the highest density of narrative compositions, such as deer hunts and riding scenes (Figure 11.1).

Introduction Although the chronology of Galician rock art has been one of the most widely debated issues in Galician histogeography over the last century, in the last 20 years the subject has been studied in much greater detail. As an introduction, I would like to point out that I am going to deal exclusively with what is known as Atlantic rock art, as many publications have the tendency to lump together carvings of different styles as if they belonged to one single group; this has only increased the sense of confusion that exists concerning this issue. This has led to carvings with cup and ring marks in hillforts and megaliths being used as chronological data. When considering the simplicity of these carvings, it is not possible to attribute them to any specific style. As rock art is a generic concept which, in Galicia, extends from the Neolithic until at least the Middle Ages, for this reason, we need to restrict the subject matter. This paper will therefore deal exclusively with the Galician Atlantic rock art style.

The excavations in question were carried out as part of a project entitled “Actions for the documentation of the cultural landscape in the Campo Lameiro Rock Art Park” undertaken by the Landscape Archaeology Laboratory of the Padre Sarmiento Institute of Galician Studies (a joint centre run by the Spanish National Research Council CSIC-and the Galician government, the Xunta).1 The aim of this project is to obtain information necessary to document the rock art around Campo Lameiro and provide archaeological logistics for a museum to be built by this council. Archaeological Excavations in Campo Lameiro (SW Galicia) Obviously, apart from prospecting and documenting the carvings, one of the main archaeological jobs on the site was to carry out excavation work around the carvings. A total of seven excavations were done, five of which failed to offer any results. The negative nature was mainly the result of erosion having destroyed the archaeological record. Also, having observed results obtained in the other two excavations, we know that the record is very

In using the term ‘Atlantic rock art’ I am aware of its implications, as this groups together petroglyphs geographically ranging from northern Portugal to Scotland, taking in England and Ireland. I believe that a group of carvings in Galicia should be included in this group. Investigators such as Sobrino Lorenzo-Ruza (1951), MacWhite (1951) and more recently Bradley (1997) have demonstrated, at least in my opinion that formal similarities exist amongst carvings from Europe’s western rim. I should emphasize that, at least partly, the carvings from Britain and the north-western Iberian Peninsula coincide in their chronology, with clear

1 Project requested by the Xunta de Galicia (project code CJ 102A 2003/420-0 and CJ 102A 2004/317-0) as part of work on the construction of the future archaeological park in Campo Lameiro.

141

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 11.1. Location of Campo Lameiro on the western coast of Galicia, and the distribution of Atlantic Rock Art throughout Western Europe. fragile and that even moderate erosion is capable of eliminating any remains associated with the carvings.

dating was possible. The stony layer is clearly of anthropic origin, although it is still not possible to know its age. A large number of stones of different sizes were found throughout the excavation of this test pit. Under this stony layer, at the extreme easterly point of the test pit, a stratigraphic group of deposits comprising thermoclasts, ash and two rounded stones were found. These deposits were reddish in colour and with smoke marks on one side, indicating they had been exposed to fire. This group is indicative of a clear anthropic intervention at a given moment in time; a fire was made in front of the hollow rock which possibly led to the fragmentation of a number of rocks and smoke affecting the small rounded stones, which were undoubtedly brought from a nearby river, several kilometres away.

At this juncture, I will go on to offer a brief description of the findings from excavations in Outeiro da Pena Furada and then a more detailed description of work alongside the carving of Os Carballos, as here the results were particularly interesting, in particular in terms of chronology. Outeiro da Pena Furada is a rocky outcrop comprising a collection of rocks crowned by a large hollow stone, with numerous cup and ring marks carved inside it, and a figure carved on the upper part of its outer surface. The concentric circles present are typical of the Atlantic style. On one of the rocks that support the hollow stone features a number of highly eroded circular designs and quadrupeds are present. Two test pits were excavated close to this carving. One of these test pits located to the west of the 1m x 2m outcrop did not provide any data; hitting bedrock within a few centimetres from the ground surface. Another 2m x 3m test pit was excavated in front of the outcrop in an area between two rocks that would have reduced the effect of erosion. In the SW corner of the test pit was a stony layer. Once vegetation had been removed, no soil deposits were present and therefore no

The remains from fires found on the site are still awaiting C-14 dating, although they would seem to indicate that activities involving fire took place in front of the entrance to the shelter which I believe may well have been ritual in nature. Excavation in ‘Os Carballos’ The excavation around the spectacular petroglyph of Os Carballos (meaning The Oaks in Galician) was carried 142

MANUEL SANTOS ESTÉVEZ: A NEW PROPOSAL FOR THE CHRONOLOGY OF ATLANTIC ROCK ART IN GALICIA

Figure 11.2. Tracing of the carving of ‘Os Carballos’. out in two campaigns in two consecutive years, 2003 and 2004. This programme of work provided a clear example of indirect dating of a rock carving; in our case I have dated the context of a petroglyph, dating a deposit associated with a carved panel. Generally, in terms of direct and indirect dating, we know the chronology of a deposit covering a panel, what we would interpret as its minimum age (see Chippindale & Nash 2004). Although, in this case we are privileged with asserting greater precision, as we have sufficient reasons to interpret one of the deposits as being the original ground level at the time of the carvers were using the panel.

conventional tracing techniques. Excavation work continued until the majority of the panel was fully exposed. A test pit was then excavated towards the east of the site, in front of a panel measuring 6m2. A mechanically-excavated trench measuring 7m in length and oriented east-west was excavated. The eastern end of the trench was within the vicinity of the petroglyph. The trench was dug with the aim of recording a trench section and to observe and record its stratigraphy. The trench was later extended with a 3m x 3m section running south. The aim of the test pits was to obtain a series of profiles that would allow us to analyse the stratigraphy in the form of a series of test columns.

The 2003 Campaign The results of the 2003 campaign allowed us to make the following observations:

Initially, the petroglyph was completely covered over, until an unexpected earth movement uncovered part of the carved surface. In 1981 excavation of the rock art commenced to reveal over 90% (Figure 11.2), (Peña Santos 1982, 78-9 & 1985). In the 2003 campaign work started on re-excavating the surface uncovered in 1981. The previously uncovered surface was recorded using

•

143

There is a very uniform stratigraphy in all of the profiles, leading to the assumption that all soil deposits covering the petroglyph were similar (suggesting uniform deposition rates);

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS •

•

•

•

•

is not only a profuse agglomeration of carvings on one sector of the rock, but also, from the height of the large deer’s feet, the carvings disappear abruptly. This sudden interruption of the carvings under the deer seems to indicate the lower limit of the space available to make carvings at a given moment in time, probably indicating the ground level when the carvings started to be made. This hypothesis appears to be corroborated by the presence of quartz chips at the foot of the large deer, apparent proof of the carving process, although it was necessary to extend the excavation at the foot of the panel to find further archaeological evidence to document the moment of use related to the carving. This was the aim of the campaign carried out in 2004.

The petroglyph was covered by natural processes, although anthropic actions may have influenced them (increased erosion, possibly as a result of removing the plant cover);2 That the process of covering the petroglyph started at its base, at its south-eastern edge, and that these deposits gradually grew towards the west and north, meaning that the last carvings to be covered were at the north-western corner. Despite the fact that the material came from successive landslides from the upper part of the basin in which the petroglyph is situated, these deposits settled in the lowest sections, and gradually grew until they covered the highest parts of the petroglyph; That 90% of the carvings were already uncovered in 1981, and that from the bottom of the large deer carving downwards, there do not appear to be any more carvings, judging by what has been observed in the trench opened in this sector; The trench excavated towards the east revealed a deposit immediately under the large deer with a high concentration of quartz chips, evidence that was interpreted as possible remnants from the process of making the carving. This deposit coincided with the bottom edge of the panel, and with the ground line of the large deer; and Judging by the dates made, it would appear that at least in general terms, the deposition of material in this zone was a very slow process that took place over a long period.

The 2004 Campaign3 Three trenches were excavated around the carving. This programme of excavation followed the trenching programme undertaken in 2003 to the north, south and east of the panel. The results from the trench running northwards were negative. From the trench running south, the only discovery of note was what may possibly be a vaguely zoomorphic carving. Despite this disappointment, the important results came from a trench running eastwards (described below). The eastern trench measured 6m from north to south, and 3.5m from east to west. It was located in front of the carved panel, and comprised three layers. The first corresponded to the route of an ancient roadway used until recent times, identified by the presence of a longitudinal, highly compact surface measuring 1.5m wide. Under this level, a burnt surface was found occupying the whole area, corresponding to the same burnt level where the radiocarbon 14 sample PRD-II-18 was taken. This means that the fire occurred at the end of the Roman period, when part of the carving was already covered. Under this level, coinciding with the lower limit of the carvings (as no more were found below this deposit) the only level with clear archaeology was found. This was identified as a result of it being more compact and sandy than the deposits above and below it. Here a possible posthole was found, together with a small pottery fragment, a piece of alochthonous clay,4 a percussive tool made from a rounded stone, and various quartz flakes in the northern half of the trench. These were also found in the southern half together with a rock crystal, a small channel and the remains of a hearth, shown by an accumulation of charcoal. Subsequent analyses have possibly revealed that this hearth was the result of cutting a hole in the ground, throwing in shrub

Dates The table below shows the carbon 14 dates obtained in the site of Os Carballos. These dates were analysed at the laboratory of the University of Uppsala, Sweden. The first column shows the code of the sample; the centre column the result, and the right column its interpretation; the photograph indicate the precise location of the samples (see table below). The dates were obtained by the extraction of organic material from the deposits. Considering the results from the radio carbon 14 dating, it would appear to be confirmed that we are faced with a very lengthy process of soil deposition, from the 5th millennium BC until the transition between the 1st and 2nd millennium AD, in which the rock with the carving of Os Carballos was gradually covered. Observing the panel of Os Carballos, we see that much of the surface was profusely decorated, with hardly any ‘blank’ spaces. There are even a large number of carvings made over others (superimposition), something rarely seen in Atlantic rock art. This profusion of carvings would seem to indicate that the makers of the panel used the entire surface that was available at the time, as there

3

The surface of the carving has a large number of chipped sections, particularly in its southern half. All of the rock’s chipped sections are above the burnt level, meaning it is most likely that the damage was caused by a fire when the soil level already covered the bottom half of the carving. 4 This type of mineral is not found in the area around the park: the closest area was in ‘As Canles’ in San Isidro de Montes (2, 5 km away)

2

The studies carried out into the erosive and soil formation processes were carried out by M. Costa Casais and X. Pontevedra Pombal, members of the paleoenvironmental studies team, directed by Antonio Martínez of the Heritage, Palaeoenvironmental and Landscape Laboratory (IIT-USC).

144

MANUEL SANTOS ESTÉVEZ: A NEW PROPOSAL FOR THE CHRONOLOGY OF ATLANTIC ROCK ART IN GALICIA Origin

Results

MU030807A01a. Deposit from the northern edge of the excavation. This deposit was situated directly over the carved rock at the height of the large deer’s head. PRD-II-18. Burnt level which extended over all of the area excavated. Taken from a sample column 5 metres from the carving.

Ua-22551 975±40 BP

Dating calibrated to 2 σ 990-1170 AD

Ua-22555 1835±40 BP

300-320 AD

PRD-II-25 PRD-II-25C. Deposit with numerous small charcoal pieces mixed with earth. Taken from the same column as PRD-II-18. MU030904K04. Earth deposit situated directly over a bedrock..

Ua-22556 3055±40 BP Ua-22559 3125±45 BP

1140-1130 BC 1280-1260 BC

Ua-22553 3360±40 BP

1740-1520 BC

MU030904K02 Deposit over which the slabs from the bottom of the excavation are situated. PRD-II-39. Deposit covering the substrate at the SE corner.

Ua-22552 3640±40 BP

2140-1880 BC

Ua-22558 5350±50 BP

4260-4040 BC

branches, and then setting fire to them.5 Below this level were numerous shallow deposits, without any archaeological material. These deposits extended to the bedrock.

Interpretation A period when half of the carving was covered, including most of the large deer. No archaeological material. Indication of a fire when at least one fifth of the carving was buried. This may be the same period as the chipping No of the panel.3 archaeological material Corresponding to a level that was burnt. A deposit without archaeological material, 15 cm below the lower limit of the carvings. Period when the last stones from the bottom of the excavation were covered. No archaeological material. Intermediate period in which the substrate was covered. No archaeological material. Start of the erosive processes possibly caused by man (elimination of the plant layer). No archaeological material.

zone was situated above the deposit where samples PRDII-25 and PRD-II-25C, dated between 1140-1260 cal. BC, were found, meaning that a carving supposedly dated to the Bronze Age could have been made and in use around the 1st millennium BC; for Atlantic style rock art this is an extremely late date.

Interestingly, the only level of occupation around the panel coincided perfectly with the lower limit of distribution for the carvings. In the same deposit a concentration of quartz fragments were found. Furthermore, no archaeological material was found either above or below this level. Everything would appear to indicate that this deposit, some 15 cm in depth, represented the original ground level formed from when the carving started to be made, until the moment when the first designs started to be covered over. Samples were therefore taken from this deposit in order to obtain a baseline date.

The samples taken from the archaeologically fertile zone were sent to the laboratory at Uppsala and the Rocasolano Institute of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The results are shown in the table below. Interpretation of the results As an initial interpretation, it appears that there is one single moment of use for the area immediately around the carvings. This event may coincide with the carving event. This moment of use is represented in the archaeological record by a deposit of chronological depth ranging from the 8th to the 4th centuries BC (figures 11.3 & 11.4). This group of stratigraphic units is presented in a contiguous manner, where the deposits with evidence of anthropomorphic materials are situated over others without any continuity in the area in front of the panel, and coinciding with the lower limit of the distribution of the carvings. It should be noted that the petroglyph of Os Carballos is totally covered in carvings. Here, the carvers used the entire uncovered stone surface at a time that

Dating (see table below) One of the more intriguing factors concerning the results from the excavation was that the archaeologically ‘fertile’ 5

The results of the datings for this bonfire were 860+35 cal. BP, around the 11th century A.D. The anthropological analyses made by María Martín Seijo from the University of Santiago de Compostela, indicated a clear predominance of shrub species, with the possibility that the bonfire had been made as part of work to clear away undergrowth on the hillside.

145

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS The results of thee excavation ffrom the areaa immediatelyy und the petrogglyph of Os Carballos wo ould thereforee arou seem m to indicate that it must hhave been mad de and in usee towaards the end of o the Late Brronze Age, an nd throughoutt the First F Iron Agee.

would have coincided with w the only anthropomorrphic a below this level the carvvings level of the excavation, as w as the reemains of culltural disappear inn the same way material withhin the surrounnding deposits.

Origin

Reesults

Da ating calibrrated Interpretation to 2 σ MU0407277A05 soil covering the CS SIC-2005 23500±29 BP 512 – 381 cal. BC B Momennt when the ch hannel was open channnel in the depoosit that (955, 4%) abandooned. served as thhe lower limitt of the carvings. MU0408311A01 from sam me B Momennt when the materials m Uaa-22558 234000±40 BP 539 – 357 cal. BC stratigraphiic unit and jusst a few (955.4%) were deeposited in the soil, and centimetress from where a series therefoore from a mom ment when of quartz fllakes were fouund, a the petrroglyph was in use. striking toool and a fragm ment of clay. It also correspondss to the l deposit thaat marked the lower limit of thee carvings. MU0309055K05 taken inn the SIC-1959 2531±42 BP 799-521 cal. BC C Soil levvel when the petroglyph p CS stratigraphiic unit situatedd (955, 4%) was in use. immediatelly below the laarge deer. MU0408066A07 taken inn the CS SIC-1985 24700±38 BP 637-480 Cal BC C Date w when the posth hole was same layer very close to a openedd posthole.

Figurre 11.3. View from f the southh of the excavaation at Os Ca arballos and the t location off the deposits dated.

146

MANUEL SAN NTOS ESTÉVEZ Z: A NEW PRO OPOSAL FOR TH HE CHRONOLO OGY OF ATLAN NTIC ROCK ART R IN GALICIA A

Figuure 11.4. View w from the wesst of the excavvation at Os Carballos. C Thee large deer is in the foregro ound. Thee posthole is in i the upper riight-hand cornner. C (near Campo C Lameiiro), we did have a reliablee do Castro datin ng for the straatum in whichh a rock was found with a cup--mark surrounnded by a siimple circle; this level off occu upation corressponded to thhe second to first f centuriess BC.6 This series of findings iindicate that at a least in thee finall stage of occcupation of thhe hillforts, du uring the timee of th he Roman occcupation andd very possibly during thee seco ond Iron Age (4th to 1st cennturies BC), the t concentricc circlles, the mostt characteristiic designs off the Atlanticc Style, were in some s cases destroyed an nd apparentlyy ored by the inhhabitants of thhe hillforts. igno

t chronology of the Atlaantic Further infoormation on the Style in Galiicia The dates obbtained in the excavation made it necessaary to review otherr informationn about the chronology c off the Atlantic Styyle in Galiciaa, which as we will see, are perfectly com mpatible with each other. We W find two types t of informatioon in Galicia: one iconograaphic, and another stratigraphic.. Stratigraphiic relationshiips mples exist of o the use of o carvings inn the Several exam Atlantic Stylle within a nuumber of hillfforts from thee Iron Age, althouggh in this casee the problem lies in the lacck of chronologicaal precision, as a in some casses the hillforrt has not been exxcavated, and in others, thhe work that was carried out in the past did not datee the stratigrraphy w the peetroglyph witth the necessary associated with precision. As A a clear antte quem date,, we have seeveral examples in the Iron Agee hillfort of Saanta Tegra, inn SW w construcctions superim mposed over these of Galicia, with types of carvvings. Howeveer, due to the imprecision of o the chronology of o these consstructions, wee are only abble to guarantee thaat the concenttric circles andd spirals founnd are previous to the t final stagge of occupatiion of the hilllfort, around the 2nd and 3rd ceenturies AD. In the hillfoort of Codesada (P Pontevedra province), p (Bouza 19422), a carving was found with concentric c circcles that had been cut and posssibly re-used as a building material. Wee can find the sam me situation inn the hillfortt of Lupario (near Santiago), (A Acuña & Cavvada 1971). Inn the case of Alto

wever, we have a less preecise frontier for the postt How quem m date. In thhe north-westtern Iberian Peninsula P wee only y have one caase in which an upright stone s appearss with h concentric circles in Motaa Grande (Verea-Ourense),, (Rod dríguez 19933); this design shares a panel withh undu ulating furrow ws, more tyypical of Megalithic art.. Ano other case is the dolmen oof Buriz (in Lugo), foundd durin ng archaeoloogical excavaations (Garcíaa 1975). Thee conttext of this finnding is still pproblematic, but b judging byy the photographs published, thhe petroglyph h appears too l to thee havee been placed intentionally by the door leading corridor of the megalith m (fig. 11.5). Whateever the case,, king any repoort from thiss excavation and withoutt lack

6

Parccero Oubiña, C.; Cobas Fernándezz, I. [e.p.] Alto do o Castro (Cuntis,, Ponteevedra). Síntesis de resultados y estudio de mateeriales, campañaa 1993.. Col. Monograafías de Arqueoología del Paisaaje. Santiago dee Comp postela.

147

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS sufficient infformation, anny conclusionn would be highly problematic.7 Chronologiccal analysis of the designs Some carvinngs exist withh designs alloowing them to t be identified ass elements off material cuulture, particuularly metallic, which w are datable, orr are idenntical representatioons as to otheers that appeaar in contextss that have been reliably r datedd. In the firsst group we have weapons annd what aree known as ‘shovels’. Most archaeologistts agree that the majority of the carvinggs of weapons fouund belong to the t Early Bronnze Age, geneerally consisting off halberds (lonng-handled axxes with triangular blades), dagggers and shorrt swords withh triangular blades (fig. 11.6). Yet Y perhaps these t designs are not the most suitable whenn gathering chhronological information i on the Atlantic Stylle. Curiously they are onlly associated with motifs from the Atlantic Style on verry rare occassions; w carvings of weapons, they from 35 knoown rocks with only appear on five occasions on the same panels as mbinations or animal a figuress, and normallly no circular com rocks with typical t motifss of the Atlaantic Style apppear immediately in the vicinity around petroglyphs with weapons. Fuurthermore, thhe few weapoons that do apppear associated with w circular coombinations, like l the three rocks r found in Matabois M (Cam mpo Lameiroo) and Pedraa das Ferraduras (C Cotobade), arre of differentt types, and above a all have typees of handless that were noot developed until well into thee Mid-Bronzee Age, with naails in the baase of hilt (fig. 11.77). There appeears to be a deefinite tendenccy for carvings withh weapons froom the early Bronze Age to t be disassociatedd from the typical t motifs fs of the Atllantic Style, although two or threee exceptions do exist, and there words and dagggers is a clear tenndency for caarvings of sw from at leasst the last hallf of the Broonze Age to share s panels with circular c combiinations.

Fig gure 11.5. Carrving in the coorridor of the Monte M Pirleo megalith (Buriz-Lugo). (B P Photo publish hed in: http://www.ppueblosespana.org/ga e alicia/lugo/buriz/galeria-fotografica/

w have possiible representtations of shoovels, Elsewhere we although thiss identificationn is not withoout controverssy, as no similar models havee been found in the Ibberian Farina Peninsula to those known in the Vilanoova culture (F 1998). This type of figurre is only doocumented in four C stations in thhe NW Iberiaan Peninsula: in Laxe da Chan (Cangas), Caampo de Mataabois (Campo Lameiro), Poortela da Laxe (C Cotobade) andd Outerio Machado M (Chaaves). Other authoors (Peña & Vázquez 1979) have alrready explored parrallels betweeen these figuures and thosse in great abunddance from the Valcamoonica. Theree are certainly stroong formal siimilarities bettween the designs seen in Gallician and Itaalian rock-artt, and if theyy do represent thee same objecct this wouldd help us to date carvings of thhis type with a degree of prrecision. A typpe of shovel has been b documennted in funeraary contexts inn the centre of Itaaly that sharees many simillarities with those t seen in the carvings. c In soome of the knnown examplles in metal, the decoration consists c of swastikas, which w w the type t of figgures assocciated coincides with Fig gure 11.6. Daggger from Casstriño de Conxxo (Santiago de Compostela). Dagger with triangular bla ade from the Early Bronzze Age.

7 In any case, it should be saidd that Bronze Age A materials aree quite frequently foundd in Neolithic baarrows, particularrly bell-beaker pottery. In these cases – at least in thee best documenteed – everything would seem to indicatee re-use at a later date.

148

MANUEL SAN NTOS ESTÉVEZ Z: A NEW PRO OPOSAL FOR TH HE CHRONOLO OGY OF ATLAN NTIC ROCK ART R IN GALICIA A representation is found on a ffragment of clay c from thee palaace of King Nestor N in Pyllos, dated fro om 1,200 BC C (Kerrn 2000). Annother represeentation is alsso found on a jar from f Tell Rifa fa´at in Syria, from the 12thh century BC,, but the t most interresting represeentation is on the oinochoee from m Tagliatella, dating from tthe 7th century y BC. In anyy casee, this designn would surviive until Rom man times orr even n the early Middle M Ages in northern Europe E (Kernn 2000 0; Saward 20003). h riding sscenes, which are relativelyy Finaally, we have horse frequ uent in Galiciian rock art. T The presence of o carvings off this kind were ussed by Peña Santos & Váázquez Varelaa 79) and Garcíía Alén & Peñña Santos (19 981) to date a (197 num mber of petrooglyphs from m the 1st millennium BC.. App parently there are no repreesentations orr evidence off horsse riding in Euurope or the Ibberian Peninsu ula before thee 1st millennium m BC C. It is impoortant to note that it is nott posssible to date thhe introductioon of horse rid ding from thee presence of horsee bits, as thesee were frequen ntly used withh lightt carts. In anny case, there are no repreesentations off horsse riding that date from beffore the 1st millennium BC C (Dreews 2004).

Figuree 11.7. Daggerr in Pedra dass Ferraduras (Cotobade) associated a witth circular com mbinations. At A the end of the grip g is a cup-m mark that mayy be representting the rivet thaat held it in plaace. 1 with the carvved shovels frrom Portela daa Laxe (Fig. 11.8). Dates have placed p the metallic shovels from Italy arround the 1st half of o the 9th centuury BC, eitheer at the end of o the Bronze Age or the beginnning of the Iroon Age. How wever, based on thhe context in which thhe carvings from Valcamonicaa appear, asssociated with figures from m the First Iron Agge, we believve it is more reasonable r to date the Italian carvings c from m this period. In any case it is important to be cautious when w identifyying these objjects, mportant to beear in meaning thatt although theese facts are im mind, they should not foorm the essenntial basis off our argument.

nsequences Con fa the preseence of ridingg scenes and labyrinths inn In fact, Galiician rock artt of the Atlanntic Style wou uld appear too indiccate that at leeast one of thhe moments in i which thiss seriees of carvingss was ‘in use’ dates from th he first half off the 1st millennium m BC. It was nnot until the 19 980s that dataa startted to becomee available inn Galicia puttting back thee startt of the Iron Age, which uuntil then had been set att arou und the 5th cenntury BC. Thiss information was providedd by excavations e c carried out at the hillfort of o Penarrubiaa (Lug go) from the 6th century B BC (Arias 19 979), Penalbaa hillffort (Campo Lameiro), fr from the 6th century BC C (Álv varez 1986) and a Torroso hillfort (near Vigo), from m the7 7th century BC (Peña 1992), as well w as thee ‘reju uvenation’ off the start of the Iron Agee in northernn Porttugal, with soome authors referring to an Iron Agee startting in the 8th centuryy BC (Gonzzález 2003)..

Thirdly, it is important to indicate the presencce in A Style of representaations Galician rockk art in the Atlantic of labyrinthss, with 12 carrvings of this type having been found. Manyy of the repressentations of labyrinths founnd in Europe and the Near Eastt have been dated d more orr less precisely to a period froom the 12th century BC until b to the t first half of o the Roman timess, with most belonging 1st millennnium BC C. Perhapss the o oldest

Figure 11.8. Comparrison betweenn a spade from m Vilanoviana (left), carvingg from Portelaa da Laxe (Co otobadePontevedrra) (middle) and carving fro om Valcamónica (right). 149

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

With the exception of the representations of weapons, the only connection between Atlantic rock art and the Bronze Age was the chronological coincidence; yet curiously, by delaying the dates when the Iron Age started and therefore bringing forward the end of the Bronze Age, the petroglyphs, as if by some invisible link, remained faithful to the change in chronology of the Bronze Age. In 1980, the chronology of the carvings was between 2,500 and 500 cal. BC, but by the end of the 1980s this chronology was set between 2,500 and 800 cal. BC. This date range considered that the phenomenon was associated with the appearance of the first metalworking in the Copper Age, or between 1,800 and 800 cal. BC if it was exclusively linked to the Bronze Age (Martínez 1989).

of a series of investigations carried out in the Serra do Bocelo area (Méndez 1991) and in monitoring public works projects (Lima 2000). This presumed crisis would have led to the disappearance of the tradition of carving rocks, although it fails to explain the cause-effect mechanism between this enigmatic crisis and the disappearance of rock art. In my opinion, the proposal of Peña Santos and Rey García should be viewed positively in terms of demonstrating that some carvings were made in the Early Bronze Age. This would suggest that the meaning for most of the carvings is based on weapons. However they do not provide sufficiently clear arguments to suggest why rock art was no longer made from the Middle Bronze Age onwards. In the last 40 years, the same group has been used to contain carvings attributable to the Early Bronze Age (halberds and daggers with triangular blades) and other designs: circular combinations, labyrinths, animal figures, riding scenes, etc, meaning that the aim has been to attribute them with a single chronology. As an example, I could present some of my publications (Santos 1998, 2004; Santos & Criado 2000), although this situation appears in any study exploring rock art in the NW Iberian Peninsula. Yet by exploring in further detail the analysis of its distribution, we may see that although they basically occupy the same region (western Galicia), the carvings of weapons are clearly disassociated from the other designs, and only those weapons which Peña Santos and Vázquez Varela correctly situated in later phases of the Bronze Age (1979, 81-93) are those associated with designs actually in the Atlantic Style. Here we find one exception: the carving of Foxa Vella in Rianxo (west coast).

However, during the 1990s Peña Santos and Rey García (1993) presented a new chronological hypothesis that breaks with the old proposal of Peña Santos and Vázquez Varela in 1979, which analysed each motif separately, and for which at least some of the designs were attributed to the 1st millennium BC. Peña and Rey proposed the socalled ‘short chronology’. Based on a typological analysis of the halberds and daggers, they attributed them with a chronology ranging from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC to the start of the 2nd millennium BC. It is possible that the presence of halberds may reveal the presence of an early chronology for some of the petroglyphs with weapons, although under no circumstances may I affirm that the use of these carvings was limited to the chronological period in which they were supposedly made. Also, Peña Santos and Rey García based their ‘short chronology’ hypothesis on the supposed relationship that existed between settlements from the end of the 3rd millennium BC and the start of the 2nd millennium BC. In my opinion, this investigation suffers from a lack of any rigorous analysis of the archaeological record, both in terms of domestic settlements and rock carvings. Firstly, they include in the list of settlements places with isolated and decontextualised findings, such as a metallic punch, small groups of pottery and burial sites, without offering any type of indication that may lead us to suppose that these are domestic sites; secondly, there are no criteria for the selection of the petroglyphs that they analysed, leading to the inclusion in their study of panels from different periods and styles. Neither do they offer any explanation as to why the proximity in some cases between rock carvings and supposedly domestic areas is an indicator of contemporaneity. Furthermore, they situate locations where bell-beaker pottery was found in this period, when the latest data available indicates that this style of pottery continued in use until the end of the Bronze Age (Méndez 1991; Prieto 1999). Finally, these authors refer to a supposed crisis in the Middle Bronze Age whose true dimensions are still unknown, although this would be the reason why we have not found any settlements from this period, a statement that has been proved false as a result

Taking into account the data we do have available, the associations between weapons from the Early Bronze Age and the other designs are very rare. I suggest the existence, at least, of two different groups that could very possibly be related to two stages of creation of the Atlantic Style. I would therefore suggest a first phase with a theme exclusively dedicated to weapons, very possibly made during the Early Bronze Age, although this is difficult to know with any real precision; and a second phase with scenes of hunting and riding, labyrinths and shovels made between the 8th and 5th centuries and to the 4th century BC. Basically, this means that this second phase would be from the same time as the oldest hillforts in the NW Iberian Peninsula were occupied. If this chronological proposal is correct, we are faced with an iconographic and chronological panorama that is very similar to that defined for the area of Valcamonica. Here, we have compositions from the Bronze Age dominated by the presence of weapons in vertical panels, and a second, more narrative phase, with scenes of deer hunting, shovels and labyrinths belonging to the First Iron Age (fig. 11.9).

150

MANUEL SANTOS ESTÉVEZ: A NEW PROPOSAL FOR THE CHRONOLOGY OF ATLANTIC ROCK ART IN GALICIA

Figure 11.9. Comparison between two chronological phases of carvings in Valcamónica and Galicia. In both areas we have a more static phase with weapons arranged in lines, and a second more ‘narrative’ phase with labyrinths, spades and deer hunting. However, I still have reservations about the cup-and-ring carvings, although it is true that they are from the same time as the second phase, in the First Iron Age, although we cannot reject the possibility that such a simple, widespread design did not start to be carved at the start of the Bronze Age. In fact, in the British Isles there appear to be indications that very similar circular designs to those found in Galicia were present in the Early Bronze Age and Neolithic times (Bradley 1997; Beckensall 2002).

Pereira, Gonzalo Pimentel, Fernando Quintás, Frida Palmo, David Rodríguez, Yolanda Seoane, Ronny Smeds, Elena Taboada, Ida Tegby and Eduardo Velázquez. Finally, thanks to the Landscape Archaeology Laboratory at the Padre Sarmiento Institute and the Laboratory of Heritage, Palaeoenvironment and Landscape at Santiago de Compostela. References Acuña Castroviejo, F. & Cavada Nieto, M. 1971. Noticias arqueológico-numismáticas del Castro Lupario (Rois-Brión, La Coruña). Cuadernos de Estudios Gallegos, t. 26, fasc. 80, pp. 265-77. Álvarez Núñez, A. 1986. Castro de Penalba. Campaña de 1983. Arqueoloxía/Memorias, 4. Dirección Xeral do Patrimonio Cultural. Consellería de Cultura, Comunicación Social e Turismo. Santiago de Compostela. Arias Vilas, F. 1979. El castro de Penarrubia (Lugo) y la novedad de su datación por C-14 En: Congreso Nacional de Arqueología. (15º. 1977. Lugo) XV Congreso Nacional de Arqueología. - Zaragoza, Secretaría General de los Congresos Nacionales, pp. 613-622. Beckensall, S. 2002: British Prehistoric Rock Art. Adoranten: Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Rock Art, pp. 39-48. Bouza Brey, F. 1942. Grabado rupestre del castro de Codeseda. Boletín de la Real Academia Galega, XXIII, No. 265, pp. 6-10. Bradley, R. 1997. Rock Art and the Prehistory of Atlantic Europe. London: Routledge.

In summary I would like to suggest that rock art is a universal symbolic resource for societies that existed before the invention of writing, meaning we should not be surprised to find identical rock art in various parts of the world with a recognised universal semiotic meaning. Precisely for this reason, it is important to define the styles, without falling into the trap of asking about the chronology of rock art from one area or another, when instead what we should be doing is to question the chronology of a specific style. In this article, for example, we have only dealt with one of the styles present in Galicia that was developed over a specific period of time. Acknowledgements I would like to thanks the following team members in Campo Lameiro: Juan Anca, Elena Cabrejas, Charo Canicova, Manuela Costa, Teresa Espejo, Mikaela Fransson, Åsa Fredell, Leonardo González, Radoslaw Grabowski, David Hernández, Sara Hjalmarsson, John Holmblad, Ellionor Johansson, Thomas Larsson, Craig MacDonald, Indira Montt, Xabier Pontevedra, Antón 151

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Chippindale, C. & Nash, G. H. 2004. Pictures in Place. The figured landscape of Rock Art. Loocking at Pictures in Place. Cambridge University Press, pp. 136. Drews, R. 2004. Early Riders. The Beginnings of Mounted Warfare in Asia and Europe. Routledge. London/New York. Farina, A. 1998. The motif of the “Camunian Rose” in the rock art of Valcamonica (Italy). Tracce 10. http://www.rupestre.net/tracce/ (09/25/07). García Alén, A. and Peña Santos, A. 1981. Los grabados rupestres de la provincia de Pontevedra.Fundación Barrié de la Maza. A Coruña García Martínez, M. C. 1975. Datos para una cronología del arte rupestre gallego. Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología, XL-XLI, pp. 477500. Facultad de Letras de la Universidad de Valladolid. González Ruibal, A. 2003. Arqueología del Noroeste de la Península Ibérica en el Iº Milenio a. C. Tesis de doctoramiento inédita. Universidad Complutense. Méndez Fernández, F. 1994. La domesticación del paisaje durante la Edad del Bronce gallego. Trabajos de Prehistoria 51, pp. 77-94. Madrid. Kern, H., 2000. Through the Labyrinth. Prestel, Munich. Lima Oliveira, E. 2000. La arqueología en la gasificación de Galicia 12: intervenciones en yacimientos prehistóricos. Trabajos en Arqueología del Paisaje (TAPA) 16. Laboratorio de Arqueoloxía e Formas Culturais, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Mac White, E. 1951. Estudios sobre las relaciones atlánticas de la Península Hispánica en la Edad del Bronce. Disertaciones Matrinenses 2. Seminario de Historia Primitiva del Hombre. Martínez Navarrete, M. I. 1989. Una revisión crítica de la Prehistoria Española: la Edad del Bronce como Paradigma. Ed. Siglo XXI. Madrid. Parcero Oubiña, C. & Cobas Fernández, I. [e.p.] Alto do Castro (Cuntis, Pontevedra). Síntesis de resultados y estudio de materiales, campaña 1993. Col. Monografías de Arqueología del Paisaje. Santiago de Compostela Peña Santos, A. 1982. Excavaciones arqueológicas de urgencia en la provincia de Pontevedra durante el año 1981. El Museo de Pontevedra XXXVI, pp. 67-90. Peña Santos, A. 1985. Excavación de un complejo de grabados rupestres en Campo Lameiro (Pontevedra). Ars Praehistorica t. III/IV. Peña Santos, A. 1992. Castro de Torroso (MosPontevedra). Síntesis de las Memorias de las Campañas de Excavaciones 1984-1990. Arqueología/Memorias 11. Xunta de Galicia. Peña Santos, A. de la y Rey García, J. M. Peña Santos, A. 1993. El espacio de la representación. El arte rupestre galaico desde una perspectiva territorial. Revista de Estudios Provinciais 10, pp. 11-50. Pontevedra. Peña Santos, A. 2001. Petroglifos de Galicia. Ed. Vía Láctea. Oleiros. Peña Santos, A de la & Vázquez Varela, J. M. 1979. Los petroglifos gallegos. Grabados rupestres prehistóricos al aire libre. Ediciós do Castro. Sada.

Prieto Martínez, P. 1999. Caracterización del estilo cerámico de la Edad del Bronce en Galicia: cerámica campaniforme y cerámica no decorada. Complutum, 10, pp. 71-90. Rodríguez Cao, C. 1993. Nuevas aportaciones al arte megalítico. La Mota Grande (Verea-Orense). Boletín Auriense XXIII, pp. 9-19. Museo Arqueolóxico Provincial de Ourense. Santos Estévez, M. 1998. Los espacios del arte: construcción del panel y articulación del paisaje en los petroglifos gallegos, Trabajos de Prehistoria, 55, pp. 73-88. Santos Estévez, M. 2004. Arte Rupestre: Estilo y Construcción Social del Espacio en el Noroeste de la Península Ibérica. Tesis doctoral inédita. Facultade de Filosofía de la Universidade de Santiago de Compostela. Santos Estévez, M. and Criado Boado, F. 2000. Deconstructing rock art spatial grammar in the Galician Bronze Age. In G.H. Nash (ed.) Signifying Place and Space: World perspectives of rock art and landscape. BAR International Series 902, pp 111-22. Saward, J. 2003. Labyrinths and Mazes. The Definitive Guide. London: Gaia Books. Sobrino Lorenzo-Ruza, R. 1951. Términos “ante quem” de los petroglifos del grupo gallego-atlántico. El Museo de Pontevedra, VI: 9-26.

152

Chapter 12

Sacred Landscapes, Sacred Seasons: A Jungian Ecopsychological Perspective D. L. Merritt Abstract

Wisconsin to attempt to realize in a conscious state the sense of sacredness in nature I experienced in the dream.

Ecopsychology is a relatively new field that studies our dysfunctional relationship with the environment and explores ways of deepening our connection to the land. Carl Sagan believed that, unless we can re-establish a sense of the sacred about the environment, our species would destroy it. Carl Jung, the prototypical ecopsychologist, maintained the spiritual dimension of the human psyche was its most important aspect and believed that a person who did not know the ways of nature was neurotic. Jung’s archetypal and symbolic perspective offers a holistic framework for examining and understanding our relationship to landscapes and the seasons. This framework can be used to help psychotherapy patients and non-patients connect to nature and learn to appreciate the human artefacts left on the land. The process is facilitated by use of the Native American medicine wheel and the I Ching. Dreams, sacred sites and most American holidays and popularly recognized special days can be related to in a manner that connects us to the land and seasons and establishes a sense of place. A developed understanding and appreciation of ancient sacred sites helps us realise the depth of the sacred connection that indigenous peoples have felt with the earth and the heavens. Orientation with respect to the earth and sky also displays significant elements of dynamic systems theory and situated robotics that illuminate our understanding of many natural and psychological phenomena.

I used many typical Jungian approaches to do this, approaches that modern men and women can employ to help connect themselves to the land and the seasons and develop a sense of place. I have been developing this since 1991, when my wife and I conducted our first week-long programme called Spirit in the Land, Spirit in Animals, Spirit in People. We brought together Jungian analysts and psychologists, scientists, Native Americans, politicians, artists and others with a deep love and knowledge of the Wisconsin environment. The programme offered a didactic and experiential approach to environmental education with a holistic perspective (Merritt 1994). These approaches also facilitate an understanding and appreciation of sacred prehistoric sites and the use of those sites to further our connection to place and seasons. I put these ideas within a framework that I call Jungian ecopsychology. Ecopsychology is a relatively new field that arose in the early 1990s after psychology and psychotherapy had shown an embarrassing lack of concern for the plight of the environment. The title of a book by the Jungian analyst, James Hillman, sums up the dilemma: We’ve Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy-and the World’s Getting Worse. Ecopsychology examines our dysfunctional relationship with the environment and seeks ways of rectifying the situation. By examining how our beliefs, attitudes and unconscious motivations affect our behaviours, ecopsychology can help us understand and alter our relationship with nature and create a sustainable lifestyle.1

Sacred Landscapes, Sacred Seasons I was within a year of finishing my psychoanalytic training at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich and beginning to think of where we would settle upon our return to the United States. Then I had a single-image dream that helped place me back in the Midwest where I grew up. I dreamed of a typical upper Midwest meadow on a bright, sunny summer day. Insects were flying above a field of grass or alfalfa on a topography of low hills. Trees punctuated the horizon. Puffy white clouds floated across a beautiful blue sky. What was remarkable about this seemingly prosaic landscape was that every molecule in the dream radiated with an inner light of incomparable beauty.

I call ecopsycyhology the psychology of ecology and the ecology of psychology. The egocentric focus of most psychologies is not an ecological perspective on the psyche. I came to this critique after entering the field of psychology with a doctorate in entomology with a strong emphasis in ecology. Psychiatry has fallen victim to the same un-ecological perspective that befell entomology after the advent of DDT during the Second World War. In many ways, economic entomology got simplified from a study of the lives and complex interactions of pests and hosts in relation to their environment. It became a sprayand-count-dead-insects approach. Today, the dominant model in psychiatry is psychopharmacology. The

This is an example of what Carl Jung called a numinous dream. Despite having seen some of the most beautiful scenery in the Unites States and Europe, I could not imagine a more beautiful scene than I experienced in the dream. The dream challenged me upon my return to

1 For excellent overviews of ecopsychology, see Ecological Psychology—Healing the Split Between Planet and Self by Deborah Du Nann Winter and Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind edited by Theodore Roszak, Mary E. Gomes and Allen D. Kanner.

153

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS conception of the human psyche is that of a complex chemical factory, where mental problems are a matter of a chemical imbalance, and, by the way, we have a highpriced pill to fix that imbalance (Acocella, 2000).2

Archetypes are typical ways of perceiving (taking in) the world and responding to it (behaviours); typical forms of feelings, ideas, attitudes and tendencies to produce certain types of images. Archetypal thoughts include the concept of atoms or God as One. Archetypal feelings and behaviours include the psychological and physiological interactions between mother and child. An accompanying archetypal image of this interaction is the Madonna and Child.

Ecopsychology incorporates many of the basic elements of deep ecology beginning with the formulations of the Norwegian philosopher, Arne Naess, in 1973 (Winter 1996, 246-247). Deep ecologists challenge us to look more deeply and holistically at our environmental problems, searching for the underlying philosophy and value systems. They call for an ecocentric, or ecological, approach to our interactions with the world, considering the non-human world to be valuable in and of itself.3 They believe we are capable of identifying far more deeply with the world around us—an identity that can create the foundation for a positive environmental position from the intra-psychic through the economic and political realms (Fox 1991, 107). Carl Sagan, co-chair of the Joint Appeal by Science and Religion for the Environment, presented a petition in 1992 stating: “Efforts to safeguard and cherish the environment need to be infused with a vision of the sacred” (Sagan 1992, 12). The petition, signed by scientists and theologians, said we should see our planet as being sacred because “what is regarded as sacred is more likely to be treated with care and respect” (ibid.). Mythologist Joseph Campbell believed if a new myth were to emerge, it would probably have an environmental focus (Campbell & Moyers, 1988, 32).

The phenomenology Jung called archetypes are psychic elements found in all races and cultures across time; archetypes such as the hero, the divine child, the wise old man, the Great Mother, life after death, a Transcendent Being, etc. They are the common motifs in religions, rituals, myths and fairytales throughout the world. Archetypal attitudes are easily seen in how women are perceived in a particular culture and in cultural attitudes towards sex. Jung’s greatest discovery was the archetype of the Self: the archetype of wholeness and meaning. The Self is the archetype that relates everything to a centre and is the centre and a centering element in the psyche. It embraces all possible opposites and is the archetype of wholeness and totality that the religious need longs for. This archetype arises spontaneously from deep within the psyche as seen in dreams. Empirically, it cannot be distinguished from the God-image. The development of the Self at the cultural level has been called Yahweh, God, Christ, Allah, Buddha, Wakantanka, etc. Any manifestation of the Self within an individual or a culture is accompanied by the phenomenology of a sense of mystery, numinosity and a compelling experience of transcendent truth.5

A Jungian ecopsychological approach offers one way to meet these challenges. Jung was the prototypical ecopsychologist. He said a person was neurotic if they knew nothing about nature (Jung 1965, 166) and his holistic psychology evolved out of a deep connection with nature.4 His concepts of the archetypes and the collective unconscious allow for the most basic critique of western culture, including our dysfunctional relationship with nature and our prejudice against the indigenous worldview. Jung’s ideas about individuation and the Self present a fractal/basic pattern embracing the intra-psychic through a cultural integration with nature.

Archetypes, also called historical dominants, can influence a culture for millennia. Jung saw Christianity, for example, as being a dualist religion. The dark side of God, the Devil, is irreconcilably split off and repressed, particularly as described in Revelations.6 This has negative consequences for Western attitudes and valuations of the feminine, the body, sexuality and sensuality, and nature (Hannah 1991, 150-153). Jung saw Christianity as a dead myth because church authorities have not allowed it to grow and evolve as the Holy Ghost was sent to do (Jung 1965, 331-342). He saw in the work of the alchemists an attempt to compensate Christianity and redeem nature and the soul of humankind. Jung recognized the alchemists as the first modern depth psychologists albeit unconscious of their intra-psychic nature. He found alchemical symbolism most closely mirrored his personal shamanic confrontation with the unconscious.7 Alchemy became

2 There are of course psychiatrists who are notable exceptions to the psychopharmacological model. James Gustafson in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Psychiatry Department is a master of the one-hour interview influenced by D. W. Winnicott’s approach. Very Brief Psychotherapy describes this approach using important elements of dynamic systems theory. 3 The ecocentric worldview of the deep ecologists is in direct contrast to mainline philosophy, about which William Barrett (1979) commented: The idea of nature has played a small part in contemporary philosophy. Bergson once remarked that most philosophers seem to philosophize as if they were sealed in the privacy of their study and did not live on a planet surrounded by the vast organic world of animals, plants, insects, and protozoa, with whom their own life is linked in a single history. (page 363 quoted in Fox 1991, 107) The noted philosopher of science, Karl Popper, said the greatest scandal of philosophy was that philosophers continue to question whether the world exists while nature is perishing around them (Popper 1974, 32, quoted in Fox 1991,107). 4 For a collection of Jung’s writings on nature, see The Earth has a Soul: The Nature Writings of C. G. Jung, edited by Meredith Sabini.

5

A very readable presentation of Jung’s ideas is Man and His Symbols (Jung et al. 1964) (hardback edition recommended). The section on the Self by Marie-Louise von Franz is particularly good (pp. 196-229). 6 For Jung’s analysis of the dark side of God, see Answer to Job in Jung 1969b, pages 355-4710 and Jung 1965, pages 216-217, 327-342. 7 See chapter 3, “Confrontation with the Unconscious”, in Jung’s autobiography, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, pages 170-199 (Jung 1965). For more on alchemy, see Jung 1965, pages 200-206, 209-213

154

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE the main symbolic system for the psychoanalytic approach Jung developed.

nations, each with their own center (DeMallie 1984, 8990, 129-130, Neihardt 1979, 43).

Deep self-examination or psychoanalytic work goes beyond personal experiences and into the cultural or archaic levels of the collective unconscious; the realm of the archetypes (Jung 1965, 132, 140-145). These deeper levels are communicated to consciousness via symbols and myths, symbols being forms comprised of unconscious, mysterious, unknown elements together with consciously recognizable elements. Symbols and myths fascinate consciousness, becoming determinants in how people perceive and respond to the world and how they establish their ethics and value systems. Attempts to understand, articulate, artistically present and rationally explain symbols gradually expands and enriches consciousness. Dogmatism or a dry rationalism destroys the living power of a symbol over time, for example, the symbol of the cross.

Jung’s basic concepts of the archetypes, the collective unconscious and the structure and functioning of the psyche are currently being reformulated within the framework of dynamic systems theory (DST). DST is related to mathematical dynamics and chaos theory, all dealing with non-linear phenomena. The weather, population dynamics, epidemics, fluid dynamics and economics are not linear systems – those that can be graphed with a straight line, are solvable, and can be dissected into pieces and put together again. DST reveals that many unpredictable and unstable dynamics never settle down to a fixed value or repeatable pattern but neither do they move off into infinity. DST provides mathematical descriptions of the dynamics of transformation and the complexities of the selforganizing qualities of organic and inorganic systems containing many elements (complexities) that remain stable over time. With additional input into a dynamic system, new information can be generated that allows it to escape a stable state and create a new state. Dynamic systems can self-organise because they can influence their own controls by decision-making possibilities at transition points.

Jung’s sharpest critique of modern culture is that it has lost a sense of the mythic and symbolic realms of psychic experience. He attributed this to an undue emphasis on rationalism, the dominance of a 19th century scientific worldview and a focus on consciousness while ignoring the unconscious. Jung felt it was essential for a modern person to integrate their cultured consciousness with the ‘primitive’ human, what he liked to call ‘the two million year-old-man within.’ The indigenous person lives a symbolic and mythic life with a perception of the sacredness of nature. Jung believed it was important for city apartment dwellers to have their own garden plots so the primate within them could develop (Jung 1963, 200). Rather than hope for an ecological new religion to emerge, Jung challenges every individual to go on a heroic inner journey led by symbols and Big Dreams that spontaneously arise from the all-uniting psychic depths.

The basic elements of DST are illustrated by a pendulum. The range of the swing through which the pendulum moves is called the phase space. The phase space defines a basin of attraction for the pendulum’s movement. An attractor, in this case gravity, is a hidden global force that shapes the overall behaviour of a system. It is the pattern of behaviour to which the system ‘settles down’ or is attracted. Disturbing the pendulum causes it to go through a phase transition before it settles in a new phase space, defining a new attractor. Most complex systems such as the weather show a sensitive dependence on initial conditions where a small change in initial conditions produces great differences later on. Plotting the results of the differential equations describing these complex phenomena reveals infinitely variable and unpredictable results that nonetheless exist within defined boundaries. These are the properties of a strange attractor. Plotting a strange attractor reveals a fractal, a geometric object that has the same structure at any level of magnification (scalar invariance), such as the branching pattern of a hardwood tree.

Jung observed that many people in analysis had Native Americans as Self-images in their dreams when their analytic process reached the deeper levels of the psyche (Jung 1975, 242, 380, 396). He held in high regard Joseph Neihardt’s book Black Elk Speaks, about the life of a Teton Sioux Holy Man, because it illustrates how rituals and ceremonies can arise from the visions of a single individual. It is remarkable that the archetypal image in a dream of Jung’s that finally convinced him of the reality of the Self was basically similar to an image in Black Elk’s vision. In 1927, Jung dreamt he was in the centre of Liverpool, where a flowering magnolia tree bathed in its own light was on a small island within a circular pool. The pool was in the centre of a city square with the various quarters of the city radiating out from it. Each quarter had a centre replicating the main square (Jung 1965, 197-199). Black Elk’s vision in 1874 (one year before Jung was born) at the age of nine was of a flowering tree at the center of a great hoop of all the

Fractals have a non-integer dimension (an integer is a whole number, so 1.3 is an example of a non-integer). The more complex a system, the larger the number of dimensions. Dynamic systems can emerge even from simple systems that are given increased energy or size. At a certain point an infinite number of values becomes possible and the outcomes become unpredictable. At this point selforganization emerges leading to new patterns of organization.

and 221, and volumes 12, 13 and 14 of the Collected Works. Also see von Franz 1975, pages 199-235.

155

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS By framing the non-linear dynamics of processes, DST disrupts the stranglehold that linear scientific thinking has held on the Western psyche. There is a strong element of perfectionism in the Cartesian-Newtonian worldview of a gigantic mechanical universe operating with clockwork regularity. DST models the reality that things seldom develop in a straightforward manner. Even simple systems have small irregularities that soon balloon to unpredictable proportions (sensitive dependence on initial conditions). DST honours the significance of chance and random events that occur more frequently than we like to admit yet they significantly affect our sense of fate and destiny.

behaviour but it emerges from embodied experience in given environments (Hogenson 2004b, 69). A child does not learn a language, for example, because it inherited complex neuroprogramming for language formation and grammar. The neural capacity of brain required by this model is not large enough (Hogenson 2001, 604). The situated conditions for a child learning a language are human anatomical features like vocal cords, a brain structure that favours formations of concepts such as form and action and distinct differences from adults in short-term memory that facilitates picking up a language. Very important is the child’s immersion in a culture of adult humans with developed language ability. Adults spend endless hours directly and indirectly coaching and modelling language for children who try to mimic and learn by feedback mechanisms (ibid.).

DST counters the Western hang-up on a linear development that is ever improving, which fed such recalcitrant ideas as Manifest Destiny as part of God’s providence for America. Indigenous cultures are viewed with impunity because their cyclic worldviews are perceived to be going around in circles and never improving. Indigenous cultures feel at one with nature by linking their spiritual lives with the cycles of nature and the great cycle of life (as we will see with the medicine wheel).

Jungian analyst George Hogenson has been a leader in applying DST to Jungian concepts. His premise is: …archetypes [and the collective unconscious] do not exist in some particular place be it the genome or some transcendent realm of Platonic ideas. Rather, the archetypes are the emergent properties of the dynamic developmental system of brain, environment and narrative (Hogenson 2001, 607).

Jung described this indigenous worldview at the intrapsychic level as the personal experience of the archetype of the Self:

The concept of archetypes as emergent phenomena replaces the cognitive model used by many Jungians of the brain containing representations of typically encountered situations in the world. The mind is taken to consist of a large number of highly defined, innate modular components (the innate a priori archetypes) that guide perception and behaviour (Hogenson 2003, 108).

…the goal of psychic development is the self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self. Uniform development exists, at most, only in the beginning; later, everything points toward the center…finding the mandala [sacred circle] as an expression of the self…was for me the ultimate (Jung 1965, 196-197). Jung’s Liverpool mandala dream was the culmination of an intense inner journey that began after his tumultuous split from Freud in 1913. The dream gave him a sense of finality to realize that the center is the goal in life:

The most significant environment inhabited by the human psyche is the world of symbols. Very early in human evolution we became a symbol-using creature living in “a natural environment of meaning” that subsequently shaped the organic development of the species (HendriksJansen, 1996, xi, quoted in Hogenson 2000, 20). We are very susceptible to the symbolic and cultural environment we live in (Hogenson 2000, 20).

One could not go beyond the center. The center is the goal, and everything is directed toward that center. Through this dream I realized that the self is the principle and archetype of orientation and meaning. Therein lies its healing function (Jung 1965, 198199).

Jungian psychology is based on the reality of the symbolic realm and the goal of finding meaning in life.8 It is therefore necessary to understand the symbol if one is to understand the psyche. Terrance Deacon, one of the foremost researchers in DST, uses mathematical analogues, as did Jung, to describe the absolute autonomy and formal restraints that seems to characterise symbols. Jung stated that numbers were the purest form of the archetypes and best illustrated their ‘just so’ nature (Jung 1969a, 456-458; Jung 1970, 409-410). Deacon compared symbols to prime numbers in mathematics that exist independently of the brain or anything else—they are

Most things operate within certain parameters with endless and unique variations within those parameters. A parameter that Western philosophies and culture have largely ignored is that humans are an integral part of the natural environment. We are living on a bubble that is about to burst, as Lester Brown describes in his book, Plan B 2.0, concerning the impending water crisis. Situated robotics has an intimate link with DST. Robots with simple initial programs to do simple acts of perception and response in given environments soon produce complex and unprogrammed patterns of behaviour. The robots are not programmed for complex

8 For Jung’s thoughts on the importance of symbolism, see “The Symbolic Life” in Jung 1976, especially paragraphs 617, 627-628, 633, 637-638, 665, 673-674 and 686.

156

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE discovered rather than constructed (Deacon 2003, 98 referenced in Hogenson 2005, 279-280). Hogenson suggests that humans don’t create the symbolic world that we inhabit but just realize or fall into it (Hogenson 2005, 280).

(Hogenson 2005, 278). In this perspective the symbolic is: more than simply a system of representations but rather a relatively autonomous self-organizing domain in its own right (ibid. 281). The complex and the archetype are fundamentally structured [fractals] like the symbol, only the archetype exhibits itself at the point where symbolic density transcends the carrying capacity of the complex and moves into a more collective realm…[at] an iterative moment in the selforganization of the symbolic world (ibid. 2005, 279).

In the end one’s sense of self is the virtual reality of a symbolic self. Deacon’s position is that Consciousness of self…implicitly includes consciousness of other selves, and other consciousnesses can only be represented through the virtual reference created by symbols (Deacon 1997, 452 quoted in Hogenson 2004b, 77).

Jung located synchronicity within the context of the symbolic, usually associated with archetypal material. As the symbolic density increases within the archetypal realm, a synchronicity may emerge. A profound affective sense of meaning that can change a person’s life (change in phase state) is felt when inner and outer worlds are juxtaposed in a synchronistic event (ibid. 280-281).

It is a symbolic self that is the source of our judgments, fear of death, and sense of intentionality (ibid.). What, for example, is the reality of their body that an anorexic sees in a mirror? Our most real experience is a virtual reality born out of the virtual, not the actual, reference offered by symbols (ibid.). The ‘security blanket’ (transitional object) is the first experience of virtual reality for an infant and forms the basis for symbolic play, creativity and ultimately the religious experience (Winnicott 1951, 229-242).

Indigenous cultures honour synchronistic events and the symbolic dimension of the psyche. This facilitates the self-organising nature of the symbolic world in its production of myths and images of the Self. Many ceremonies, rituals and practices, such as singing, meditating, sweat lodges and vision quests, serve the purpose of increasing the symbolic density in an individual and a culture. Sacred sites facilitate the process by presenting a symbolic pattern most relevant to the supporting myth of a group and directly incorporating elements of the local environment into a context of meaning. Finding or creating a place in the environment that reflects the inner world of symbolism, or helps it emerge, adds meaning to life and helps root a person and tribe to the land. The land, its inhabitants and its seasons and changes come to be seen within a unified symbolic Gestalt where outer and inner are one, creating a sense of life as an ongoing synchronistic experience. A sundancing friend who has done several four-day vision quests on a hillside without food and water described the experience in exactly this manner—a continuous synchronistic experience.

Hogenson uses the properties of intensely self-organizing systems to reformulate Jung’s system as it relates to symbolism and language. This is illustrated by steadily pouring sand onto a pile. At some unpredictable point, an avalanche will occur that reorganises the pile. It is hypothesized that language emerges when we move away from a one-to-one correspondence between a signal and an object. This complex process of the origin of language requires a phase transition: A linguistic avalanche will eventually occur, which radically reorganizes the entire system, including the brains of those who are engaged in the process (Hogenson 2005, 277). The phase shift to language in human evolution would have been more intelligible as the transcendental reality of the symbolic was encountered for the first time (Hogenson 2004a, 15). Every individual has their own set of associations or semantic networks with particular words, yet these networks are self-similar (scalar invariant) from children’s books to Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. (Hogenson 2004a, 4). Single words or symbols can have an enormous range of associative connections and they vary with the individual. Jung called complexes (‘hangups’ in the popular jargon) a ‘feeling toned group of associations’ that includes images, memories and an individual’s structural pattern of word associations.

Sacred sites, ceremonies and rituals contain and guide individuals and societies to help them transition from one phase to another. The goal is to journey well through life and not get stuck in particular forms and stages of development (cf. pubertal male initiation ceremonies). Huge phase transitions occurred when American Indian tribes moved into new areas, adopted agricultural practices, incorporated the horse into their cultures, etc. Black Elk’s second great vision, during the Ghost Dance when he was an adult, incorporated significant elements of Christianity that he had been exposed to (DeMallie 1984, 263-266).

Hogenson proposes that Jung’s entire system of association, complex, archetype, self, and synchronistic event are a continuum of emergent self-similar (fractal) structures within the symbolic system as a whole

Sacred sites in a natural environment promote a connection to nature by helping one be more fully embodied in nature, thus facilitating an experience of transcendence (the archetypal dimension). The wholeness 157

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS of nature and the natural processes to which ‘we are all related’ (Sioux saying) encourage the emergence of the Self-imagery that accompanies an experience of the Self. Elements of the natural environment are usually incorporated into that imagery.

music (Anderson 1998, 10 mentioned in Hogenson 2005, 281). The I Ching, The Book of Changes, has a mathematical base (Gardner 1974) and is an archetypal, imaginable presentation of the basic elements of DST. At five thousand years old, this sagely book is pre-Taoist and pre-Confucian in origin. It emphasises the cyclic nature of events and describes periods of major changes (hexagram 49, Revolution, for example). Jung observed in his foreword to Wilhelm’s I Ching that, for the ancient Chinese, time had a quality as well as quantity (Wilhelm 1967, xxi-xxvi). Everything happening at a given moment shares in the quality of the time, explaining the basis for synchronicity. In DST terms, the quality of the time reflects the phase state or the unique self-organising element active at any moment in time.

The archetype of the Self can be described in DST terms: The self is analogous to the differential equation that defines the state space and the phase transitions of an individual’s life pattern…[It is] a super-ordinate organizing principle that overarches the system of the psyche, and even the psyche world (Hogenson 2004b, 77)…the self [can be] conceptualized as the sum of the available attractor states [the stable patterns] within phase space through which a process of selforganizing emergence can take place at any given point in time (ibid. 76).

Jung noted how watches chopped up time and destroyed the sense of time having a quality (Jung 1965, 240). We facilitate the process by cocooning ourselves from the elements, using artificial lights, and setting our schedules by the clock—‘the world on time’.

The symbolic qualities of the god-image, the Self, are at the far end of the symbolic continuum that Hogenson proposes is similar to how one would chart any selfsimilar (fractal) emergent structure. And indeed, one would have to marvel at the degree to which the genuinely massive symbolic moments in human history, the emergence of the great religions, seem to possess a power of social organization that transcends anything that one would expect from a carpenter’s son, a displaced prince, or the son of a minor merchant family, to acknowledge only the most recent instances of the emergence of such powerful symbolic systems (Hogenson 2005, 282).

There is a dimension of synchronicity Hogenson does not explicitly state that most modern people have experienced and all indigenous cultures honour. Many people have been visited by the spirit of a loved one at the moment that person died unbeknown to them and often hundreds of miles away. Examples like this convinced Jung and Noble Prize winning physicist Wolfgang Pauli that there is an element of the psyche that exists outside time and space—space and time are relative to the psyche (Jung 1969a, 512-515). A Buddhist worldview is implied by synchronicity, where everything is immediately in relationship with everything else—the ultimate dimension of relationship in ecopsychology.

Jung emphasized that the transformative moments and experiences occur within an individual. If that individual can communicate their experience in a way that resonates with others and express in a meaningful way what is ‘in the air’, a movement or religion may emerge (Jung 1963b, 549). Jung referred to Black Elk’s ceremonial expressions of his great childhood vision as an example of how an individual’s symbolic experience can become a meaningful ritualistic experience for a group.

The most convincing evidence for synchronicity is presented in Rupert Sheldrake’s Dogs that Know When Their Owners are Coming Home. Dr. Richard Wiseman, a consulting editor of the Skeptical Inquirer, verified the statistical validity of a carefully designed experiment. It proved that a dog would go to his waiting place at home shortly after a call was randomly placed to his owner, who then went home by public transit (Sheldrake 1999, 54-63).

An unusual aspect of Black Elk’s vision was the frequent mandala (sacred circle) imagery (DeMallie 1984, 86). I postulate this was because Black Elk was given the entire pantheon of Lakota Sioux spirits whereas most Holy Men and healers receive only one or a few. A universally ideal way of showing relationships (meaning) between seemingly disparate elements is the mandala, a superb Self symbol.

DST is also being applied to mythology. Patterns of human interaction have selectively evolved that best facilitate human development. This is a co-evolution model in which artefacts generated by humans, including cultural forms like myths, are at least as important as the evolution of human mental abilities (Hogenson 2001, p. 602). The premise is that the language of the great stories (the myths) evolved by “Darwinism in the realm of language” (Blumenburg 1985 quoted in Hogenson 2004b, 74-75) to work within an infant’s brain and developmental setting (Deacon 1997 referenced in Hogenson 2004b, 75). Hogenson summarizes HendriksJansen’s argument as being:

Hogenson’s hypothesis puts the symbolic domain at the most fundamental ecopsycyhological level: “The symbolic can be understood as a part of nature, sharing the characteristics of other great processes in nature, from the ion transfers in the brain to the destructive force of a great volcano” (Hogenson 2005, 283). It is intriguing that these processes also characterise dream (REM) sleep (Anderson and Mandell 1996, mentioned in Hogenson 2005, 281) and sound intensity variations in melodic 158

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE that the human adaptation is oriented to life in an environment of narrative meaning, and that the structures of the mind derive from the developmental experience of adult narratives, including mythic narrative, rather than from innate structures in the brain (Hogenson et al. 2003, 378).

all elements and the sheer awesomeness of nature can affect and structure their psyches. The human cultural element of our situated environment must develop and pass on stories and teachings about what has been learned about being full human beings who can live sustainability on the land. Sacred sites are an admixture of nature and cultural artefacts designed to educate the soul and reveal how indeed ‘we are all related’.

An essential element of Jungian psychology from a DST perspective is that:

A crucial element for human development and the analytic process is what contemporary psychologists call the ‘holding environment’ and the ‘analytic vessel’. Jung described this with the symbolism of the alchemical vessel. Ego consciousness needs a certain degree of cohesiveness to function and sustain exposure to powers from the unconscious and impingements from the outer world. The powerful, formative first experience of the container begins with the mother-infant bonding whose quality is determined by how the infant is held and cared for. The mother must do a ‘good enough’ job at this and subsequently withstand the attacks by the infant and young child. Throughout the process, the mother must give the child a sense of being deeply loved (Winnicott 1951, 160, 262-277). Harry Harlow’s experiments with monkeys in the 1950s proved to a disbelieving academia that love is needed for normal development in monkeys and humans (Blum 2002).

the presence of simple patterns of perception and action, occurring in species typical environments and enlisting species typical forms of interpretation, will be seen to give rise to the immense beauty and complexity of the great myths of our species (Hogenson 2001, 608). Alchemy and the myths offer portraits of the attractors (the mysterious forces that establish and maintain patterns). Alchemy in particular presents the archetypal imagery and symbolic processes accompanying the transition states from one phase to another. Hermes can be regarded as the god of Jungian ecopsychology and DST because he more than any god in our Western tradition symbolises the myth-producing capacity in the human psyche and the process of journeying and transiting between phases at any level. The myths, archetypal imagery and rituals at the deepest levels of Western culture, concern the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greeks at the cusp between nature religions (our indigenous roots) and the beginning of modern culture. Each god or goddess represents a worldview, a complete Gestalt from their perspective (a stable attractor (DST) /an archetype) (Kerenyi 1944, 3, 46, 47, 55). The essence/spirit of that view is portrayed by myths, imagery and rituals. It is also created by the Gestalt of the location peculiar to the temple of that god or goddess, the temple design, their sacred plants and animals, and the smells accompanying them. One must also note the types of incense used in the temples, the particular food and drink, the direction the temple faced, the seasons or weather phenomena associated with each god (Hermes being associated with the transition between winter and spring and summer and winter, for example), or associations with a particular time of day (midday was Pan’s time, when no shadow was cast).

The archetype of the Self provides the transpersonal base for the ego in its various stable states. The Self includes the archetype represented by Hermes, who illuminates the chaotic nature of the phase transitions. A protective and sustaining container is needed to negotiate the transitional states. This can be experienced, for example, with a real or imaginary friend or friends, an analyst and the analytic process and ceremonies and meditative practices. Special spots in nature, especially sacred sites, offer a sense of orientation that leads to a feeling of connection, meaning and transcendence. Indigenous peoples believe that a person becomes physically and mentally ill because they don’t see how they fit in with the grand scheme of things; if they lose their spiritual orientation in the world. According to Cheyenne and Sioux accounts, a person becomes the cosmic centre of the universe when observing an equinox or solstice sunrise from a sacred circle (Bender 2002, 5). The alignment at that moment links heaven with earth when the vertical (eternal spiritual) connects with the horizontal (material spacetime) manifested as the four directions of the universe (Coe 1977, 14 and Mails 1972, 97-101 referenced in Bender 2002, 5). The individual becomes witness to the moment of creation, a singularity in physics; the presence of the Creator (Bender 2002, 5). One also becomes the cosmic centre when performing a pipe ceremony, where, in loading the pipe, tobacco is offered to the four cardinal directions, plus above and below, before being placed into the pipe. The rising smoke carries the prayers upward from earth and human to the heavens, linking the two realms. A Lakota sweat lodge ceremony begins with the four-directions song and the lodge becomes the sacred centre, the sacred container or temenos. The sacred circle

The gods represent the transpersonal essence of a situation or trait and help bring it to consciousness. Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture was meant to represent the spirit or essence of a place, helping one be more conscious and connected with place—be placed and rooted to the land. The robot as human needs experience of the situated environment of nature to facilitate full human development and to realise our inseparable bond with nature. It is a tragedy that most modern people, especially those living in big cities, have not had the opportunity to spend extended periods in uncontaminated nature so that the beauty, complexity, interconnections of 159

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS of the Sundance has the Sundance tree in the centre that links heaven and earth.

feeling for indigenous cultures and archaic sacred sites. Jung required those training to be analysts to pass an exam on primitive cultures that included an archetypal perspective. He noted that dreams provided the ‘original guidance’ for humans and that shamans could receive their calling in dreams (Jung 1976, 286).

The alchemical process of symbolically transforming the lead in one’s life or culture into gold occurs in the space of the sacred container, the alchemical vessel, which facilitates the emergence of an inner centre. In the vessel the roots of destructive old forms can be brought to consciousness and, by the grace of dreams and visions, the formerly bound energy is offered images by which it can flow into life-enhancing and life-sustaining new forms. Being in the centre, be it with an analyst, close friend, sacred site, pipe or sweat lodge, facilitates the ability to remain in the phase transitional space (in DST terms) of the ‘original’ unformed energy. This has been described as being in the Tao that I see as being related to Hermes’ realm. Out of this may come a moment of creation, a rebirth; a singularity in scientific terms. In the Bible, God commanded there be no graven images of It because It can assume any possible image. An image of the Self can age over time as it loses its emotional dynamism and sense of wholeness.

My best training for developing a symbolic perspective came through many hours of practising the analysis of fairytales in order to pass the six-hour final fairytale exam at the Zurich Jung Institute. The student is given a fairytale not seen by them before and the use of symbol dictionaries. Six hours later the student has to produce a typed analysis of the tale that is graded by three examiners. Training for this exam was augmented by the symbolic and archetypal focus in practically every course and discussion. With this background we can work with the numinous meadow dream as an example of how to use dreams to deepen our consciousness and our connection to a particular region. The Jungian approach to dream work can be applied to any landscape, season, climate, and impression from the sky or sacred site.

The Self extends across historical time frames, as Jung showed in his analysis of the Christian era. Images and beliefs evolve and even God can die. We see these fractals/archetypes of creation and destruction of forms at all levels of nature, from the molecular to the intergalactic, from the succession of biotic zones to the life cycles of stars. As humans, we can consciously experience these phases physiologically and in the virtual reality of symbolic space—fairytales and alchemy offering prime examples.

Every landscape has a soul, a particular character. What impression does one get of the total landscape? Does it feel dry and barren, rugged and challenging or lush and nurturing? My meadow was in the Upper Midwest. What does Midwest mean in America as opposed to East Coast, the South, Southwest or West Coast? One then analyses the individual elements. Topography is important: how do flat prairies feel different from gently rolling hills? A big factor there is the degree of the earth’s intrusion into the sky. Flat land opens one up to the sky—the sky and its activities impress itself more deeply on the psyche. Even low hills considerably reduce the sky’s impact and bring the focus more down to earth.

The Self can be revivified by many means. Jungian analyst James Hillman resurrected the neo-Platonic ideal of Aphrodite as the soul of the world in a manner that illustrates how the outer world can significantly structure the human psyche and create a sense of soul (Hillman 1992). He emphasizes approaching the world with a feeling, imagining heart instead of an analytical, rational mind; approaching the world as a lover to the beloved. Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and sensuality, can transform the soul through the erotic aspects of nature and life (Qualls-Corbett 1988, 58-59). This restores one to a virginal nature that we associate with the wilderness. In DST terms, engaging the world as if it were Aphrodite raises the energy in a psychic system. This increases the symbolic density that can lead to phase transitions out of which may emerge greater complexity, increased dimensions, creative new responses or even a new worldview.

A woman dreamed that she should live where the glacier had been. Glaciers left a significant impact on the Midwest and one cannot begin to appreciate the land here and its past dramas without a knowledge of glaciers. They impacted the soils in a way that facilitated the development of agriculture; they disrupted river systems and created potholes, lakes and wetlands; they formed unique topographical features, such as moraines, drumlins and eskers—each with its own feel. Each type of water system has its own smells, flora and fauna, amount of organic matter contained, etc. It takes a combination of scientific knowledge and Hillman’s ‘imaginative heart’ to fully experience these elements. Artistic creations—poems, music, nature writing, photography and painting--facilitate the process.

Jung felt it was tragic that modern people lack a mythic dimension in their lives (Jung 1965, 144, 300-302) and he emphasized the importance of developing a symbolic perspective. A mythic dimension with a symbolic perspective is central to a DST understanding of basic human ‘nature’. Most people, including many academics in the liberal arts, do not have a symbolic eye. Having a symbolic eye is crucial for anthropologists and archaeologists in order to have an understanding and

An example of how I worked with the glacial impact on the Midwest is available in a published article and also on my website (Merritt 1993). This process can be extended into an archetypal analysis of the Midwest environment, looking at the impact on the psyche of the various plants, wild and cultivated, and the imaginal and symbolic 160

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE NORTH Winter White White Buffalo Wisdom Old Age Trial (Perseverance) Intuition

dimensions of its two dominant animals—the cow and the pig. The glacial influence on the Midwest provided the foundation and topographic matrix for the manifestation of the nourishing side of the archetype of Great Mother and her devotee, the farmer. Weather was also a numinous element in the meadow dream and, indeed, one cannot separate the state and the changes in the sky from short-and long-term organic and inorganic formations on the earth. We have a multisensual response to weather and the seasons. They directly affect our moods, perceptions and physiology, right down to the glandular level (Redgrove 1987, 78114). Whether the biota is lush or sparse largely depends on temperature and rainfall. Glaciers reflect millennial changes in climate that impacts the composition of the soil and shape of the land.

WEST Autumn Black Bear Evaluation Adult Harvest (Furthering) Feeling

EAST Spring Yellow Eagle Light, Illumination Birth Spring (Supreme) Thinking SOUTH Summer Red or Green Mouse or Coyote Innocence, Playfulness Youth Growth (Success) Sensation

Weather is one of the prime examples of DST in action. The unpredictability of weather prompted 19th century scientists to begin to ignore the powerful effects of weather on the human psyche because weather phenomena did not fit into a linear analysis (Redgrove 1987, 82-84).

Figure 12.1. The Medicine Wheel experienced a thunderstorm on the American prairies cannot help but be awed. There is a powerful destructiveness in thunderstorms that the Lakota see as necessary to break up old, particularly destructive, forms. But rains also accompany the storms, necessary to nourish the growth of new forms. The west thus becomes associated with the archetype of death and rebirth.

Weather adds a rapidly fluctuating element to an environment such as the Midwest and the powerful seasonal transitions deeply impress the psyche. “In paying so much attention to the nuances of a landscape going through the changing seasons, the painter is in reality expressing the state of his own soul,” says Francois Cheng, professor of Chinese art (Cheng 1994, 80). Both weather and seasonal transitions are domains of the Greek god Hermes. I believe Hermes best expresses in mythic and symbolic form the nature of DST.

Wisdom from the I Ching can be superimposed on the The ancient Chinese Cheyenne medicine wheel.9 described four phases in any cycle of change: Spring, Growth, Harvest and Trial (Ritsema 1995, 66-67). These concepts are described more abstractly in the classic Wilhelm translation of the I Ching as Supreme, Success, Furthering and Perseverance. Spring is a bursting forth, a coming into existence, the first manifestation and therefore associated with the east. Growth is the development into full form from what begin to manifest

The Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne medicine wheels provide excellent examples of the association of the seasons with the directions, important in considering the symbolism in sacred landscapes. The Cheyenne associate the east with spring and the stable attractor/theme of light and illumination (Storm 1972, 6) (fig. 12.1). Its animal is usually the eagle because it soars closest to grandfather sun. The south is associated with summer. Its animal is often the mouse because it pays careful attention to details--it is fully embodied in life. The coyote may also be in the south. Coyote represents the playful innocence of childhood that can see things in creative new ways. Its trickster energy cuts through deceptions as did the child who proclaimed the emperor had no clothes. Wilhelm called the fourth hexagam in the I Ching ‘Youthful Folly’ and associated it with Parsifal as the pure fool (Wilhelm 1967, 20). The west is associated with autumn. Its animal is usually the bear because this huge animal prepares to hibernate in autumn and that makes a big impression on the psyche. The north is associated with winter. Its animal is the white buffalo—a symbol of the wisdom of old age (Storm 1972, 6).

9 The Taoists ‘universal view’ of the variations in natural energy place the east on the left and the south at the top of the circle. The Cheyenne arrangement I describe is what the Taoists call the ‘global view’ (Ni 1983, 65-66). The Taoist master Ni, Hua Ching, offers a condensed version of the cyclic flow of natural energy (ibid. 3-204). This comprehensive system archetypically links directions, seasons, the calendar system, acupuncture points, Chinese astrology, health conditions, spiritual development and more. He also associates climatic conditions with each hexagram (ibid. 209 ff). The ideogram for the Tao is described as “the head that walks.” My understanding of the goal of being in the Tao is to be conscious (“the head”) of the quality of the time—inner as it relates to outer—as one journeys through life one step at a time. One is to be fully in each moment of time. Consulting the I Ching facilitates this type of awareness (see Merritt 2001 and the I Ching section on my web site

Jung’s biggest challenge to humans was to become as conscious as possible. Not to do so contributes to environmental problems and the enormous human shadow that results in terrorism, wars, racism, etc. Jung said we desperately need more understanding of the human psyche, more psychology, because “We are the origin of all coming evil” (Jung 1959, 390).

The Lakota have a different system. Their sweat lodges open to the west, associated with the supreme Wakan (power) of the thunderstorm. Anyone who has 161

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS in Spring and therefore would be associated with the south. Harvest, a cutting off (death) to reap in the profits of a stage of growth, is an association to the west. Trial is a stage of testing that can reveal a truth, a clear association with the north and what the Lakota call the purifying north wind (fig. 12.1). Many of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching have seasonal analogies. Hexagram 24, The Turning Point, for example, is associated with the winter solstice (Wilhelm 1967, 97) (fig. 12.4).

sense of awe. Awe is the beginning of religion and it instils a sense of spirit—spirit as that which moves us, that which our will does not have control over. The ways of the spirit often seem as unpredictable, evanescent and as hauntingly beautiful as the dance of northern lights. Spirit is associated with breath and air. Air cannot be seen, yet things can materialize ‘out of thin air’—rain, snow and hail. These precipitations, plus the purely physical quality of the air in terms of degrees of temperature, profoundly affects the land and the organisms immersed in it. The northern winter air forces the myriad of adaptations of life to survive in it. Landscapes are totally changed by leaf fall, the quiet absence of most birds and the simple topographies of white snow shaped by the wind into the sinuous patterns of snowdrifts.

Birth is associated with the east, youth with the south, adulthood in the west and old age in the north. Colour symbolism helps complete the Gestalt, with yellow (the sun) in the east, red or green (animal or plant life) in the south, black (death) in the west and white (the purity of snow and the wisdom of old age [white hair]) in the north (Storm 1972, 6). In developmental terms, the death associated with the West would be the death of a purely physical, worldly orientation to life, what the Hindus call maya. Jung said at midlife one’s orientation naturally shifts to the spiritual domain.

The power of the sun and the consequences of its annual movement are particularly felt in northern environments. The sun appears as an almost totally abstract power operating in one sense independently, yet predictably, of the physical manifestation of its effects. By abstract I mean that the sun is the largest and most powerful pure form of a circle we experience in nature: it is perfectly round, perfectly plain because it lacks surface features, is two dimensional because it is too bright to give a sense of depth and volume and is primarily associated with something totally incorporeal that we call light. It carries all the archetypal depths of the symbolic meaning of a circle whose abstract sense is barely more than what can be shown in the two dimensional form of a circle drawn on paper. And yet all life depends on this seeming abstraction—a visible impression of a circular spirit that has no face and is pure light.

Jung’s psychological typology system can also be overlaid on the medicine wheel. The abstract power of an original thought (the east) would be associated with the thinking function. The sensation function manifests the thoughts and grounds the concepts in reality and created forms in the south. The feeling function evaluates what is manifest—does one save or destroy it (the activity of the thunderstorm) in the west. An intuitive sense of the meaning of it all (the intuitive function) would be in the north. The east and south would be more associated with yang and extraversion and the west and north with yin and introversion.

This spirit is experienced in the effects of light and warmth on growth and sustaining life. Of paradoxical importance and particular significance for the sacred sites in the upper Midwest are the sun’s movements that foretell a future direction for the life force. Before the physical manifestations on earth of the sun’s movement are reaching optimum expression at peak summer or winter seasons, the sun just after the solstices begins to move in the opposite direction of its effects. This impresses the psyche in two important ways. Development is not linear but oscillates between extremes of yin and yang. While forms are reaching optimum development a counter action occurs; the abstract spiritual follows its own course that takes a while before physical forms and activities follow suit.

One is born into a particular position on the medicine wheel. The goal is to be able to stand in any spot on the circle, to see life from every perspective. That would be a highly individuated person from a Jungian perspective. It is the challenge for every psychotherapist to understand how the patient sees the world. Metaphorically speaking from a process perspective, one tries to be fully into every season and its changes, which is to be in the Tao. The seasons of the upper Midwest are distinct, powerful and dramatic. The season I find most impressive is winter. To fully experience the teachings of winter, one has to have a winter that is deadly to life that kills off life forms or forces these forms to adapt to it. Adaptations include the flight of migration, the deep sleep of hibernation, the cessation of life activities in the tree cambium, or modifications in behaviour and body cover, be it fur or clothing. Winter can be a powerful teacher, if one can be open to its lessons, but most people just complain about how cold it is.

The Chinese sages developed an extensive elaboration of this relationship between heaven and earth in The I Ching. Its roots go back to shamanism and the oldest writing in the world—proto-Chinese characters scratched on bones the shamans stuck into the fire and used for divination. The Chinese described 4096 combinations (4 to the 6th power) of yin and yang lines to articulate basic archetypal interactions between heaven and earth. The pure form of heaven is hexagram 1, The Creative; 6 yang (solid) lines (fig. 12.2). Earth is depicted in pure form as

A Wisconsin-type winter has many teachings for the receptive student. Elemental forces can get so cold or stormy that we have to submit even with all our technology: the elements become unquestionably a ‘Thou’. The experience of such power (wakan) creates a 162

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE hexagram 2, The Receptive; 6 yin (broken) lines (fig. 12.2). The yin/yang symbol, the t’ai chi tu, captures the quality of flowing interpenetration and integration of these two equally powerful and complementary forces (fig. 12.2).10

Order was seen as the presence of the Divine and the sun circle as a sacred circle symbolized order in the universe (Bender 2002, 3-5). One manifestation of order was the eternal heavenly cycle of changes in star positions, including our local star, that produced seasonal changes on earth that affected all living things. A circle symbolically depicts endless cycles of time because a circle has no beginning and no end and cycles are easily shown in circular form. The time dimension depicted by a circle is united with the spatial dimension because a 360-degree panorama encompasses all of the earthly or horizontal plane of existence while a 360-degree verticalplane circle encompasses above and below. Above and below; all of creation in space-time together with the temporal and the eternal are linked and depicted by a circle.

Figure 12.2 Heaven and earth hexagrams in the I Ching plus the yin-yang symbol.

Herman Bender points out in an important paper that the calendar function of sun wheels served a relatively minor role in ceremonial functions (ibid. 4-5). The primary function was to help set the time to perform particular ceremonies or a sequence of ceremonies. At moments like the solstices, heaven and earth seem to come together because of alignments at sacred sites. The compact with the Divine could be renewed at that time and place (Hall 1985, 183 referenced in Bender 2002, 4). Maintaining a precise timing of the ceremonies and an exact order in the rituals was a way of honoring and linking with the Divine as expressed in universal order. The ceremonies were to help keep the universal order running and receive blessings for maintaining order. Humans could actually help regulate the universe (Hoebel 1960, 82-83 referenced in Bender 2002, 4).

The Chinese employed many seasonal and agricultural metaphors within a continental climatic context to convey the meaning of the line combinations and the relationship of heaven and earth. As such the profundities of Chinese wisdom are experientially available to us in the upper Midwest. The lessons from the earth-sky interaction were not lost on indigenous cultures living with maximum exposure to these elemental changes. Extensive alignments of stones and Native American mound alignments in the Midwest keyed them into the solstices and equinoxes. Rituals, ceremonies, myths and stories accompanying the solar marker points expressed this physical significance in symbolic forms. Among the many functions of ceremonies and sacred sites was a metaphoric reflection from nature of the psychic processes of inspiration, development, harvesting the fruits of a phase of development and then death, wisdom and rebirth into new forms or an afterlife in the spirit realm. Cyclical repetition of ceremonies at the marker sites helped generate and keep in consciousness these significant changes. They united intra-psychic experience with what was happening in the sacred cosmos.

Determining the precise timing of a ceremony and maintaining a strict sequence in the order of rituals and within ritual ceremonies facilitated the emergence (DST term) of the experience of sacred order/spirit/meaning in inner and outer life. I have experienced in Lakota Sioux sweat lodge and Sundance ceremonies how ceremonial attention to exactness of order, sequence, procedure and direction of movement are important elements in creating and maintaining the sense of sacred space and sacred time.

Stone arrangements in the form of medicine wheels are better known as a sun wheels because they take their shape from the sun and the points on the horizon marking the solstices and equinoxes (Bender 2002, 5). The Creator’s presence in the sky, the sun, dictated the centre of the circle. It was the point where the lines of the cardinal directions crossed and/or the alignments to the solstice sunrise and sunset crossed, all lines determined by the seasonal movements of the sun (ibid.). Adding a vertical line to the intersection of the cross in the circle creates a “cosmic axis” linking the upper and lower worlds at the middle where humans live (Hoebel 1960, 14, 41; Taylor and Sturtevant 1996, 474, 476, 481 referenced in Bender 2002, 5)

Jung was impressed in his conversations with a Taos pueblo Holy Man when he realized the tribe felt that all humanity depended on their ceremonies to help the sun rise each morning. This gave their life a divine purpose and humans became co-creators of existence with God— an alchemical concept (Jung 1965, 246-253, Hannah 1991, 160-161). Co-creation is the consequence of an intense I-Thou relationship that involves an essential premise in DST: phenomena come into existence by virtue of the dynamics of the system in which an object is embedded and which it helped form. Once one accepts the objective reality of the psyche, it becomes clear that the Self needs humans to incarnate in space-time and become conscious of Itself. The Self communicates via dreams, myths and archetypal symbolism (Jung 1965, 323-326, 334-342). Jung felt that humanities great and sacred contribution to the universe was that nature

10

For an excellent discussion of the t’ai chi tu symbol with regard to its meaning and relation to human cycles and cycles in nature, see Ni 1983, 28-38.

163

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS becomes conscious of itself through us (Jung 1965, 220, 255-256, 279, 324-326). We are the conscious part of God’s creation and the conscious part of God, incarnating the eternal Self by differentiation of the Self in the spacetime of human reality.

manifest a potential and an inspiration: Thomas Edison’s statement that invention is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Following the stars means to live one’s life in a sacred, archetypal context. The polar star around which the night sky circles provides an anchor for this full range of archetypal imagery. As such, it represents the Self--archetype of the centre and centring element of all opposites and that which embraces the totality of the psyche, consciousness and the unconscious.

The sun is one of the universal symbols of consciousness (Marlan 2000, 181-182) so helping the sun rise can be understood at one level as a recognition of the importance of developing and expanding consciousness. In relation to one’s shadow and the associations of darkness with the unconscious and the lunar realm, Jung said: “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious (Jung 1967, 265266).” The conscious-unconscious relationship is to be understood in all its hermetic subtlety as depicted by the yin-yang symbol and articulated in the I Ching with agricultural and climatic metaphors and analogies.

Within this archetypal storyboard and the psychic time markers of the rise of constellations and the rise of particular stars on the horizon is another major feature of lunar consciousness—the moon and its activities. The moon is of equal diameter to the sun from the human perspective and therefore of equal importance to the psyche. It rules the sky in equal proportion to the sun, with one reign increasing as the other’s decreases. The quality of moonlight is different from that of the sun—it is soft and pleasing. One can stare at the moon without being blinded. It presents a face of an intriguing complexity of lighter and darker areas. It shows some depth and volume. What particularly fascinates the psyche is the moon’s waxing and waning over a cycle of 28 days as it daily changes its position in the night sky. The dramatic cycle resulting in the periodic absence of moonlight and shorter cycle of the moon brings cycling and change into a more immediate and impressive time frame than that of the sun or the annual procession of the constellations.

Complementary to the great annual cycle of the sun associated with solar consciousness are the archetypal associations to the night and the night sky, with its determinant elements of the moon, stars, and planets. Lunar consciousness is associated with darkness. This implies less clarity, greater uncertainty and danger for humans, whose eyes are better adapted to the visible spectrum associated with the sun. There is more moistness at night and night-prowling animals and birds emerge. Human activity at night is most associated with sleep and dreaming. To all indigenous peoples and those of us lucky enough to have grown up or to be living in rural areas, the experience of the night sky is simply awesome. A world of infinitude is revealed in the heavens once the sun sets. The stars and the Milky Way present an almost unimaginable stimulation of the human psyche. The innumerable dots in the sky offer an unlimited Rorschach for the collective unconscious to project into the heavens the internal patterns and processes of the soul. The infinite depth and breath and fixed nature of the heavens calls forth stories of these dimensions—the archetypal stories. The great annual procession of the constellations archetypically guides the psyche through its cultural story-line.

The archetype of the cycle as manifested by the moon has powerful and dramatic physical and associative connections on earth. Those living in coastal areas see an entire ocean rise and fall with the movements of the moon. For humans it is almost uncanny that the female of our species has a 28-day menstruation cycle solidifying her association to the moon. Most animals ovulate only once a year but the human female keeps the powerful sexual dynamic continually alive. Her cycles of ovulations and menstrual flows are symbolically associated with the fertility of the mother archetype followed by the death, rebirth, and wisdom associations to the Black Goddess (Redgrove 1987, 138, 156, 167168).

An exciting dimension of Herman Bender’s work is the discovery of constellations duplicated in stone arrangements on the ground (Bender 2004, 72-77). We know from such sources as the Lakota sky charts how some indigenous peoples in North America oriented their annual activities and ceremonies according to the procession of the constellations (Goodman 1992). Their linking of earth with heavenly features of the night is a statement of the connection of heaven and earth. In Jungian terms this is how the archetypal manifests in time and space, how the more spiritually abstract heavens lead and condition life on earth in three-dimensional timespace. This is expressed in the relationship between hexagrams 1 and 2, where hexagram 2, The Receptive, is to be inspired and led by hexagram 1, The Creative. Hexagram 2 is associated with the work effort it takes to

The most significant planet for many indigenous peoples is Venus, often called the morning and evening star. Every eight years this brightest of planets is at its most brilliant and sets the furthest north. This established the eight-year Venus calendar the ancient Greeks used to set the dates for the Olympic games. The Venus cycle became an integral part of the Mayan calendar system in Central America. Appearing in its soft luminescence as the first ‘star’ at twilight or the last at dawn, it presents a mild light in the liminal and colourful period between darkness and light. In Jungian terms, this leads to feminine associations of the anima as a function of the Self, the anima as a link (liminal position) to the Self. 164

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE This is beautifully illustrated in Lakota mythology, where Skan, seen as the blue sky, is the source of movement and the dispenser of order and justice (Walker 1983, 32, 45). He created Wolpe as a mediator who ‘moves among oppositions to create harmony’ (ibid. 195-196). Skan sent her from the sky to the centre on the earth while the four sons of father Tate, the Wind, were establishing the four directions. The sons circled the earth (ibid. 46-47, 65-66) as the earth was being prepared for habitation by creating order out of chaos (establishing the directions).

gardens, hunting areas and strategic positions (Maier 2001, 116). They are believed to be sites of earth renewal ceremonials (Birmingham 2000, 127, 133) and sites for social, economic and ceremonial activities to link families together and perhaps even village bands and lineages (ibid. 134). The most intriguing effigy mounds occur in clusters that tell stories. A message is conveyed by the type and arrangement of mounds in conjunction with the topography, landscape and events in the heavens (Maier 2001, 98-101). The stories are undoubtedly connected to the beliefs and cosmologies of the cultures that constructed the mounds and models of the relationships of the social divisions and clans (Birmingham 2000, 113, 129, 136). In The Eagle’s Voice—Tales Told by Indian Effigy Mounds, Gary Maier carefully examines several sites around Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, at the centre of the effigy mound culture. He develops a story about a large complex of mounds at the Mendota Mental Health facility beside Lake Mendota using information about the Ho-Chunk (formerly know as the Winnebago), the possible descendents of the effigy mound builders, and beliefs of the Sioux who had lived in this part of Wisconsin. Maier presents an interesting argument that the mounds tell a story of the four-day journey of the spirit after death (Maier 2001, 10-70). He compares the use of mounds to tell stories with the principles used by Michelangelo in constructing the Medici Chapel in Florence to tell a symbolic story with sculptures by the type, placement and the directions his sculptures faced (ibid. 58-63).

Black Elk was told in his great vision that he would ‘get all wisdom to know everything’ from the Daybreak Star (DeMallie 1984, 140). He usually rose every morning at the time of the rise of the morning star (ibid. 226). Wolpe’s archetypal counterpart is Sophia in the JudeoChristian tradition, who, as Yahweh’s feminine partner, embodies wisdom. Sophia acts as a mediator to humankind and was incarnated by Mary (Jung 1969b, 386-390, 396-397, 407-408). Not to be overlooked are the American holidays and special days as an avenue for appreciating the seasons and seeing them in a symbolic manner (Santino 1994). Most holidays have their roots in ancient solstice, equinox and harvest celebrations. Halloween, for example, acknowledges the death of the vegetative growing season associated with activation of the spirit world. Thanksgiving is a celebration of family roots, often at the grandparents, and our nation’s roots with the Puritans and the distinctly North American foods served at the Thanksgiving meal. Christmas is a solstice celebration and a celebration of new life with a focus on children. New Year’s celebrations are for adults and they behave in ways that disrupt the usual order (ibid.).

I will focus on a smaller group of mounds on the other side of the lake that Maier used to develop a simpler story. He begins with the fact that the Ho-Chunk culture had twelve clans consisting of an upper region of four bird clans and a lower region consisting of water spirit ‘chiefs’, bear ‘soldiers’ and other animal and fish clans (ibid. 115).

Studying sacred sites in a symbolic and psychological manner can help school children and adults realize that their meanings are potentially alive in each of us. Those of us living in Wisconsin with an interest in semiotics have the good fortune of being in Native American effigy mound country. The eastern half of the United States was peppered with earthen mounds varying in size from small burial mounds to the huge temple mound structures at Cahokia, Illinois, an International Heritage Site. Three types of mounds are found in abundance in Wisconsin; conical (round or oval), linear (long, low embankments) and the intriguing effigy mounds (mounds in the shape of images). Most of these mounds were constructed between AD 700 and 1200. The effigy mound culture was active in the southern half of Wisconsin with small overlaps into the border states. The mounds range in size between ten and twenty feet to an eagle effigy with a quarter-mile wingspan. Nearly 100 types of effigy mounds were created in the shapes of birds, animals, water spirits, reptiles, fish and the occasional human (Maier 2001, 116, Birmingham 2000, 113-135).

A cluster of twelve mounds on the south shore of Lake Mendota is located on the golf course of the Blackhawk Country Club in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin, adjacent to Madison (fig. 12.3). It consists of a panther mound beside the lake, three conical mounds on the hilltop, three linear mounds on the hillside between the lake and the hilltop, a large goose with extended neck, a hawk flying at a right angle to the goose and three bear mounds on the more level plain near the lake. All mounds are extant, except the hawk mound and parts of the linear mounds. Ho-Chunk elders told the early Europeans, “[the mounds] tell stories like chapters in your books” (ibid. 117). If the story of the Blackhawk mounds is known by the HoChunk, they are not sharing it with Western culture. Maier crafted a story by working with bits of information offered by the Ho-Chunk, a similarity of certain features between the Shorewood mound groups and other mound clusters, and a reading of the symbolism and grammar of the mounds in relation to the landscape.

The mounds served several functions, such as boundaryindicators, burial sites and clan markers of 165

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS November and line four is one of the most negative lines in the I Ching. The goose alignment to the sunset also suggests the approach of night and the disappearance of visible things into the darkness (Maier 2001, 119), symbolic of the unconscious, death and sleep that has been called ‘the little death’. Pointing to the winter solstice sunset strongly suggests the disappearance of the geese via migration. This dramatic behaviour still leaves a deep impression on the psyches of modern men and women. The hawk is flying at a right angle to the path of the goose. At this latitude, that would take it into the winter solstice sunrise (ibid.). Together the two birds bracket the day of the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Knowing that the days will lengthen after the solstice gave hope that the cycles of life would continue (ibid. 120). At another level, it suggests the survival of the individual in the spirit realm after death.

Figure 12.3 The Blackhawk Indian Mounds in Shorewood Hills, Wisconsin (Markquart 1979).

The hawk adds a piece of grammar to the earth writing depicted by the goose’s flight. Being located in front of the goose, it would have to “’take off’ to meet the rising sun before the goose can ‘take off’ to meet the setting sun (ibid.).” The arrangement simply states one thing must happen before another in earth writing as in the physical world (ibid.). The goose was formed atop a narrow hill that slopes up to the crest of the much larger hill of which it is a part. Standing next to it, one feels that the goose is emerging out of the hilltop, reminding us that our bodies come out of Mother Earth, to which we shall return. It is a gigantic bird, with the combination of bird and hill transporting one into the archetypal dimension. Directionality is emphasized by an extraordinarily long neck, even for a goose, that seems to be orienting the earth energy to a point on the horizon. Looking back from the head of the goose along the body of the goose towards the north, one sees the expanse of the large lake. One is reminded that the goose inhabits two realms, the realm of the sometimes dangerous water spirits and the realm of the sky. Geese transit easily between them.

Figure 12.4 Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart, and hexagram 24, Return (The Turning Point). The most prominent element in a dream and other symbolic material suggests the main story line. The goose is the dominant figure in the Shorewood mound cluster with a 200- foot body and 135-foot wingspan. It is not a Ho-Chunk clan animal, in which case there is some element about the animal and/or its behaviour and lifecycle that has some general or specific meaning to the story (ibid. 116). The goose is flying towards the point on the horizon of the winter solstice sunset. This solstice signifies the change of seasons from autumn to winter and symbolizes a transition point from darkness to light that is celebrated around the world (ibid. 119-120). Indeed, many solstice celebrations incorporate light in the form of blazes, candles or our Christmas tree lights.

Another unique use of topography is at the juncture of the neck and body of the goose. The hill slants down more steeply at that point with the body of the goose on the more northern steeper decline. The weight of the body of the goose feels more linked to the earth, now of equal prominence in the field of vision as the lake at this juncture point. The goose is lined up with the very earthy bears (mounds) below.

Symbolically, it suggests a movement from death to life—a rebirth, be it in nature, within the psyche or a lifeafter-death motif. The I Ching links the winter solstice with hexagram 24, The Turning Point. One yang line associated with light and the heavens is depicted as entering from below into five dark yin lines (fig. 12.4). The I Ching says this begins the transformation from the old to the new that is not brought about by force but arises spontaneously in accordance with the time (Wilhelm 1967, 97-98). The hexagram follows hexagram 23, Splitting Apart, where five yin lines are seen as mounting to overthrow the last firm light line (top line) ‘by exerting a disintegrating influence on it’ (ibid. 93) (fig. 12.4). Hexagram 23 is associated with October-

The hawk was located on a relatively flatter area to the left of the goose head, and the hill tapers down just beyond it, leaving an expanse to a more distant hilltop on the horizon. Standing there, one gets more a sense of sky than land or lake. It reminds one that hawks are masters of the day sky through which they effortlessly soar. The goose, by contrast, seems to be exerting effort to reach the crest of the hill just in front of it. Is this making a 166

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE statement about the struggle it takes to enter the darkness and transit to a new direction, orientation or spiritual dimension?

Maier uses information about the Mendota mound group to suggest that the three conical mounds on the highest part of the hill in the southwest are burial mounds for Bear Clan members (ibid. 123-124). The three linear mounds would supplement the conicals by containing people and/or artefacts that “assist the deceased Bear Clan people as they go into the spirit world” (ibid. 122).

Disappearance into the more ethereal, mental or spiritual realm, as symbolized by an aerial migration into the darkness, is complemented by the story of a more concrete, bodily, earthy disappearance. Extending the axis line of the goose backwards and down towards the lake runs it through the body of the mother bear. Following the principle of standing the effigy animals up and seeing where they would move, one sees that the bears would move in the opposite direction of the goose’s flight (ibid. 120). Similar alignments indicate something in common, in this case, disappearance (ibid. 120-121). Bears disappear in winter in the opposite manner of geese—they go into caves in the earth. It makes a dramatic impression on the psyche when the most fearful and dominant animal removes itself underground, where it remains inactive for months at a time. The stilling of such a powerful force as the bear best symbolizes the power of winter on the life force. Earth energy is forced to withdraw.

The story generated by the total Gestalt of these mounds could be that buried Bear Clan members are born again and their spirits live on in the spirit world. The geese that disappear in the autumn return in the spring, just as the spirits of the dead return to communicate to living relatives “as ghosts, apparitions or in dreams” (ibid.). The last mound to consider is the ‘panther’ mound beside the lake, with its paws facing the lake. ‘Panthers’ were water-spirits who were the powerful ‘chiefs’ of the lower region in the Ho-Chunk world. They controlled the power of the depths, the underworld, from which they arose mainly through water, including springs (ibid. 11). They were a sort of water monster considered to be both “good” and “bad” (ibid. 119). This ambiguity and their fierceness led to a role as guardians, including guardians of burial mounds, where the passage was made to the spirit world (ibid. 122). Coming across a panther mound alerted one to the presence of a scared area and possible burial site to be traversed with caution and respect (ibid. 124). The panther’s feet face the lake, its source, and also an old Indian path that follows the lake.

It is a scientific wonder how such a large animal as a bear can go completely dormant for several months, and equally amazing that the female can give birth and suckle young during that period. Bears make a powerful statement about withdrawal and generation in the dark, symbolized in our Christmas traditions by Santa bringing presents at night. All artists and creative people have experienced this process, with depressive states often preceding creative acts.

There are many other extant effigy mound groups in Wisconsin and neighboring states that invite the modern psyche to decode their meanings. An excellent report on a large group of 26 extant mounds appears in The Journal of the Ancient Earthworks Society (1990) that focuses on Lizard Mound Park near West Bend, Wisconsin. Among the many features encoded in this group is a pair of linear mounds that marks the northern and southernmost rising and setting of the moon in its 18.6-year cycle (fig. 12.5). These are next to a lizard (water spirit) mound pointing to the spot on the horizon of the winter solstice sunrise. This makes a beautiful symbolic statement of a relationship between sun and moon, solar and lunar consciousness, one system of cycling contained within another.

The bear with its paws in the northwest could represent the difficult physical reality of winter still ahead during the hibernation period. The bear with its paws in the southeast, especially if it considered to be a mother bear, could represent the generative new direction the sun takes at the winter solstice whose physical presence on earth begins to manifest at the vernal (green) spring equinox (baby bear). The winter solstice and equinox connections for a bear with its paws towards the south is also presented at Bear Mound Park, to be mentioned later. The placement of a smaller bear between two larger bears of opposite sex (facing opposite directions) suggests an offspring. The smallest mound has been interpreted as being a child as seen in other mound groups (ibid. 121). With the premise that every mound cluster is the story and construction of one particular clan (ibid. 116-117), the three bears make a statement that these are bear family and bear clan mounds (ibid. 121). The bear cub is walking due east into the equinox sunrise. The grammar, the Gestalt, of the bear arrangement suggests that the cub is heading into the spring and not the autumn equinox because the parents “marked the beginning of the season that precedes spring and thus leads to spring” (ibid.). This makes it an alignment “with the start of spring, the season of rebirth and renewal” (ibid.).

The ‘lizard’ is next to two panther mounds facing each other (fig. 12.5). A line drawn along the right angle of these two mounds points to the spot on the horizon of the summer solstice sunrise. A Native American ‘keeper of the mounds’ told the mound surveyors that tribal members formed the body of a bird at the summer solstice sunrise that incorporated the panther mounds as wings. This living body activated the site and the people converted the two panther mounds or “Minor Thunders” (Earth Symbols) into a Thunderbird or “Major Thunderer” (a sky symbol) as the attention of all persons was directed toward the rising sun. (ibid. 16) 167

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 12.5. Indian mounds in Lizard Mound Park near West Bend, Wisconsin. A linear mound (not pictured) beneath the panther mound on the right is aligned to the maximum southern-most moon-set (18.6 year cycle). Drummers drummed up the earth energy as the eagle ‘flew’ to greet the summer solstice sunrise—the union of sky and earth.

political, economic and social justice and sustainability, lists among its principles the preservation and respect for extant indigenous cultures and the preservation of sacred sites throughout the world (Earth Charter, 8.b, 12.b). The effigy mound sites in Wisconsin have played a role in helping to bring into consciousness the nocturnal experience of my meadow dream.

Every Sunday morning I walk my dog to the bear mound in a nearby park in Madison. The bear’s head nearly touches the crest of the ridge on the lower part of a hill. The bear is aligned to a point on the horizon just south of the winter solstice sunrise. A large rock just above its shoulders seems to be an orientation point for two stones on the horizon—one further up the ridge that aligns exactly with the winter solstice sunrise and a larger stone to the north that aligns with the vernal equinox sunrise. When I am at this spot at the winter solstice sunrise, I cannot help but think that later in the year I will be at a Lakota Sioux sundance observing the summer solstice sunrise as it comes up over sundancers I know. The experience of this, the most powerful of the Lakota ceremonies, demonstrates to me how ceremonies at sacred sites in nature help create a sacred bond to the earth and to each other—‘all my relatives’. Sacred sites are concrete reminders to us that the earth and its seasons can be related to in a sacred manner. They can still teach us how to align ourselves in life and to look at the life on the land and in the seasons in a symbolic manner. What wonderful educational tools they present to us and what a link they can offer to indigenous cultures and the two million year-old-man within. It is for these reasons that the Earth Charter, a superb international document on

References Acocella, J. 2000. The Empty Couch. The New Yorker, May 8, 2000, pp. 112-118. Anderson, C. 1998. Ibogaine Therapy in Chemical Dependency and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Hypothesis Involving the Fractal Nature of Fetal REM Sleep and Interhemispheric Reintegration. Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. 8 (1) Spring 1998, pp. 5-17. Anderson, C. & Mandell, A. 1996. Fractal Time and the Foundations of Consciousness: Vertical Convergence of I/f Phenomena from Ion Channels to Behavioral States. Fractals of Brain, Fractals of Mind: In Search of a Symmetry Bond. E. & M. Stamenov (eds.) J. Benjamins: Amsterdam. Barrett, W. 1979. The Illusion of Technique: A Search for Meaning in a Technological Civilization. Anchor Books: Garden City, New York. Bender, H. 2002. Some Comments on the Idea of Medicine Wheels as Calendar Sites. NEARA Journal 168

D. L. MERRITT: SACRED LANDSCAPES, SACRED SEASONS: A JUNGIAN ECOPSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE 36(1), Summer 2002, pp. 3-5. Also available at

Bender, H. 2004. Star Beings and Stones: Origins and Legends. Indian Stories Indian Histories. F. Giordano & E. Comba (eds.) Otto Editore: Torino, Italy, pp. 7277. Birmingham, R. & L. Eisenberg. 2000. Indian Mounds of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison. Blum, D. 2002. Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection. Perseus Publishing: Cambridge. Blumenberg, H. 1985. Work on Myth. R. Wallace (trans.) The MIT Press: Cambridge. Brown, L. 2006. Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. W. W. Norton: New York. Campbell, J. & B. Moyers 1988. The Power of Myth. B. Flowers (ed.) Doubleday: New York. Coe, R. 1977. Sacred Circles: Two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art. Nelson Gallery Art Foundation, Nelson Gallery of Art, Atkinson Museum Fine Arts Kansas City, Missouri. Cheng, F. 1994. Empty and Full: The Language of Chinese Painting. Shambala: Boston. Deacon, T. 1997. The Symbolic Species: The CoEvolution of Language and the Brain. W. W. Norton: New York. Deacon, T. 2003. Multilevel Selection in a Complex Adaptive System. Evolution and Learning: The Baldwin Effect Reconsidered. R. Weber and D. Depew (eds.) MIT Press: Cambridge, pp. 81-106. DeMallie, R. (ed.) 1984. The Sixth Grandfather: Black Elk’s Teachings Given to John G. Neihardt. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln. Earth Charter USA. 2100 L St., Washington, DC 20037. Also available at Fox, W. 1991. From Anthropocentrism to Deep Ecology. Re-Vision 13 (3): 107-108. Gardner, M. 1974. Mathematical Games. Scientific American, January 1974, pp. 108-113. Goodman, R. 1992. Lakota StarKnowledge: Studies in Lakota Stellar Theology. Sinte Gleska University: Rosebud, SD. Gustafson, J. 2005. Very Brief Psychotherapy. Routledge: New York. Hall, R. 1985. Medicine Wheels, Sun Circles and the Magic of World Center Shrines. Plains Anthropologist, 30 (109): pp. 181-193. Hannah, B. 1991. Jung—His Life and Work. Shambala: Boston. Hendriks-Jansen, H. 1996. Catching Ourselves in the Act: Situated Activity, Interactive Emergence, Evolution, and Human Thought. MIT Press: Cambridge. Hillman, J.1992. The Thought of the Heart and the Soul of the World. Spring Publications: Woodstock, Connecticut. Hillman, J. & M. Ventura. 1992. We’ve had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy—and the World’s Getting Worse. Harper Collins: New York. Hoebel, E. 1960. The Cheyennes: Indians of the Great Plains. Holt, Rinehart and Winston: New York.

Hogenson, G. 2000. Archetypes as Emergent Phenomena. Paper delivered to the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts. Hogenson, G. 2001. The Baldwin Effect: a Neglected Influence on C. G. Jung’s Evolutionary Thinking. Journal of Analytical Psychology 46: 591-611. Hogenson, G. 2003. Reply to Maloney. Journal of Analytical Psychology 48: 107-116. Hogenson, G. 2004a. The Self, The Symbolic and Synchronicity: Virtual Realities and the Emergence of the Psyche. Paper presented to the Chicago Society of Jungian Analysts. Hogenson, G. 2004b. What are Symbols Symbols of? Situated Action, Mythological Bootstrapping and the Emergence of the Self. Journal of Analytical Psychology 49 (1): 67-81. Hogenson, G. 2005. The Self, the Symbolic and Synchronicity: Virtual Realities and the Emergence of the Psyche. Journal of Analytical Psychology 50: 271285. Hogenson, G., A. Stevens & D. Ramos. 2003. Debate: Psychology and Biology. Cambridge 2001: Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Congress for Analytical Psychology. Daimon Verlag: Einsiedeln, Switzerland, pp. 367-377. Journal of the Ancient Earthworks Society. 1990, Vol. 3. Ancient Earthworks Society, PO Box 1125, Madison, Wisconsin 53701. Jung, C. G. 1959. The Face to Face Interview. C. G. Jung Speaking: Interviews and Encounters, W. McGuire and R. Hull (eds.) Picador: London, 1980, pp. 380-393. Jung, C. G. 1963. Man and his Environment. C. G. Jung Speaking: Interviews and Encounters. W. McGuire and R. Hull (eds.) Picador: London, 1980, pp.199201. Jung, C. G. 1963b. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 14, edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler and William McGuire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Jung, C. G. 1965. Memories, Dreams, Reflections. A. Jaffe (ed.), R. & C. Winston (trans.). Vintage Books: New York. Jung, C. G. 1967. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 13, edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler & William McGuire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Jung, C. G. 1969a. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 8, second edition, edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler & William McGuire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Jung, C. G. 1969b. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 11, second edition, edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler & William McGuire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Jung, C. G. 1970. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 10, second edition, edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler & William McGuire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Jung, C. G. 1975. C. G. Jung: The Vision Seminars. Spring Publications: Zurich. 169

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Jung, C. G. 1976. The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 18, edited by Herbert Read, Michael Fordham, Gerhard Adler & William McGuire. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Jung, C., M-L. von Franz, J. Henderson, J. Jacobi, & A. Jaffe. 1964. Man and His Symbols. Carl Jung (ed.) Doubleday: Garden City: New York. Kerenyi, K. 1944. Hermes Guide of Souls: The Mythogem of the Masculine Source of Life. M. Stein (trans.) 1976. Spring Publications: Zurich. Maier, G. 2001. The Eagle’s Voice: Tales Told by Indian Effigy Mounds. Prairie Oak Press: Madison. Mails, T. 1972. The Mystic Warriors of the Plains. Doubleday: Garden City, New York. Markwardt, L. J. 1979. Blackhawk Indian Mounds on the National Register of Historic Places. Marlan, S. 2000. The Metaphor of Light and its Deconstruction in Jung’s Alchemical Vision. Pathways Into the Jungian World: Phenomenology and Analytical Psychology. 2000. Roger Brooke (ed.). Routledge: New York and London, pp. 181-196. Merritt, D. L. 1993. The Soul of Glacier Country. Mythos Journal I (2): pp. 33-37. Also available at www.DennisMerrittJungianAnalyst.com Merritt, D. L. 1994. Spirit in the Land, Spirit in Animals, Spirit in People.

Merritt, D. L. 2001. Use of the I Ching in the Analytic Setting, Quadrant 31(2): 55-68. Also available at

Ni, H. 1983. The Book of Changes and the Unchanging Truth. The Shrine of the Eternal Breath of Tao: Malibu. Neihardt, J. 1979. Black Elk Speaks. University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln. Popper, K. 1974. Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach. Clarendon Press: Oxford. Qualls-Corbett, N. 1988. The Sacred Prostitute. Inner City Books: Toronto. Redgrove, P. 1987. The Black Goddess and the Unseen Real. Grove Press: New York. Ritsema, R. & S. Karcher. 1995. I Ching. Barnes and Noble Books: New York. Roszak, T., M. Gomes & A. Kanner (eds.) 1995. Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind. Sierra Books: San Francisco. Sabini, M. (ed.) 2002. The Earth Has a Soul: The Nature Writings of C. G. Jung. North Atlantic Books: Berkeley. Sagan, C. 1992. To Avert a Common Danger. Parade Magazine, March 1, 1992, pp. 10-12. Santino, J. 1994. All Around the Year: Holidays and Celebrations in American Life. University of Illinois Press: Urbana and Chicago. Sheldrake, R. 1999. Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home. Three Rivers Press: New York. Storm, H. 1972. Seven Arrows. Ballantine Books: New York.

Taylor, C. & W. Sturtevant. 1996. The Native American. Smithmark: NewYork. Von Franz, M-L. 1975. C. G. Jung—His Myth in Our Time. William H. Kennedy (trans.) Hodder and Stoughton: London. Walker, J. 1983. Lakota Myth. E. Jahner (ed.) University of Nebraska Press: Lincoln. Wilhelm, R. 1967. The I Ching or Book of Changes. Second edition. Bollingen Series XIX: Princeton University Press: Princeton. Winnicott, D. 1951. Transitional Objects and Transitional Phenomena. Through Paediatrics to Psycho-Analysis 1976. Basic Books: New York, pp. 229-242. Winter, D. 1996. Ecological Psychology—Healing the Split between Planet and Self. Harper Collins: New York.

170

Chapter 13 3

Thhe Experrience off Rock-A Art; How thhe same motif m cann be foun nd in diffe ferent lanndscapes Eva Skeiee that they are locatted in differennt landscapes and belong too one of the two large valleyy routes thatt the easternn Norw wegian carvinngs have beeen divided in nto (Haukalidd 1999 9:6).

Abstract In this paperr I will presennt three rock-aart sites in eaastern Norway. Alll three have carvings of elk but theyy are located in veery different laandscapes. Onne is by the seaa and is no longeer sea-bound,, another is located closse to Norway’s larrgest lake andd the third is next n to a riveer. To experience them, t one has to move arround in diffferent ways, as the sites force onne to act differrently. Drottenn has seven elk fiigures movingg out into thhe river, withh the carvings situuated on a cliiff by the rivver. Stein, close to Norway’s larrgest lake, Mjøsa, Mj has morre carvings, which w cover three sides of a large boulderr. The third site, s in a narrow valleyy leading dow wn to Ekeberg, is situated the current sea s level and has elk motiifs, an animall trap and a bird. I will comppare these sites and exaamine differences and similarrities; I wiill explain how w the rock-aart is differences in environmeent and how displayed maake us experieence the panells in very diffferent ways.

I wiill start with an introductioon to each off the rock-artt sitess and then disccuss and comppare them.

n Introduction There are 100 sites with roock-art from thhe hunter-gatherer tradition in eastern e Norwaay (Haukalid 1999:1; Manndt & Lødøen 20055:261). All thhe panels conttain carved im mages of elk; manyy also contain other motifs and the numbber of images such as sea mamm mals and hunters. Three of the panels are still near the cooastline of moodern Norway andd Egil Mikkeelsen has, baased on shorreline dating, placeed them withinn the Mesolithhic, between 6,200 6 and 4,000 BC C, which lies within the Nøøstvet period. This is based on the general opinion that the images were t rock surfacce was close to t the sea (Sheetelig made when the 1922:149; Bakka B 1973:155; Mikkelseen 1977:181-185), although nott necessarily shore-bound. s A of the Nøøstvet All sites found in i eastern Noorway are sittuated betweeen 40 and 70 m.aa.s.l. (Indreliid 1975:3). Mikkelsen then suggests thatt all the rockk-art panels of o eastern Noorway should be dated d to the same s period, perhaps withh the exception off Drotten andd Eidefossen, which he cllaims have no chroonological refference to the rest of the panels (Mikkelsen 1977:185). 1 Eaarlier researchhers have dated the panels in easstern Norway to t the Neolithhic or Early Brronze Age (Engelsttad 1934; Gjessing 1936; Hagen H 1976).

Figure F 13.1. Map M of rock-art sites in south-eastern Norwaay. Ekeeberg vironment Env

r in eaastern From the 100 sites of hunnter-gatherer rock-art Norway, I have chosen thhree. These sites have carvvings only and thee panels havee between 11 (Drotten) annd 17 (Stein) carviings. The reason for choosing these sittes is

The panel is loccated in openn water outsiide Oslo; thee vings are situuated on a ssloping rock surface in a carv narrow valley thaat leads to the sea, which is positioned onn 171

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 13.2. The landscape surrounding the carving of Ekeberg the lower half of the hill called Ekeberg. Opposite the rock-art panel is a cliff that makes it impossible to see the sea today from the panel; however, if the panel was shore-bound when in use, there must have been a beach close by. This valley would have been a perfect place to get ashore if travelling by sea, as it would also be protected from winds or waves. It is also the last place to rest before entering the water basin that today is the city of Oslo.

A Mesolithic settlement lies not far from the site, the Dælenga settlement (Østmo 1995:91-119), dating to the Nøstvet period and located at the same height above sea level as the rock-art panel (ibid: 97). The panel is also about 10 km from the site of Nøstvet (Hagen 1983:47-53) and the Vinterbro sites (Jaksland 2001a). Rock-art panel The rock-art panel has been documented numerous times (Engelstad 1934; Hallstrøm 1938; Marstrander 1968; Hagen 1976:196; Mikkelsen 1977; Mikkelsen 1986; Haukalid 1999).

Mikkelsen, using shoreline dating, places the panel within the Mesolithic, dating it to the Nøstvet period, around 4,000 BC (Mikkelsen 1977:184). Figure 13.2 shows the sea raised to between 45 and 50 m.a.s.l. The bottom of the rock surface containing the carvings is situated at 52.5 m.a.s.l. (Engelstad 1934:21; Mikkelsen 1977:184).

All the carvings are situated at the bottom right of the rock surface; Engelstad has looked for more figures and removed soil around the panel, but no more figures were identified (Engelstad 1934:21). The panel contains two elk, six deer and one indeterminable deer or elk, one bird, one human figure, one animal trap (Mikkelsen 1973:4-5), one back leg of an animal, most likely also a deer, and one cupmark; one of the figures can not be identified. I would argue that we could divide the figures into three phases (Skeie forthcoming). Phase I would include the two elk, the bird and the human figure (Engelstad 1934:25) and perhaps also figure 1, the indeterminable cervid. Phase II would contain the six deer and the animal trap, while Phase III would comprise the cupmark, a rock carving that belongs in the second group of Scandinavian carvings, the Bronze Age or farmers’ art. Further up the hill are several cupmarks on large stones (Marstrander 1968:13).

All the images at Ekeberg can be seen from the same position, as they are close together and all face the same way; the carvings are often covered by snow during winter. There are three ways of reaching the site today. One can take the coast road and a narrow road up through the valley where the rock-art panel is located (a road that in the past would have been under water) or proceed uphill from the town of Oslo. Alternately one can arrive from the top of the Ekeberg hill. In the past, the site could be reached either by sea or by walking along the coast from either direction. It would have been visible from the sea, coming in towards Oslo; however, it is not very visible from land, unless one knows its whereabouts.

The carvings at Ekeberg are, like many of the Norwegian carvings, almost impossible to see during daylight (Sognnes 2001:81), hence the red paint that is customarily applied to rock-art in Scandinavia. The paint makes the images loose their depth, as it fills the chiselled lines; however, these lines are still visible with a flashlight or by moonlight.

There is space for a large audience at the site, both in front of the panel and on either side and on the top of the rock surface; there is a hilltop on the other side of the valley.

172

EVA SKEIE: THE EXPERIENCE OF ROCK-ART; HOW THE SAME MOTIF CAN BE FOUND IN DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES

S

N

Figure 13.3. The carvings of Ekeberg and the rock surface they are chiselled on. The drawing is after Engelstad (1934) and Mikkelsen (1977).

173

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS The site has suffered heavy erosion: entire flakes have fallen off leaving some of the carvings incomplete. On the north side, there are three carvings, all depicting elk, one large figure facing east and two facing west. The south side has six figures, all of which represent elk, one of which faces in a different direction from the others.

Stein Environment Stein is situated at the shore of Norway’s largest lake, Mjøsa, and, since the rock that contains the carvings is so large, it is clearly visible from a distance on both sides of the lake, if one knows were to look. There are no recorded carvings on top of the boulder, but, until a protective roof was erected in 1982 to safeguard the carvings from further erosion, this upper surface provided a vantage point from which one was able to gain an overview of the landscape.

Two figures situated at the south-eastern corner of the rock have been the subject of some discussion, as they may depict a boat (Gjessing 1935:58). If so, it would be the only example yet found in eastern Norwegian huntergatherer rock-art. Mikkelsen (1977:166) argues that the “boat” is just an eroded animal figure and, based on my own research, I have to agree with him (Skeie forthcoming). The eastern side of the rock has four elk and some lines that are difficult to interpret.

It is not possible to view all of the carvings from the same position; one has to move around the large stone. Most of the images are of elk and there is space for a large audience on all sides of the stone. The landscape is open, especially in winter, when the trees have no leaves. In most modern winters, the lake of Mjøsa freezes, as we must believe it also did in the past, and this changes the environment surrounding the panel.

The composition of the panels is such that some of them appear to display herds of elk; some of the carvings have extra legs or other additional attributes, which might represent elk hidden from view. As the images vary on different sides of the rock, there is a possibility that several artists worked at the site. It seems that each face has a consistent style. Of course, there is also the possibility that these differences in style also tell a story: that the difference in appearance was important to the way the art was originally intended to be experienced.

Rock-art panel Several authors have already documented the carvings at Stein (Gjessing 1935; Hallstrøm 1938; Petersen 1957; Hagen 1976; Mikkelsen 1977; Mikkelsen 1986 and Haukalid 1999).

Figure 13.4. The landscape around Stein

174

EVA A SKEIE: THE EXPERIENCE OF O ROCK-ART; HOW THE SAME A MOTIF CAN A BE FOUND IIN DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES S

Figure 13.5. The carvings at Stein, soutth-east cornerr and east sidee

Fiigure 13.6. Thhe carvings at Stein, north side

175

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Fiigure 13.7. Thhe carvings at Stein, south side Drotten room m for a largee audience. T There is enou ugh space forr grou ups of peoplee to see them m at the sam me time, or a proccession walkinng past the clliff, a ritual no ot unlikely too be part p of hunter--gatherer life (Nash 2002:1 188). There iss room m for a larger group of peopple a little furtther down thee shorre from the carrvings. As thhe cliff is sheer, there has too be a lot of snow inn winter to coover the carvin ngs. However,, the water runs down d the cliiff face and the carvingss beco ome covered by layers of ice. The currrent is so fastt that the river is seldom comppletely frozen n. There is a w conssiderable echoo, as the riveer channel is quite narrow heree and the rockss are solid on the side of thee carvings.

nt Environmen D have a very seclluded The rock carvings at Drotten r The bannk on location on a cliff projectting into the river. both sides is rather steep and a the carvinngs are only viisible to people approaching upriver. Thhe river leveel is a in some ciircumstances is so high thaat it is changeable and impossible to t reach them m without actuually enteringg the water. The ellk still cross thhe valley nearr the carvings.. w all of the images i at oncce, but there is no One can view

Figure 13.8.. The landscap pe of Drotten

176

EVA SKEIE: THE EXPERIENCE OF ROCK-ART; HOW THE SAME MOTIF CAN BE FOUND IN DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES

N

S

Figure 13.9. The carvings of Drotten (drawing after Gjessing 1942)

177

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Rock-art panel

One way of reading a landscape is to look for a central element and then to use this as a starting point to look for other important aspects in the area (Christensen 2002:265). An important part will be to find possible routes (rivers, lakes and the sea). There is an obvious link between cultural remains, the different stations where important events happened (rock-art sites, settlement sites and so on) and the visible structure of the landscape (Gansum et al. 1997:14). These routes connect them all (Christensen 2002:287) and the visibility to and from the different activity areas could tell us about their importance (Gansum et al. 1997:15).

Like the other two sites, Drotten has been studied by several researchers (Gjessing 1938; Hagen 1976, Mikkelsen 1977; Mikkelsen 1986 and Haukalid 1999). The panel consists of 11 carvings (Gjessing 1938:105), although Mikkelsen (1977:166) argues that there is only firm evidence for seven. The numbers given by Gjessing are used here, even though there does not seem to be any basis for his ninth figure, although that might be due to the state of this part of the panel today, which is covered in chalk from the plaster in the wall constructed to preserve the other carvings.

All the sites in eastern Norway seem to have their individuality. There does not seem to be an overlying plan to these sites; it seems as if the art was simply adjusted to a particular site. Perhaps the location was more important than the rock surface or the way in which the images were displayed. Perhaps the sites where used to satisfy different needs. What they all have in common is the use of interior lines; some have lifelines and hearts and some have vertical stripes covering their bodies (Sørensen 1975:3-8).

All of the elk figures are moving towards the river, as if the seasonal movement across the river is depicted. The largest elk is the most naturalistic and is very well formed. It is even possible to assume that a different person made this figure, as it has a better-developed form than the others. It can be argued that the partial lines directly above this carving represent another elk moving beside it, one that is hidden from view (see Fig. 13.9). Discussion

Both Drotten and Ekeberg allow one to view all the images at once; however, Stein does not. Stein is one of two sites in eastern Norway that compels one to move around to see all of the carvings; it forces one to take an active part in the experience. The other site is Glemmestad, where there are three large boulders 15 m apart arranged in a triangle on a rocky shore.

Most modern people use maps when approaching an unknown area; we flatten the landscape to gain what we think is the clearest perception of it (Christensen 2002:222). Our perspective is therefore very different from that of the hunter-gatherers who made the carved images that we research. Sognnes has remarked that the landscape of the past probably had more vegetation, that the open areas were near the river and lakes and that it was experienced from eye-level and by recognition of different landmarks (Sognnes 2002:201). Most people today would probably recognise this way of responding to a familiar landscape and Christensen (2005:215) argues that this should be called the inside approach, where local people have their own names for different markers in the landscape. Sometimes they even have a direction called north that does not correspond with the modern compass (ibid:219). However, as archaeologists, we have the outside view most of the time, as we are too often researching areas where we did not grow up. As rock-art is located within the landscape, it will never represent the landscape; there is no information in the art itself which tells us how to read the landscape in which the art was made (Chippindale & Nash 2004:12).

All rock-art sites change in winter: snow falls and water freezes. Mjøsa freezes over most winters; the sea does the same occasionally next to Ekeberg. The current flowing past Drotten is usually strong enough to prevent the river freezing. This will change the way we perceive both the landscape and the rock surface. Many rock-art panels in Scandinavia occasionally get flooded; this might just be a consequence of their proximity to water, but the water must be important, as is the snow. All visits to these sites have their uniqueness: there is always something different. The weather, the seasons and the light will never be constant. The water in the river changes more than the water in the lake or the ocean, making Drotten the site that will change the most from visit to visit. Boaz argues that the interior of eastern Norway was first used at the end of the Middle Mesolithic, at least in the counties of Hedmark and Oppland, probably by coastal groups on a seasonal basis (Boaz 1999:132). There are also settlement sites not far from the rock-art panels. Only Dokkfløy has been excavated, but the presence of stray finds confirms that the people who made the images did spend time in the area and gives us reason to believe that rituals and daily life were not separated by large distances (Bradley 1997:215).

Looking at some images of rock-art, they have the same physical shape as animals we recognise today, shapes that have not changed since the prehistoric era (Helskog 2004:268). The figures we recognise as known animals can be representations of that animal or some spirit or god taking the form of the animal (Helskog 2004:270). They might also represent some ability or a characteristic of a person in the community. We will probably never know what the original meaning of the images was, but by using the landscape surrounding the images and getting to know both the carvings and their surroundings, we will be able to get some interpretations as to the use of these sites in prehistory.

The three sites presented here clearly represent the variety of eastern Norwegian hunter-gatherer rock-art. In 178

EVA SKEIE: THE EXPERIENCE OF ROCK-ART; HOW THE SAME MOTIF CAN BE FOUND IN DIFFERENT LANDSCAPES particular, they show how sites have to be experienced differently, as they depict very different images and display them on different types of rock in varied landscape settings. Elk must have been very important to the prehistoric inhabitants of eastern Norway, as it is the animal depicted above any other. Elk bones are also known from settlement sites, when conditions have been favourable, as at Dokkfløy (Boaz 1998:99,111,144), and Rødsmoen (Boaz 1999:145), in the interior of Norway.

Conclusion Within a rather small geographical area, where there might have been seasonal wanderings in the Stone Age, we have 10 hunter-gatherer rock-art sites. These all display rock-art in different ways, with the same motif carved. I have argued that the three panels in this paper, in south-eastern Norway, have the same motif, the elk, which, in my view, is the most important image. This reflects the importance of the animal as food and in other areas of the lives of people in the past. The panels are located in different landscapes, which might indicate that they have served different purposes in the seasonal movements of the Mesolithic inhabitants of this part of Norway. They may also reflect differences in ceremonial practices over time, even though the same animal was still the most important.

At Frebergsvik, not far from the carvings at the Drammensfjord, there are no preserved elk bones, but many sea animals, some of which are depicted at the site of Skogerveien. At Skoklefald, bones from similar animals as at Frebergsvik seem to be preserved (Jaksland 2001b: 10-12). The fact that the faunal remains at the coast are reflected in the appearance of sea animals at the rock-art sites by the coast allows us to connect the diet of the hunter-gatherer with the images they carved into rock surfaces.

One must behave differently to view these images, perhaps in the same way people in prehistory had to. This makes the rock-art panels a unique link to the past.

Common features By saltwater By freshwater Only elk motifs Vertical rock surface Horizontal rock surface More than one figure By running water By quiet water All figures visible when looking from the same position Rock surface visible from far away Inside a valley Nearby lookout points Room for a large audience in front of the panel Snow-covered during winter (deep snow)

EKEBERG X

X X X X

STEIN

DROTTEN

X X X

X X X

X

X X

X X X

X X X X

X X (X)

X X (X)

Figure 13.10. Common features of the different sites The Figured Landscapes of Rock-Art. Looking at pictures in place. Edited by C. Chippindale & G.H. Nash. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1-36. Christensen, A. L. 2002. Det Norske Landskapet. Om landskap og landskapsforståelse i kulturhistorisk perspektiv. Pax forlag. Oslo. Engelstad, E.S. 1934. Østnorske ristninger og malinger av den arktiske gruppe. Oslo. Gansum, T., Jerpåsen, G. P. & Keller, C. 1997. Arkeologisk lanskapsanalyse med visuelle metoder. AmS – Varia 28. Stavanger. Gjessing, G. 1937. Veideristningen på Stein I Ringsaker (Hedmark). In Universitetets Oldsakssamlings Årbok 1935-37. p 52 – 68. Oslo. Gjessing, G. 1944. Veideristningen ved Drotten i Fåberg. In Universitetets Oldsakssamlings Årbok 1938-42. p 103 – 8. Oslo. Hallström, G. 1938. Monumental Art from the Stone Age in Northern Europe I. The Norwegian localities. Stockholm.

References Bakka, E. 1973. Om alderen på veideristningane. Viking XXXVII. p 151-187. Oslo. Boaz, J. 1998. Hunter-Gatherer Site Variability: Changing patterns of site utilization in the interior of eastern Norway, between 8000 and 2500 B.P. Universitetets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter, ny rekke nr 20. Oslo. Boaz, J. 1999. Pioneers in the mesolithic: The initial occupation of the Interier of Eastern Norway. I. The mesolithic of central Scandinavia, Universitetets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter, ny rekke nr22. Redigert av Joel Boaz. s 125- 152. Oslo. Bradley, R. 1997. Rock Art and the prehistory of Atlantic Europe. Signing the land. London. Brøgger, W.C. 1905. Strandliniens beliggenhed under stenalderen i det sydøstlige Norge. Kristiania. Chippindale, C. & Nash, G.H. 2004. Pictures in place: approaches to the figured landscapes of rock-art. In 179

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Hagen, A. 1976. Bergkunst: jegerfolkets helleristninger og malninger i norsk steinalder. Cappelen. Oslo. Hagen, A. 1983. Norges Oldtid. 3 utg. Cappelen. Oslo. Haukalid, S. 1999. Menneskets bilde. En studie av 10 veideristningslokaliteter i Øst-Norge. Unpublished hovedfagsoppgave in nordic archaeology, at the University of Oslo. Helskog, K. 2004. Landscape in rock-art: the old European North. In The Figured Landscapes of RockArt. Looking at pictures in place. Edited by C. Chippindale & G.H. Nash. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 265-288. Indrelid, S. 1975. Problems relating to the Early Mesolithic Settlement of Southern Norway. Norwegian Archaeological Review, Vol. 8, No 1. Oslo. Jaksland, L. 2001a. Vinterbrolokalitetene – en kronologisk sekvens fra mellom- og senmesolittikum i Ås, Akershus. Universitetets Oldsaksamling Varia 52. Oslo. Jaksland, L. 2001b. Kjøkkenmøddingen på Skoklefald – endelig funn av velbevarte kulturlag fra eldre steinalder i Oslofjordregionen. Nicolay nr 84, s 4-22. Oslo. Mandt, G. & Trond L. 2005. Bergkunst. Helleristningar i Noreg. Det Norske Samlaget. Oslo. Marstrander, S. 1968. Helleristningsfelter i Oslo. In Nicolay no 3. p 10-14. Oslo. Mikkelsen, E. 1973. Fangstinnretninger i veidekunsten. Nicolay 14. p 3-7. Oslo. Mikkelsen, E. 1975. Frebergsvik. Et mesolittisk boplassområde ved Oslofjorden. Universitetets Oldsaksamlings Skrifter. Ny rekke – nr 1. Oslo. Mikkelsen, E. 1977. Østnorske veideristninger – kronologi og øko-kulturelt miljø. I Viking 40. p 147 201. Oslo. Mikkelsen, E. 1986. Religion and Ecology: Motivs and location of hunter`s rock carvings in eastern Norway. Words and Objects. Redigert av Gro Steinsland. Norwegian University Press. 127-141. Oslo. Nash, G. 2002. The landscape brought within: a reevaluation of the rock-painting site at Tumlehed, Torslanda, Göteborg, west Sweden. In European Landscapes of Rock – Art. Edited by G.H. Nash & C. Chippindale. London: Routledge. 176-194. Petersen, Jan. 1957. Hedemarken i hedensk tid. In Hedmark Historie, første fellesbind. Hamar. Skeie, Eva Marit. Forthcoming Veidekultur – helleristningenes miljø (working title). Masterdissortation at the University of Oslo. Sognnes, K. 2001. When rock art comes into being:On the recognition and acceptance of new discoveries. In Rock Art Research. Volume 18, number 2, 75-90. Sognnes, K. 2002. Land of elks – sea of whales. Landscapes of the Stone Age rock-art in central Scandinavia. In European Landscapes of Rock – Art. Edited by G.H. Nash & C. Chippindale. Routledge: London. 195-212. Sørensen, S. 1975. Livslinje og røntkenperspektiv. Nicolay no 21. 3-8 Oslo. Østmo, E. 1995. Nøstvetboplassen på Dælenga i Oslo. Universitetets Oldsaksamlings første

boplassundersøkelse. Universitetets Oldsaksamlings Årbok 1993/1994.p 91-119. Oslo.

180

Chapter 14 4

Encodding a grrammar within w a Neolithic N c landscaape: The distributtion of burial monument m ts along Strumble S e Head, South-we S est Waless G George Nash one of which comprises c thee Fishguard Group. Thiss M clustter includes a cemetery grooup from Garrn Wen (PEM 7-9)1 and single monuments aat Carn Wnd da (PEM 13),, h (PEM 15),, Parcc-y-Cromlech (PEM 14), Garn Gilfach Ffysst Samson (PE EM 16), Carrreg Samson (P PEM 18) andd Ffyn nnondruidion (PEM 28). Neearly all appear to conform m to th he same archittectural rules and landscape positioning,, each h monument embracing e thee fertile lowlan nds north andd soutth of an easst-west uplannd ridge, wh hich straddless Stru umble Head (F Figure 14.2). Excluded from m the list, butt form ming part of the discuussion, is th he destroyedd mon nument of Y Garn, which once stood between b Garnn Gilffach and Carn Wnda.

n Introduction In the recennt past schollars have reccognised a series s patterns, bothh within term ms of constructtion and landsscape position that govern the way w Neolithic burial monum ments 1 In term ms of were construucted and sitedd (e.g. Tilley 1991). geography, the t distribution of Welshh Neolithic burial b monuments and a their settinng has been discussed d by Tilley T (1994), Children & Nashh (2002), Cum mmings & Whhittle (2004), Burrrows (2006) and Nash (22006). Tilleyy has applied an anncestral geogrraphy, its rootts embedded in i the Mesolithic, to a numbber of Neollithic ritual/bburial monuments occupying the core areas of south-westt and central Walees. Cumminggs and Whittlee have approaached monument loocation using the concept of o view shedss (i.e. the landscappe features that t can be seen from each monument). Children andd Nash, and reecently Nash, have milar approachhes, focusingg on intervisibbility explored sim between neeighbouring monuments and monum ment, chamber andd passage orrientation. Although A som me of these approaaches have beeen seen as flaawed (e.g. Flem ming 2005), the interaction between burial, b monuument b construction and landscappe must be coonsidered as being important to a monument’s builders annd users. Children o clusters within w & Nash (20002) identify a number of south-west Wales W that apppear to conforrm to a numbber of architectural and landscape rules; one of o these groupss, the G is locaated on Strum mble Head (N Nash Fishguard Group, 2006). Nashh has recognised that elem ments of this group g form a linnear distribuution compriising up too 10 monuments. d the archhitecture of eaach of This chapter discusses in detail ments and expplores the conncept the Strumblee Head monum of linearity, a trait that is common in the sitinng of European Brronze Age barrrows and caiirns but limiteed in respect of Neolithic N rituall/burial monuuments. It is clear that there is intentionaliity in the distribution off the u a seriees of Strumble Heead monumennts, which utilise jagged peakss along the upllands.

Fiigure 14.1. Diistribution of m monuments wiithin Southwest Waales. Strumblle Head is sha aded

hology and seetting Asseessing morph The countiees of Cardigganshire, Carrmarthenshire and Pembrokeshiire, in south-w west Wales, contain c at least 65 surviving moonuments, whhich are descriibed genericallly as Neolithic buurial-ritual chaambered monnuments (Children & Nash 20002) (Figure 14.1). 1 Howevver, the Neolithic spans some 2,000 2 years and a a number of different burial b chamber form ms, includingg earth-fast monuments, m gaallery graves, longg barrows, chambered roound mounds and portal dolmeens, are recorrded within thhe Neolithic from this part of Britain B (Barkeer 1992; Danieel 1950). In terms t of distributioon, Children & Nash (20002) and later Nash N (2006), havee arranged thee monuments into nine clusters,

The uplands alonng Strumble H Head contain a number off smalll and unoobtrusive suub-megalithic rectangularr cham mbers, which usually exhibbit little or no evidence of a coveering mound and a which aree almost all located close too or within w rock outcropping (N Nash 2006). Glyn Daniell (195 50) has classiffied several off these monum ments as beingg ‘eartth-fast’, havinng one end of the cham mber capstonee delib berately buried rather than bbeing supportted by uprightt

1

Thee author has recoognised a furtherr two possible monuments m withinn this cemetery c group.

181

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS

Figuree 14.2. Locatioon of visible monuments m on Strumble Hea ad along with possible locaations of a furtther two sited d on intermeediate slopess, among ex xtensive rockk outccropping, and they probablyy behaved in a similar way. numents locatted east of thee Fishguard Group G take thee Mon sea as a their main visual v focus, eeven though each e is locallyy orien nted or physiically associatted with natu ural terrestriall featu ures within thhe immediate landscape. The T Garn Wenn cem metery, for exaample, wouldd have had, during d its use,, unin nterrupted view ws across thee sea to Dinass Head to thee east2, but, immediiately west a llarge glacially y smooth rockk outccrop impedes the view. A At Carn Wnd da, the fertilee plain n to the north of the uplandds would havee been in view w but rock outcroppping would hhave obscured d views to thee soutth. The dramaatic landscape of St David’s Head to thee westt is an importtant focal poinnt for Garn Gilfach G but thee peak ks of Garn Gillfach block the view to the north. n

Figure 14.33. The earth-ffast monumennt of Carn Wnda, hidden withinn a rocky landdscape

ms, the expoosed peaks off Garn Fawr,, In landscape term n Gilfach andd Garnwnda appear to fo orm a naturall Garn barrier dividing the t northern coastal plain n of Strumblee Head from the resst of northern Pembrokeshirre. It is alongg l all off this ridge that the Neolithic moonuments are located, d to the L Late Neolithicc (c. 2,600 too whicch probably date 2,00 00 cal. BC). Three T of thesee monuments, including thee Garn n Wen cemettery, appear to be located d at regularlyy spacced intervals, forming an E E-W line eitheer side of thee uplaand that runs along the soouthern extentt of Strumblee Head (Figure 14.1). Two otheer monumentss, Carn Wndaa and Parc-y-Croomlech, occcupy similarr landscapee

stones. Hoowever, moree than 4,000 years of naatural denudation and a antiquariian damage may m have creeated monuments that t appear too be earth-fastt but which inn fact represent a different d type and a it is likelyy that there is only one true eartth-fast monum ment - Carn Wnda W - withinn this group (Figurre 14.3). Danniel (1950) believes b a shaallow cairn wall may m have beenn built againsst the side off this monument’s chamber in order to t conceal any burial/mortuaary ritual actiivity within the t small chamber area. This being b the casse, the monum ment would have merged withh the surroundding rocky laandscape, its users u relying on memory m and geography g to locate it. Seeveral monuments, such as Garrn Gilfach annd Garn Wenn, are

2

Alaas, housing currenntly obscures view ws to the north of o this monumentt cemeetery.

182

GEORGE NASH: ENCODING A GRAMMAR WITHIN A NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE positions. Oriented on the same east-west line but located on the western side of Strumble Head is Garn Gilfach, although this monument, unlike the other three, is located on the southern side of the upland, facing St David’s Head and the monuments of nearby Carrig Samson and Ffyst Samson. The Garn Gilfach monument is intervisible with Ffyst Samson itself, standing close to the summit of an exposed rock outcrop to the south.

Several recent visits by the author have confirmed that there are at least two other similarly constructed monuments within this group, further extending the linearity of this cemetery.

Establishing an architectural grammar Primarily, the location of each monument is known and reasonable descriptions have been produced (e.g. Daniel 1950; Barker 1992, Nash 2006). These accounts are based in part on early antiquarian narratives by Thomas Fenton (1810) and the Reverend E.L. Barnwell (1872). Both Fenton and Barnwell were also concerned with the ‘excavation’ of a number of monuments within this area, including Garn Gilfach. As stated earlier, I have listed up to 10 monuments occupying various landscape settings in and around Strumble Head. Their state of preservation generally is such that they are difficult to classify generically; however, all of the monuments occupying the jagged uplands are similar architecturally, comprising a simple east-west polygonal or rectangular chamber (see Figure 14.9). The uniform chamber size, the absence of a mound and the practice of cremation3 together suggest that this group dates to the Late Neolithic. Monuments such as Carreg Samson and Ffyst Samson, each occupying different landscape locations away from the linearity of the Strumble Head upland monuments, possibly date to the earlier Neolithic (e.g. Lynch 1976).

Figure 14.4. Simple chambered monument belonging to the Garn Wen cemetery The damaged monument of Parc-y-Cromlech stands approximately 500m to the west of the Garn Wen cemetery. This simple chambered monument, also known as Penrhiw, probably once stood within a cairn mound. The RCAM inventory of 1925 reports the chamber as being infilled with ‘field gathered stones’. In the same report, it is recorded that the capstone had been removed. This was subsequently re-erected by W.F. Grimes, who made a plan of the site in the mid 1930s (Grimes 1936). The monument comprises a rectangular chamber delineated by three large rectangular uprights, which now support the once dislodged capstone. Several large stones outside the chamber may once have formed part of the architecture. The chamber size and orientation are similar to others within the group but its position on undulating terrain between substantial outcrops to the east and west is not. Approximately 900m to the west of this monument, on a rocky north-west-facing slope, is the earth-fast monument of Carn Wnda.

According to Barker (1992), the Garn Wen cemetery, located north of Fishguard and the village of Goodwick, comprises three monuments, which stand in a north-south line, between 90 and 95m AOD. The monuments are architecturally similar; each has a partially rock-cut chamber and, according to Daniel, this is incorporated into a round mound (1950, 200), although Barker (1997, 27) argues that there is no evidence of mound material around the monuments. The chambers are delineated by a series of short uprights supporting a large capstone (Figure 14.4). The best preserved of the three is the southernmost monument, Carrig Samson (not to be confused with Carreg Samson above), which has five uprights delineating a polygonal chamber supporting a large dislodged capstone. The antiquarian Thomas Fenton visited the site in the early 19th century and commented that all three monuments had been disturbed. Interestingly, Fenton (1810, 11) recognised the proximity of the rock outcropping and states:

Carn Wnda comprises a small rock-cut (sub-megalithic) rectangular chamber covered by a rectangular capstone supported by a single upright at the northern end and by a bed of rubble and earth at the opposite end. The monument was probably not covered by a mound. Grimes (1936, 31) noted that the chamber walls were originally constructed of drystone walling. The strategic use of stone suggests that the monument’s builders were concerned with concealment, as Carn Wnda, even from a short distance, merges with the surrounding rock outcrops, what Fenton (1810, 12) refers to as ‘a mass of stone of a most grotesque appearance’. In terms of excavation, the antiquarian account for Carn Wnda is reasonable. The site was investigated by Fenton who unearthed a small urn made from a coarse crumbly fabric (1810, 284), which contained cremated human bone.

‘It appears as if they had in project here a much greater establishment, as the above monuments are close to a rock of the green serpentine of that county’.

3 Based on antiquarian accounts there is also a limited record of the grave goods found in some (see Barker 1992).

183

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS victim, or waters for purification, if (as is the most general opinion) they were used as altars... This stone has a small inclination to the north-east. Its height from the ground is very inconsiderable, being scarce one foot high in the lowest side; and on the other only high enough to admit of a person creeping under it, though once entered, the space enlarges from the upper stones having a considerable concavity. The earth below is rich and black... I have since learned that the blackness I refer to, appears to have been chiefly the effect of fire, as many bits of charcoal and rude pottery have been picked up there.” It is argued that other possible uprights are, in fact, the collapsed remnants of a drystone wall (Barker 1992, 33). There is no evidence of a mound; the plateau on which the monument stands appears too narrow and its construction and landscape setting are similar to others on the Strumble Head peninsula. An entrance into the main chamber appears to be situated at the eastern end, facing away from the views to the south and St David’s Head (Figure 14.6).

Figure 14.5. Garn Gilfach capstone and the landscape view, looking south. Fenton records the discovery of more cremated bone within a red and black ash deposit from the chamber area (ibid. 284). The Garn Gilfach monument is located west of a destroyed site known as Y Garn and is known by a number of different names. The monument occupies an identical landscape position to that of Carn Wnda and the chamber morphology, consisting of a rectangular rock-cut pit, is similar. The chamber is delineated by four short uprights supporting a low capstone (Figure 14.5). The monument was first investigated by Fenton in 1810 and Barker (1992, 33) remarks, correctly, that Fenton’s Tour gives ‘an unusually full account’ (1810, 22-23). Fenton notes that charcoal and pottery had been found at the site in 1800 (c.f. Peterson 2003) and goes on to describe the monument in some detail:

Figure 14.6. Views to the south-west of St David’s Head from Garn Gilfach A later attempt to investigate the chamber of this monument was undertaken by a Mr Blight, a local antiquarian, who unearthed a piece of flint that Barnwell regards as being deliberately placed (Barnwell 1872, 137). Located to the south and west of this line of monuments, and probably dating to the Early or Middle Neolithic, are Carreg Samson, Ffynnondruidion and Ffyst Samson. Carreg Samson and Ffyst Samson are very different architecturally from monuments occupying the Strumble Head uplands, suggesting that these monument groups were in use at different times during the Neolithic (Figures 14.7 & 14.8). The limited assemblage of grave goods from Carreg Samson, which included a hemispherical bowl, suggests an Early Neolithic date (Lynch 1976, 75). The architectural traits evident at Carreg Samson and Ffyst Samson are indicative of the portal dolmen tradition, which arguably has its roots in

“There is one more remarkable than the rest; a large unshapen mass of serpentine [capstone], fifteen feet by eight and a half average thickness; under the edges of it are placed nine or ten small pointed upright stones, embedded in a strong [stone] pavement, extending some way round. These small supporters are fixed without any regard to their height as only two or three bear the whole weight of the incumbent stone, one of which is so pressed by it, as to have become almost incorporated with it. On the upper surface of the Cromlech are three considerable excavations [carved indentations] near the centre, probably intended to have received the blood of the 184

GEORGE NASH: ENCODING A GRAMMAR WITHIN A NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE

Figure 14.7. The large portal dolmen of Carreg Samson, located west of Strumble Head.

Figure 14.8. The remnants of the chamber of Ffyst Samson, located south-west of Strumble Head the Early Neolithic, and Barker’s plans suggest they possessed oval and round mounds, respectively. Although Ffynnondruidion was destroyed before 1830, labourers did uncover a number of artefacts, including a polished (gabbro) stone axe, again indicative of burial deposition during the Early and Middle Neolithic. Alas,

very little is known about the architecture of this monument: it can only be assumed, based on the grave goods assemblage, that the monument was a portal dolmen and similar in design to Carreg Samson and Ffyst Samson.

185

Monument morphology/ type

Possible date

Chamber shape

Orientation of chamber

Size of chamber

Covering mound?

Orientation Of mound

Interment method?

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Garn Wen Cemetery Carn Wnda Parc-y-Cromlech Garn Gilfach Ffyst Samson Carreg Samson

Sub-meg

LN

R/P

E-W

Various

No?

-

-

Earth-fast Simple chamber Sub-meg Portal Dolmen? Portal Dolmen

R R R R O

E-W? E-W E-W N-S? E-W

2.7 x 1.9m 3.1 x 2.1m 3.5 x 2.5m 2.0 x 1.7m 3.4 x 1.7m

No Yes No Yes Yes

E-W? E-W E-W

Cremation Cremation? Cremation

Ffynnondruidion Y Garn

Unknown Unknown

LN LN LN MN E/M N -

-

-

-

-

-

-

Monument

Figure 14.9. Architectural grammar

Figure 14.10. Ordnance Survey map of 1888 showing the existence of a former Neolithic cromlech

186

GEORGE NASH: ENCODING A GRAMMAR WITHIN A NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE

Figure 14.11. Western views from the destroyed Y Garn monument. The tale of Y Garn

Towards a semiotic of landscape

One definite missing, presumed destroyed monument, is located some 550m east of Garn Gilfach and is referred to as Y Garn, named after the rock outcrop close to where it possibly stood.4 The site was first mentioned by Barnwell, who found difficulty locating it, in 1865 (1872, 138). However, the monument is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1888 (Figure 14.10) and was probably incorporated into a stone field boundary, oriented NE-SW, although Barker (1992, 54) suggests that it was unlikely that a monument existed on this site. Accounts of this monument are few and the morphology is thus unknown, although Daniel states that a single upright was still in place in the early part of the last century (1950, 204).5 The author visited site in July 2007 and found within the vicinity a concentration of large rounded stones (NGR SM 91430 39131) (Nash & Waite forthcoming). The position of this monument, close to rock outcropping located to the south-east, is similar to that of Parc-y-Cromlech (Figure 14.11). Views of the sea and the fertile northern plain of Strumble Head can be seen to the north while to the south-west are the jagged peaks of Garn Gilfach; interestingly, however, there is no intervisibility with the Garn Gilfach monument. The act of concealment may have been intentional and each monument may have been ascribed a unique personalised landscape. In the case of Y Garn, the landscape appears to be visually drawn from the north while Garn Gilfach embraced a landscape to the south and west, towards St David’s Head.

Fundamental to this paper is the potential intervisibility between monuments, the distance between neighbouring monuments, the distance between monuments and the sea and the landscape position of each monument. In terms of architecture, monument and chamber orientation, materials used and type/morphology should also be considered. I suggest these architectural and landscape traits establish an encoded grammar that was known to the builders and users of neighbouring monuments. Attempts have been made to promote the idea that monuments form part of an ancestral landscape that has a past in the preceding Mesolithic (Tilley 1994). In an earlier thought-provoking paper, Tilley suggests that Neolithic monuments, in particular the passage grave tradition of central Sweden, conform to a strict set of architectural rules (1991). Nash (1997) developed this hypothesis in relation to the Neolithic ritual/burial monuments surrounding the Black Mountains in central Wales.6 From these and other texts, it is clear that an ancestral geography may have existed and that this was implicit in the choice of tomb-building sites. However, the Neolithic spans more than 2,000 years, equivalent to the Christian era, and it is thus not surprising to find considerable architectural change over such a lengthy period. The 10 or so monuments occupying the intermediate slopes and fertile hinterlands of Strumble Head clearly represent several architectural traditions. The polygonal chamber of Carrig Samson, standing in slightly undulating terrain, occupies quite a different landscape from that of the Garn Wen cemetery group or Carn Wnda (see Figure 14.8). Not surprisingly, the

4 Several other possible monuments are listed within the Strumble Head area and are commented upon by Barnwell (1872) and later by Barker (1992). Missing or lost monuments recognised by both authors include Glynymel (NGR SM 966 369), Man y Gromlech (NGR SM 909 389) and Pencwm (NGR SM 9438 3847). 5 Information held in RCAM, Pembrokeshire (1925).

6 Forming part of the Middle Neolithic Cotswold-Severn monument Group.

187

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS

Figure 14.12. The large passage grave of Ekornavallen, Västergötland. architecture of Carn Wnda and the monuments from Garn Wen are very different from that of Carrig Samson.

suggest a recognised design blueprint associated with their ritual use. Almost all of the uprights used to construct the passage and chamber walls are of sedimentary rock while the capstones (or roofing stones) are of igneous rock (ibid. 70). Entrances are uniformly narrow, between 0.5m and 0.8m wide, and low, and people would thus have had to crawl into the passage. Beyond the entrance, the passage opens out to the point at which passage and chamber meet. Here, a keystone, or threshold, provides a clear separation between the space of the passage and that of the chamber and at this transition point a deliberately placed capstone, set lower than the other capstones, forces one to crouch when entering the chamber. Like other thresholds, the keystone is designed to deny visual access to those looking into the passage from the façade area. It may also signify the point at which the body (or body parts) finally enters the realm of the ancestors.

Tilley’s work on passage graves in Västergötland, in central Sweden, clearly shows the strategic importance and intentionality of particular architectural features (i.e. the nature of the materials and how they are used). This group of monuments, consisting of more than 265 passage graves within an area of 38km by 25km, is the most northerly Neolithic group in Europe. According to Tilley, tombs become ‘socialised’ through their construction and use, thus allowing sites to become socially-politically manipulated when in use (1991, 68). This process is reflected in architectural change or innovation in burial practice. Tilley’s analysis shows that monuments conform to a standardised design, comprising a passage oriented east-west leading to a north-south aligned chamber, the entire structure being incorporated into a round mound delineated by stone kerbing (Figure 14.12). Furthermore, the capstone overlying the chamber would probably have been exposed when the monument was in use. The resulting interplay of colour and texture, the arrangement of passage and chamber uprights and the experience of moving through different spaces would have been of great significance to the people who used the monument. Unsurprisingly, many architectural traits are replicated in passage graves elsewhere within the Atlantic Zone of Europe (Nash 2007) and similar features are evident in the monument architecture of Strumble Head.

To reach the chamber entrance, the body has to travel the length of the passage, through what Tilley and others term ‘liminal space’ (ibid. 74-5). This physical journey, albeit short, becomes, in the ritual setting of the monument, a rite of passage, during which the body is neither of this world nor the next. This simplistic hypothesis can be further elaborated to incorporate a series of journeys, thereby adding further complexity to the act of ritually depositing the dead. Do the monuments of the Strumble Head uplands exhibit a similar set of landscape and architectural traits? The Västergötland passage graves are much larger and earlier that those on Strumble Head; however, considerable physical and mental effort would have been required to access certain areas of the landscape that may have been regarded as strictly taboo.

The passage graves of central Sweden are regularly spaced across the landscape, sometimes in rows of up to 12, and, like the monuments comprising the Garn Wen cemetery, are highly visible. Tilley has identified a set of intriguing architectural traits, which are replicated in most of the Västergötland monuments and which further 188

GEORGE NASH: ENCODING A GRAMMAR WITHIN A NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE

Figure 14.13. Morfa Bycham capstone among rock-fall with 4-5m cliff immediately west

Figure 14.14. Linearity of the Garn Wen Cemetery, looking west. chambers were originally incorporated into round or oval mounds (Barker 1992, 10-13). The manner in which these monuments interact with the landscape points to similarities with the Garn Wen cemetery (Figure 14.14). Both are sited next to exposed rock on small flat parcels of land overlooking the sea and the views from both are extensive. A vista incorporating nearby Gilman Point and the western extent of Pendine Sands opens out from the Morfa Bychan cemetery (Figure 14.15), although immediately to the west a 4-5m cliff extends along the cemetery area and restricts the view. Similarly, the Garn Wen monuments are oriented roughly N-S and are sited immediately beneath an extensive rock outcrop. Although the outlook to the west is thus obscured by rock, views extend to the east over the coastline towards Dinas Head. Both groups of builders appear to have been concerned with concealment, that is, with hiding monuments next to or amid rock outcrops, and also with

Two variables of encoded grammar It was suggested earlier that the builders and users of the Neolithic monuments of Strumble Head constructed each monument to a recognised blueprint, in particular, the concept of defining and enclosing a ritual landscape. Two clear categories of linearity are identifiable within the Strumble Head group. The first is localised and restricted to the Garn Wen cemetery. Although Barker recognises only three monuments in this group, the author has identified a further two and several more probably existed, although their location is unknown (Pughe 1855, 274; Laws & Owen 1897-1906). Outside the area, a similar linear group lies to the west of Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire. The Morfa Bychan cemetery, comprising four (or more) sub-megalithic and freestanding chambers, extends along a 210m stretch of exposed rock (Figure 14.13). Several of the freestanding 189

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS the concept of ritualising a landscape, that is, with delineating the extent of a natural feature, such as a rock outcrop, while at the same time not encroaching upon these features. The second linearity category (or rule) involves all of the monuments occupying the highland ridge along Strumble Head (see figure 14.1). Based on the distribution of monuments, including the destroyed Y Garn site, a clear line can be established between the Garn Wen cemetery in the east and the westernmost monument, Garn Gilfach. Located between these are three further monuments, including Parc-y-Cromlech, Garn Wnda and Y Garn, each occupying an intermediate slope next to a high point within the Strumble Head upland range. In addition to the occupation of these high points within the landscape, it appears that monuments are, on average, 550m apart and stand between 90m and 160m AOD (Figure 14.16). The distribution is, arguably, intentional with distance and strategic location being important considerations to the builders and users. Based on the landscape position of surviving monuments and the distance between each, it can be suggested that at least two other monuments stood along this range. The distance between the Garn Wen cemetery and its western neighbour Parc-y-Cromlech is 580m, it is 920m between Parc-y-Cromlech and Garn Wnda and, further west, between Y Garn and Garn Gilfach the distance is 550m. The upland range in which these sites are distributed comprises five jagged peaks and burial monuments occupy four of the five peaks. The two peaks without a Neolithic mortuary monument are Garn Fechan and neighbouring Garn Fawr, located 580m and 750m west of Garn Gilfach, respectively. These two upland peaks have, nonetheless, a prehistoric presence in the form of two Iron Age hill enclosures. I suggest that Garn Fechan may have had a Neolithic mortuary presence and another possible Neolithic burial site may have existed between Garn Wnda and Y Garn; the distance between the two is 1,880m. Between these two monuments are no peaks or extensive rock-outcrops; however, in terms of distance between burial sites, a mortuary site may have existed c. 900m west of Garn Wnda, c. 150m north of Pontiago Farm. From a most useful antiquarian source, Revd E.L. Barnwell mentions that a monument may have existed within this area but the area was covered with a blanket of heathland vegetation at the time of his reconnoitre (Barnwell 1872, 138). Although Barnwell did not find the site, there was, reliable information relating to its whereabouts supplied by a local farmer. Irrespective of whether or not the two areas of Garn Fechan and Pontiago Farm were occupied by Neolithic monuments, a landscape grammar is still clearly encoded within the surviving monuments, as nearly all are located on or near the jagged peaks and rock outcrops of the Strumble Head upland range.

Figure 14.15. The Morfa Bychan A, looking east towards Gilman Point and Pendine Sands (e.g. monuments on the St David’s peninsula). As stated earlier, specific sites were probably chosen to control a section of the landscape while at the same time acknowledging group and inter-group cohesion through the replication of monument design. I have already discussed, albeit briefly, the localised linearity of the Morfa Bychan group in Carmarthenshire. Monuments conforming to my second rule of linearity, such as those occupying the uplands of Strumble Head, are relatively infrequent. However, I have previously discussed the distribution of monuments which lie around the intermediate slopes and valley floors of the Black Mountains, a large old red sandstone massif in Powys, central Wales (Nash 1997). According to Tilley (1994), the 13 surviving monuments from this group are all locally oriented to various dramatic visual features forming the ridges and spurs of the Black Mountains. For example, the two Cotswold-Severn monuments of Ffostyll North and South appeared to be aligned to Y Das, a large visually striking spur that dominates the north-western extent of the mountains and its hinterlands. The monument group forms an arc that encompasses this large sandstone massif within the fertile valleys of the rivers Dore, Usk and Wye. In terms of landscape grammar, each monument appears to be strategically placed and, similar to the Strumble Head monument group, lack intervisibility.

Based on the author’s fieldwork, the monuments straddling the Strumble Head uplands possess little intervisibility while monuments to the south and west do

Outside Wales, linearity appears to play a similarly important role, usually where upland mountain or hill

190

Intervisible with which monument

Distance from the sea

View of the sea

PEM 7-9

No

N/A

370m

Yes

Parc-y-Cromlech

PEM 14

No

N/A

830m

No

Carn Wnda

PEM 13

No

N/A

970m

Yes

Y Garn

No ref.

No

N/A

1600m

Yes

Garn Gilfach

PEM 15

No

N/A

1800m

No

Ffyst Samson

PEM 16

Yes

2250m

Yes

Carreg Samson

PEM 18

Yes

360m

Yes

Ffynnondruidion

PEM 28

Yes?

PEM 18 PEM 16 PEM 18

2980m

No

Intermediate slope, east of rock outcropping Undulating and located within cultivated ground. Located on intermediate slope of rock outcropping Intermediate slope, northwest rock outcropping known as Y Garn Intermediate slope, within south-facing rock outcropping On top of localised rock outcropping Undulating ground with views of Strumble Head Intermediate slope, close to rock outcropping

Metres AOD

Intervisibility with neighbour

Garn Wen Cemetery

Landscape position

Monument

Daniel Ref

GEORGE NASH: ENCODING A GRAMMAR WITHIN A NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE

90-95 140 135 160 175 135 47 118

Figure 14.16. Landscape grammar

Figure 14.17. The dolmen of Chabola de la Hechicera, forming one of eight burial monuments occupying the hinterlands of the Sierra de Cantabria.

191

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS ranges are present. A linear group of up to eight monuments is located along the intermediate slopes of the Sierra de Cantabria, north of Laguardia, in Northern Spain (Nash, Swann & Waite forthcoming). The eight monuments appear to be constructed according to an identical blueprint, comprising a narrow passage and chamber of stone uprights incorporated into a round cairn mound (Figure 14.17). The Sierra de Cantabria group, like the Strumble Head group, comprises equally spaced monuments located along the intermediate slopes and foothills of the Sierra de Cantabria, Álava. Interestingly, this group dates to the southern European Neolithic while the Strumble Head group are Late Neolithic.

Bibliography Barker, C. T. 1992. The Chambered Tombs of South-West Wales: A re-assessment of the Neolithic burial monuments of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. Oxford: Oxbow Monograph 14. Barnwell, E. L. 1872. Notes on some South Wales Cromlechs, Archaeologica Cambremsis (4th Series) 3, pp. 81—143. Barnwell, E. L. 1884. On some South Wales Cromlechs, Archaeologica Cambremsis (5th Series) 1, pp. 129— 44. Burrows, S. 2006. The Tomb Builders in Wales 40003000 BC. National Museum of Wales. Children, G. C. & Nash, G. H. 2002. The Neolithic Sites of Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, Vol. V, Logaston Press, Hereford. Cummings, V. 2002. All cultural things: Actual and conceptual monuments in the Neolithic of western Britain in C. Scarre (ed.) Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe. London. Routledge, pp. 107— 121. Cummings, V. & Whittle, A. 2004. Places of Special Virtue: Megaliths in the Neolithic Landscapes of Wales. Oxbow Books. Daniel, G. E. 1950. The Prehistoric Chambered Tombs of England and Wales, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fenton, J. 1848. Cromlech at Llanwnda, Pembrokeshire, Archaeologica Cambremsis (1st Series), 3, pp. 283— 5. Fenton, T. 1810. A Historical Tour through Pembrokeshire (London). Fleming, A. 2005. Megaliths and post-modernism: the case of Wales. Antiquity Vol. 79, No. 306, pp. 921— 32. Laws, E. & Owen, H. 1897-1906. Pembrokeshire Archaeological Survey. Lévi-Strauss, C. 1964. Mythologiques. Paris. Lynch, F. M. 1972. Portal Dolmens in the Nevern Valley, Pembrokeshire, in Lynch, F. & Burgess, C. (eds.) 1972. Prehistoric Man in Wales & the West, Adams & Dart, Bath, pp. 67—84. Lynch, F. M. 1976. Towards a chronology of megalithic tombs in Wales, in G. C. Boon & J. M. Lewis (eds.) Welsh Antiquity (Essays mainly on Prehistoric Topics. Presented to H. N. Savory upon his retirement as Keeper of Archaeology. Cardiff: National Museum of Wales, pp. 63—79. Lynch, F. 2000a. The Early Neolithic. In. F. Lynch, S. Aldhouse-Green & J. Davis (eds.), Prehistoric Wales, Stroud: Sutton, pp. 42—78. Lynch, F. 2000b. The Later Neolithic and earlier Bronze Age. In F. Lynch, S. Aldhouse-Green & J. Davis (eds.), Prehistoric Wales, Stroud: Sutton, pp. 79— 138. Nash, G. H. 2006. The Architecture of Death: The Chambered Monuments of Wales. Logaston Press. Nash, G.H., Swann, J. & Waite, L. (forthcoming). Negotiating linearity and intervisibility: A case for the Neolithic burial-ritual monuments of the Sierra de Cantabria, Laguardia, Northern Spain.

Points of reference The Strumble Head group, comprising 10 small architecturally similar chambered monuments, were probably all in use around the same time, that is, during the Late Neolithic. Each monument occupies a similar location along the highland ridge of Strumble Head. To the north, beyond the highlands, were small communities who would have supplemented their farming economy with hunting, fishing and gathering, utilising estuarine and coastal areas, as well as tending the fertile hinterlands. Each community, bound together by common ancestry, would have occupied a small territory possessing a communal burial place. The cemetery of Garn Wen, possibly once comprising nine or more monuments, may have served a much larger community. Other monuments along the central and western locales of Strumble Head would have served smaller communities. The construction of larger monuments, such Garn Gilfach and Parc-y-Cromlech, would have required inter-group cohesion. Monuments along the Strumble Head uplands follow a similar construction methodology and occupy identical sites close to rock outcrops. As well as being strategically spaced along the uplands, all possess simple chambers, with probably no covering mound. Outside the physical sphere of Strumble Head, other monuments, such as Carreg Samson, Ffyst Samson and the destroyed Ffynnondruidion monument, occupy a different landscape and differ in terms of construction, which probably reflects a different Neolithic mindset to burial and ritual and originates from a different time within the Neolithic. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my dear friends Abby George, John Swann and Laurie Waite for commenting on the text and making the usual comments concerning grammar. I would also like to thank Christopher Chippindale for also providing invaluable comments and Richard Jones of Cambria Archaeology (formally Dyfed Archaeological Trust) for providing the necessary HER information. All mistakes are of course my own responsibility.

192

GEORGE NASH: ENCODING A GRAMMAR WITHIN A NEOLITHIC LANDSCAPE Nash, G. H. & Waite, L. (forthcoming). Notes on the lost Neolithic chambered monument of Y Garn, Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire. Peterson, R. 2003. Neolithic Pottery from Wales: Traditions and Constructions of Use. Oxford: BAR British Series 344. Pughe, O. 1855. Antiquaries of Northern Pembrokeshire, Archaeologica Cambremsis (3rd Series) 1, pp. 271—4. RCAM (Wales). 1925. An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in the County of Pembrokeshire. London. HMSO. Tilley, C. 1991. Constructing a ritual landscape. In K. Jennbert, L. Larsson, R. Petre & B. WyszomirskaWerbart (eds.) Regions and Reflections (in honour of Marta Stromberg). Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series 8, No. 20, pp 67—79. Tilley, C. 1994. A Phenomenology of Landscape, London: Berg. Tilley, C. 1999. The Dolmens and Passage Graves of Sweden: An Introduction and Guide. Institute of Archaeology Press.

193

Chapter 15 5

Inteerpreting Bashō’ss Narrow w Road too the Inteerior J t the Deepths of Being to B as a Journey Thhomas Heeyd Months and days are wayyfarers of a huundred generaations, the years too, goingg and comingg, are wandereers. For thosee b for thosee who meet agge leading a horse h by the mouth, m each daay is a journey y, the journeyy who drift lifee away on a boat, itself is homee. ...1 Bashō, Oku no hosomichii

In1 this chappter I offer ann interpretatioon of the poeetical travel diary Oku no hossomichi (Narrrow Road too the B lived inn 17th Interior2) autthored by Maatsuo Bashō. Bashō century Japaan and is ceelebrated as one of its most outstanding haiku h poets. Haiku H is a poettry form origiinally characterisedd by a patternn of 5–7–5 sylllables. This genre g is characterissed by a referrence to a parrticular seasonn and by a gramm matical break (kireji), ( in eitther the seconnd or the concludiing set of sylllables, that usually u indicaates a sudden channge in focuus, thereby transforming the expected meaning of the poem. p Bashō had sharpened the poetry art foorm called hokkku no haikaii into the art form we now reccognise undeer the name of ‘haiku’.3 His

amb bition was to combine c a certtain lightness,, often arisingg from m humorous turns, with depth, based d on carefull atten ntion to the fuundamental atttributes of natture.4 g Aesthetics:: As I wrote in ‘Bashō andd Wandering uperating Spaace, Recognizzing Place, Following F thee Recu Way ys of the Unniverse’ (Heyyd 2007, Ch h. 6),5 poeticc wan ndering was paart of Bashō’ss method for th he creation off poettry. We know w of five of hhis travel diarries, the mostt famo ous of whicch, Oku no hosomichi, describes d thee journ ney that was to take him into the interrior and deepp Nortth of Japan in 1689.

1

Matsuo Bashōō, Oku no hosomicchi, trans. by Davvid L. Barnhill, inn ‘Bashō as Bat: Wayfaring W and Anntistructure in thee Journals of Mattsuo Bashō’, The Jouurnal of Asian Stuudies, Vol. 49, Noo. 2 (May 1990), 27490, p. 278. 2 This rendering of the title off the book into English E is offereed, for example, by Haaruo Shirane; see the chapter titledd ‘Remapping thee Past: Narrow Road to t the Interior’, pp. 212-53, of his h Traces of Drreams: Landscape, Cuultural Memory, and the Poetryy of Bashō (Staanford University Presss, 1998). Oku noo Hosomichi, com mpleted 1694, waas first printed Kyoto, 1702; 1 Matsuo Basshō shū, ed. Imotto Nōichi, Hori Nobuo, N and Muramatsu Tomotsugu, Nihon koten bungaku ku zenshū (Shōgakkukan, 1972), Vol. 411, pp. 341-86. Translations T incllude Nobuyuki Yuasa (trans.), The Narrrow Road to thee Deep North andd Other Travel Skketches (Penguin, 19666); Donald Keenne (trans.), The Narrow N Road too Oku (Tokyo: Kodanssha, 1996); Matssuo Bashō, The Narrow N Road Thhrough the Provinces, Earl E Miner (transs.) included in Miner, M Japanese Poetic P Diaries; and Cidd Corman and Kamaike Susumu (trans.), Back Rooads to Far Towns (Neew York: Grosssman/Mushinsha,, 1968). Also seee the German translattion by G.S. Doombrady (trans.), Auf Schmalen Pfaden P durchs Hinterlaand (Mainz: Dieteerich’sche Verlaggsbuchhandlung, 1985), with a very usefful introduction and a extensive nottes on the text and with detailed annotattions on each of the poems; foor an engaging French F translation withh an inspired sum mmary see Jacquues Bussy (transs.), La route étroite duu Nord profond in L’Ermitage d’Ilusion d (La Dellirante, 1988). Of inteerest, moreover, is Makoto Ueda, U Bashō andd His Interpreters: Seelected Hokku with w Commentaryy (Stanford Univversity Press, 1991); Makoto M Ueda, ‘Bashō ‘ and the poetics of “Haaiku”’, Journal of Aestthetics and Art Criticism, C Vol. 211 (1963), 423-31; for a contemporary reetracing of Bashōō’s journey see Lesley L Downer, On O the Narrow Road too the Deep Northh: Journey into a Lost Japan (Loondon: Jonathan Cape, 1989). 3 Hokku designnates the first poem of a chain of o poems called haikai created jointly by b a number of poets p as a collecctive activity. Thee term ‘haiku’ was inntroduced by Masaoka M Shiki (1867-1902), buut not everyone is happpy with this neoologism, and thee practice of prodducing only the 17 syllable poem. René Sieffert (trans.), Le haikai selon Bashō (Publications Orientalistes de Frrance, 1989), p. xxxix, x argues thaat it is ‘non seulementt un anachronissme’ to speak of o Bashō’s poem ms as

Figure F 15.1. P Poetry and soccial order in la andscape Kitanomaru G Gardens.

‘haik kus’, but that it goes g against Basshō’s deep-seated d conviction thatt poetrry is a dialogic acctivity. We will uuse the term as a convenient, andd now well-entrenched, w shorthand, even if it should be clear that Bashō’ss ‘haik kus’ indeed are hokku produced as part of haikkai produced byy group ps of poets. 4 On Bashō’s innovatiion see Dombradyy, fn.259, p. 186,, and Sieffert, pp.. xxxix x-xxxviii. On thee history of haiikai see Siefffertt, ‘Introduction’,, passiim and his editionn of Le livre rouuge, section 2, p. 120-21; also seee Shiraane, Traces, passiim. 5 Seee Thomas Heyd, ‘Bashō and Wanndering Aesthetics: Recuperatingg Spacee, Recognizing Place, Followinng the Ways off the Universe’,, Chap pter 6 of Encounttering Nature: To Toward an Enviro onmental Culturee (Aldeershot, U.K.: Ashhgate, 2007), repprinted from Phillosophy East andd West 53 (3), July 20033, 291-307.

195

THE ARCHAEEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS E AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THIINGS It is important to note from thee start that all interpretationn p since it is dependdent on diverse cognitivee is partial, facto ors (such ass the possible discovery of author’ss inten ntion), on thee determinatiion of structu ural meaning,, and on contempporary codess that constiitute text ass nificant in a non-conscioous, unreflectted way, forr sign read ders who bellong to the particular cu ultural settingg wheere the text oriiginates. It woould be foolh hardy to claim m that any one inteerpretation coould be final, good for alll timees or all peeople. Ratherr, all interprretation is a perfformance carrried out from m a particularr perspective.. Con nsequently, thee interpretatioon I give herre of Bashō’ss Oku no hosomichhi likewise is partial, depeendent on ourr grasp of Bashō’s intention in w writing this tex xt, on the caree we exhibit e in the analysis of thhe book’s stru ucture, and onn our ability to constitute c thee text as siignificant forr conttemporary readers who, once again, belong to a partiicular culturall setting.6 Thoough this textt opens manyy interresting topicss for discussiion, this interrpretation, ass noteed, will be directed tow ward the lim mited goal off answ wering the quuestion whetheer Oku no hossomichi has a unity y, as it has beeen claimed, aand, if it doess, in what thiss unity y consists. Inviisible unity most works off Oku no hosomichhi is one of JJapan’s forem literature, a partiaally fictionalissed travel diarry of Bashō’ss 00 km, five-m month, journeey on foot in nto the mostt 2,40 reco ondite parts off Japan.7 It is renowned for its exquisitee mix of haiku and haibun produuced at diversee stages of thee trip.8 It remains soomewhat uncllear, howeverr, whether thiss book k as a wholee has a point or whether its i parts onlyy funcction as indeppendent unitss. Insofar as it is a travell diary y, if it has a unity, it is noot likely that it arises from m plot or logical prrogression.9 A As we shall see, s however,, y may be achiieved in other ways than theese. unity

Figure 15.2. Figurativee travel in Jappanese gardenns Kitanom mary Gardens.. Although som me commentaators of Matsuuo Bashō’s Naarrow Road to the Interior I have claimed c that the t work has unity, u on closer insspection of thheir interpretaations the bassis of this claim remains unclearr. In the folloowing, I arguee that i context inddeed support thhe notion thatt Oku the text and its no hosomichhi has genuine unity, whilee granting that its various parts may also have meaninng as indepenndent s I propose that Oku no hosom michi units. More specifically, is structured as the poetic report of a visionary v quest and w a carefullyy crafted lyricc unity. pilgrimage with

Nob buyuki Yuasa has remarkedd that the uniity of Oku noo hoso omichi, ‘invissible on the ssurface, […] is the hiddenn vitall force that shapes the workk into a meaniingful whole’.. He believes thaat ‘even plaace-names are a made too conttribute to the total effect’, while ‘the maajor events off the journey j … aree arranged not simply lineaarly accordingg to ch hronological sequence, butt also circularrly, accordingg to tiime of anothher sort’ (Yuaasa 1966, 38)).10 The endd

On my interppretation, the fictionalised journey recouunted in Oku no hosomichi is a vision quuest because it is a a voyage out o of ordinarry time and space s represented as into an altereed, insightful state. It is a pilgrimage p beccause it leads to ceertain well-annnounced clim mactic experiences. It is, moreoover, a pilgrrimage to thhe interior, where w ‘interior’ stannds for two thhings, namelyy, on the one hand, h the remote parts p of Japaan, which thee historical peerson Matsuo Bashhō (1644-1694) visited in 1689, and, onn the other, the deppth of reality as understoodd in certain schhools of Buddhism m. The report acquires its unity throughh the resonance off its diverse parts, which have been given g distinct emottional, cognitiive, and existeentially signifficant weightings around a a partiicular, determ minate idea, which w will become clear as we prroceed in our reading.

6 Forr a somewhat diff fferent reading off this book see Heyd, H ‘Bashō andd Wand dering Aestheticss’. For a discussioon of the problem m of radical cross-culturral aesthetics, also a see Thomass Heyd and Joh hn Clegg (eds.),, Aesth hetics and Rock Art A (Aldershot: Asshgate, 2005). 7 Alth hough the book is i a fictionalised travel diary, it reeflects the actuall trip that Bashō made in 1689. It is thhe result of carefful editing of hiss notess and poems, whhich he wrote en route. I believee that in order too propeerly understand Bashō’s B point we are expected to read r it as a travell diaryy written in a lyricc mode. 8 Reg garding the introoduction of the tterm ‘haiku’, seee above, note 3.. Haibu un stands for a form f of prose poeetry that reflects similar aestheticc valuees as haiku. 9 Plo ot and logical progression p are features that, in n any case, aree relatively uncharacteriistic of traditionaal Japanese literatture. See Makotoo Uedaa, ‘The Taxonom my of Sequence’ iin Earl Miner (ed d.), Principles off Japan nese Literature (P Princeton University Press, 1985),, 63-105. 10 Yu uasa, ‘Introductioon’ in Matsuo Baashō, The Narrow w Road, 9-49, p.. 38.

196

THOM MAS HEYD: INT TERPRETING BASHŌ’S NARR ROW ROAD TO THE INTERIOR AS A JOURNEY Y TO THE DEPTHS OF BEING G effect, accordding to his intterpretation, iss that events in i the first half of thhe journey finnd their counteerparts in the latter half. Earl Miner, M in conttrast, questionns the assumpption that such parrallelism is intended becausse he believess that ‘haikai poetts deliberativvely avoided such structtures’ (Miner 19699, 43). He claiims, rather, thhat it is likelyy that ‘Bashō adaptts the structurre of a haikai sequence’ (M Miner 1969, 43).

Thee narrow Bud ddhahood

r road:

Pursu uing

naturee’s

originall

hirakawa, thee Shorrtly after paassing the barrier of Sh north hern border post p to Oku (Japan’s nortthern, interiorr regio on), Bashō coomes to a verry large floweering chestnutt tree.. As we will see s below, LaF Fleur’s analyssis shows thatt this tree reminds Bashō B of the rrecluse-poet Saigyō S (1118-0) and, by impplication, of tthe shaman-Buddhist priestt 1190 Gyō ōgi (670-749) (La Fleur 19885).

s there is, indeed, i a fair degree of whaat we As we shall see, may call ‘ressponsiveness’ or ‘resonancce’ between evvents and places inn the first halff and the secoond half of Okku no hosomichi, but b I agree with w Miner thaat this probabbly is not intendedd simply to crreate an effecct of ‘parallelism’. The diverse episodes convveyed by the text, t moreoveer, do i a way resembling r haikai seem to bee arranged in sequences, insofar i as Baashō arrangess each accounnt of particular expperiences in such a way thaat they usuallyy find a link or reference r in those texts that immediiately precede, annd those thaat immediateely follow, those t accounts. Thhis is a usefuul interpretive clue, but wee can still ask whhether the texxt, conceived as a long set of haikai sequennces, has a meeaning as a totality. U has suuggested thatt six Interestingly, Makoto Ueda p inncluding tempporal and sppatial structuring principles, sequence, arre characteristtic of Japanesse literature (U Ueda 1985).11 He defines d ‘sequeence’ as ‘a succcession of literary units that atttains an overaall artistic uniity—or sembllance of unity—byy means other than logic’ (Ueda 1985, 64). Temporal annd spatial sequuence appropriiately predom minate in Oku no hoosomichi, sincce it is a traveel journal. It sttill is unclear, thouugh, how the independent sequences coohere so that the boook obtains a unity. I propoose that, sincee it is a book offerred as poetry (as arrangements of haikai and haibun), its meaning is too be found not n only by taaking f structuure but also by the mannner in note of its formal which its lyriic content hanngs together.

Figure F 15.3. L Looking from civilastion intto nature – Zuuiho-in Daitokku-ji Kyoto mments that the Chinesee On the occasionn Bashō com charracters for thhe word chesstnut comprise the termss ‘wesst’ and ‘tree’. The blooms oof a tree signiffying the westt is a clue for him m to conclude that this treee is ‘thereforee A Paraddise of the West’ W (LaFleurr linkeed up with Amida’s 1985 5), and he conntinues by writting the follow wing poem. t world Men of the Fail to seee its blossom ms: Chestnutt of the eaves.13

i mind that we w are dealinng with a worrk of If we keep in literature andd not merely with a travell chronicle, and a if we translate the title as ‘nnarrow path into i the interior or mmediately arre confrontedd with a numbber of depth’, we im questions succh as, what siignificance dooes it have thaat the path is narroow?, which innterior or deppth is being taalked about?, and, where is the narrow path that the poet used t matter? Given the poetic p to reach the heart of the t travel diaary, if there is unity in this work, w character of this we should expect e to finnd it immanennt in a partiicular patterning off resonances discoverable d if one follow ws the central idea which w movedd the poet-wannderer throughh the land. I propoose to begin our pursuit of o the unity of o the work by connsidering one of the resonnant texts neaar the beginning off Oku no hossomichi, discuussed by William LaFleur in ‘Poet as Seer: Bashō Lookks Back’ (LaF Fleur 1983).12

ough minute textual t and coon-textual anallysis, LaFleurr Thro com mes to the coonclusion that, in this combination off haib bun and haikaai, Bashō idenntifies himselff with Saigyōō as well w as Gyōggi, both of whom exemp plified worldd renu unciation and a capacity tto keep theirr sight firmlyy fixed d on realityy beyond thiis world of illusion, ass undeerstood by Buuddhism. ōgi was suppposed to haave had a ‘h heavenly’ orr Gyō ‘pen netrating eye’ (tengen) withh a capacity to ‘see behindd imm mediate eventss to the wholee karmic chain n of causalityy that brought theem into beinng’ (LaFleur 1985, 157).. ōgi, moreover,, was believed to have beeen capable off Gyō seein ng ‘around thhe corners of tthe ordinary, diurnal worldd to grasp g things other o men m miss’ (LaFleurr 1985, 158).. Fittingly, Bashō attributes to Gyōgi the ability a to seee

11

Ueda, ‘The Taxonomy of Sequence’, passsim, in Miner (ed.), Principles of Jappanese Literaturee. 12 William R. LaFleur, L ‘Poet ass Seer: Bashō Loooks Back’ in hiis The Karma of Wordds: Buddhism and the Literary Arts A of Medieval Japan (University of California C Press, 1983), 1 149-64.

13

197

Traanslated by LaFleeur, in his ‘Poet aas Seer’, Karma of Words, p. 152.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS everyday appearances of things, such as the chestnut tree’s blossoms, with an eye toward their significance in relation to Buddhist enlightenment. As LaFleur notes, ‘the image of the monk seeking shelter under a tree is thick with associations in the Buddhist tradition. In the classical portrayal, Śākyamuni’s enlightenment took place under a protective tree’ (LaFleur 1985, 152; Śākyamuni is the epithet applied to Gautama Buddha, considered ‘Sage of the Sakyas’).

might call a vision quest to apprehend nature’s original enlightenment. A vision quest through wandering Commonly the success of vision quests depends on some radical change in physical conditions, so that an altered state of consciousness is induced. Traditionally, individuals seeking visions may, for example, fast for a long time, dance for lengthy periods, or take hallucinogens.17 In fact, any sufficiently disruptive event may bring about a radically new way of seeing the world. Hence, we may suppose that Saigyō’s radical change of life, from the condition of a person deeply involved in society in Japan’s capital Kyoto to a wanderer’s and hermit’s existence, may have contributed to the characteristic insightfulness of his poetry.

Saigyō, moreover, is known as an important model for Bashō through his example as a wandering poet.14 Underpinning Saigyō’s poetry is ‘the supposition that a world-rejecting posture is a sine qua non for the capacity for a special clairvoyance, one which is both religious and aesthetic’ (LaFleur 1985, 161). Elsewhere, LaFleur argued that Saigyō sought to cultivate the apprehension of the realisation of the original Buddhahood, or enlightenment, of nature.15 In this context we can appreciate that, for Saigyō, ‘poetry becomes … the medium through which his apprehension of the fundamental unity of [the Buddhist Absolute (or Tathāgata) and nature] is expressed’ (LaFleur 1974, 234).

We may describe Saigyō and Bashō, qua poet-wanderers, as a sort of visionaries or shamans. As I have noted elsewhere, a poet-wanderer is similar to a visionary or a shaman insofar as ‘she or he travels to distant, disconcerting places through (relatively) unknown and possibly dangerous space, eventually reporting back on those other spaces to the ordinary person in the everyday’ (Heyd 2007, Ch. 7).18 Similarly to Saigyō, Bashō had been experimenting with travel in (relatively wild) natural areas for gaining insight into nature’s enlightenment. We have reports of those experiments in his four other travel reports Nozarashi Kikō (Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton), Kashima Kikō (A Visit to Kashima Shrine), Oi no Kobumi (Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel), and Sarashina Kikō (A Visit to Sarashina Village). Oku no hosomichi was to be the report on his most thoroughgoing lyrical, visionary travel experiment.

Consequently, insofar as Bashō identifies himself with these two predecessors, he is representing himself as a sort of seer or visionary who, through the practice of poetry, attempts to get a glimpse of Buddhist enlightenment in nature.16 As we shall see, there are enough hints in the text to suppose that Bashō constructed Oku no hosomichi as a report of such visionary work. So, I propose that the title of this travel diary, Narrow Road to the Interior, may be a reflection of Bashō’s belief that the path or way to the recognition of enlightenment is narrow because easy to miss. Furthermore, the destination is deep or interior in relation to the apparent surface or foreground, constituted by the world of illusion in which we normally live. But, where is the narrow road that drew the poet into the heart of Oku? I suggest that Bashō’s own experience on previous wanderings, as well as his high respect for Saigyō, and other poet-wanderers such as Sōgi (1421-1502), persuaded him to pursue what we

As is typical for those gripped by the compulsion to gaze into the depths of existence, Bashō describes his decision to depart as somehow beyond his powers: ‘The gods seemed to have possessed my soul and turned it inside out, and roadside images [dōsojin, roadside gods] seemed to invite me from every corner … ‘ (Yuasa 1966, 97). The power of this compulsion is so great that Bashō even decides to sell his house before leaving. As he walks away from his home area, he wonders ‘when I would again see these cherry blossoms’ (Bashō, The Narrow Road in Miner 1969, 158), suggesting perhaps that he might die on the road while on the quest, just as some of the ancients had whom he had mentioned earlier in the text. As Bashō wanders ever deeper into some other, quite different space, he is portrayed as acquiring a new, different kind of perception.

14

Shirane, Traces, by the way, reports that some later poets ‘severely criticized’ Bashō for his ‘stance as a hermit-traveler [as] both hypocritical and anachronistic’ since he, supposedly, ‘had no need to be a wanderer’. This viewpoint neglects to consider the importance of wandering for poetic inspiration, though. See Heyd, ‘Bashō and Wandering Aesthetics’, in Encountering. 15 According to LaFleur’s research there is a stream of Japanese Tendai Buddhism which argued for the ‘original enlightenment’ of nature. Hence, it makes sense for someone such as Saigyō to place himself within nature in order to come to a direct appreciation of the Buddhist Absolute. See William R. LaFleur, ‘Saigyō and the Buddhist Value of Nature’, part I in History of Religions, Vol. 13, No. 2 (November 1973), 93-128, and part II in Vol. 13, No. 3 (February 1974), 227-48; see especially part I. 16 It has also been suggested by Makoto Ueda, Matsuo Bashō (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970), p. 142, that because he ‘was just as interested in meeting the ghosts of men who had lived long ago as in meeting his contemporaries’, Bashō ‘can be compared to the deuteragonist of the nō drama… . Bashō is a medium who conjures up bygone persons and events for his readers’. (emphasis added)

17 Recently, in the context of rock art imagery, the claim that there is a connection between certain sorts of mental imagery and drug-induced altered states of consciousness has been subjected to critique, for example, by Patricia A. Helvenston, Paul G. Bahn, ‘Testing the “Three Stages of Trance” Model’, Cambridge Archaeological Journal (2003), 13: 213-224, but also see the commentaries by John L. Bradshaw and Christopher Chippindale following the Helvenston/Bahn article. 18 On shamanism, and on the relation between shamanism and poetry, see Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Ancient Techniques of Ecstasy (Princeton University Press, 1974), especially p. 4 and p. 510, respectively.

198

THOM MAS HEYD: INT TERPRETING BASHŌ’S NARR ROW ROAD TO THE INTERIOR AS A JOURNEY Y TO THE DEPTHS OF BEING G Wesstern Paradisee. As he enters ever deeperr into Oku, hee com mes to experieence ever morre marvellouss places, suchh as th he fabled seasccapes of Matssushima and Kisagata. K Wheen Bashō arrrives at Hiraaizumi, a hisstorical placee famo ous for the diisastrous defeeat of one of Japan’s greatt famiilies, he comm ments on how the glory asp pired to by thee com mbatants ‘passeed away like a snatch of empty dream’,, and writes: A thicket of summer ggrass Is all thaat remains Of great dreams and aambitions Of ancieent warriors. ((as trans. By Yuasa 1966,, 118) he interior off Thatt is, as he trravels ever ddeeper into th Japaan, Bashō not only comes too appreciate nature’s n signall beau uty but comm ments on the im mpermanencee of all thingss hum man.

Figure 15.44. Land of thee mountain asscetics – the arrea neaar Nachi

w skip aheadd and take noote of the last parts of thee As we voyaage, however,, various signss indicate thatt he is comingg back k out of Oku, the t interior, ass if out of a trance. Perhapss the first sign thaat the journeyy is over com mes with thee ora, who hadd sepaaration from his travel coompanion So falleen ill. (This evvent, which takkes place a ceertain distancee befo ore the end of the journey, hhas its counterrpart in Sora’ss original self-dediccation to the ttrip at Mountt Kurokami, a a the beginnning of the journey.) j Wee certaain distance after may y see Bashō’s comment on Sora’s departure ass sym mptomatic of his h sudden reaalisation that he is alreadyy very y far again froom the fabledd heart of Oku u: ‘Sora and I weree separated by b the distancce of a singlee night, but itt was just the samee as being sepaarated by a tho ousand miles’’ (Yuaasa 1966, 1377).

Figure 15.5. Kumano chaaya.

h journey B Bashō acceleraates his steps,, At this point on his leav ving his hosts’ temple at Zennshōji ‘withou ut even takingg timee to fasten myy straw sandalls’ (Yuasa 1966, 137), andd only y leaving behhind a poem uunder duress.. From Fukuii onw wards diverse friends (he lists Tōsai,, Rotsū, andd even ntually Sora),, accompany him for a stretch s of thee road d. They can be b seen as harbingers of the everydayy worlld of illusion waiting for hiim again beyo ond Oku. Thee spell is fully brokken once Basshō meets up with diversee a old friends and acquaintances in Ōgaki. As a final stepp n steps into a out of the visionaary state, Bashō once again boatt, symbolic of o his return to the ordinary world off illussion, and the report r ends w with a poem which w may bee interrpreted as exppressing his soorrow at being g back.

As if presentt for a wake, his friends sppend with him m the last night beefore his depaarture and theen accompanyy him on the boat thhat heralds his increasing separation from m the relatively comfortable, c but ultimaately distraccting, everyday woorld of his tim me. He descriibes his condiition, coming off thhe boat, as folllows: As I was landinng at a place called Senjuu, my m hearrt was burdenned by the thoought of the many milees stretching ahead, and my m tears fell over suchh a parting onn the illusory path of the world. w (Bashō, The Narrrow Road in Miner M 1969, 1558) marks As he walks on, on his firrst day on thee road, his rem ws it, suggest that this is a jourrney out of liffe as he know o of life altoogether: ‘everr wishing to return and maybe out [home] after seeing the strrange sights of the far northh, but …’. (Yuasa 1966, 1 not really beelieving in thhe possibility… 99)

Parting for f Futami Bayy Is like teearing the bodyy from the claam shell: Autumn goes to its end. (as tran ns. By Yuasaa 1966, 1997) A piilgrimage

As noted abbove, shortlyy after crossinng the barrieer of Shirakawa, he h encounterrs a huge chestnut tree which w gives him occcasion to maake reference to reality beeyond this world of o illusion, naamely to the Buddha Am mida’s

m analysis that t Oku no hosomichi iss a seer’s orr If my visio onary’s reportt is correct, thhe question th hat still needss 199

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS to be answered concerns the concrete object of vision pursued. In response to this question, it has been said that the fictionalised trip had diverse aims, including the visit to famous places, meetings with poets, and the practice of wandering discipline (angya). Bashō’s opening statement (quoted at the head of the chapter as well as below) may suggest that his wandering had no other goal than itself, namely wandering.

interrupted in an important way, since he finds it wise to go through the trouble to sell his house. (Yuasa 1966, 97) In other words, Bashō seems quite aware of the approximate spatial and temporal boundaries of his forthcoming journey. Furthermore, it seems that Bashō does define this trip by particular sites, many of them sacred in conventional ways, since his travel repeatedly includes special ‘side trips’ from a straightforward circuit to places of renown such as Hiraizumi, Ryūshakuji, Dewa Sanzan and Kisagata. It is evident that these are side trips, additional to a main route, from the fact that, once he arrives at these places, he backtracks to his original trajectory and does not simply continue on whichever road leads forward from those places (from Hiraizumi or Kisagata onward to Hokkaido, for example).

As just discussed, Bashō’s report of his wandering through Japan’s north and interior country may be seen as the account of a visionary journey. The pattern revealed in Oku no hosomichi also, however, fits the pattern typical of pilgrimages. David L. Barnhill reminds us that ‘because of his frequent journeys, Bashō is often called one of the ‘pilgrim poets’ of Japan’ (Barnhill 1990, 277).19 Barnhill remarks that, according to Victor Turner, pilgrimages have

If we examine the introductory statement with the assumption that Oku no hosomichi is a poetic report of a visionary journey, this text acquires a different meaning. By saying that months and days—the experienced moments of time—are ‘wayfarers of a hundred generations’ Bashō notably implies that they are signs of eternity. Travel, moving forward through space from place to place, furthermore, is a way of making apparent the passage of days, months and years in a way that sedentary life, with its everyday routines, cannot. Consequently, travel, in contrast to sedentary life, will make eternity evident.

…a three-part structure that parallels the rites of passage of societies: a separation from normal, structural life; a movement from the mundane centre to the sacred periphery, which temporarily becomes central; and a reintegration into normal life…. (Barnhill 1990, 277)20 Barnhill, though, does not find persuasive the notion of Bashō as pilgrim. He suggests that we consider the opening statement of Oku no hosomichi: Months and days are wayfarers of a hundred generations, the years too, going and coming, are wanderers. For those who drift life away on a boat, for those who meet age leading a horse by the mouth, each day is a journey, the journey itself is home. And so I too—for how many years—drawn by a cloud wisp wind, have been unable to stop thoughts of rambling…. (Barnhill 1990, 278)

Curiously, it is the rather simple boat people and horse drivers (aside from the few ancient wise people, who preceded him on the road) who take note of time in its ‘travels’ or its passage and who, by implication, glimpse eternity. Travel and wandering, on this analysis, appear to constitute a method for Bashō for gaining insight into, or vision of, eternity. In other words, on my reading, wandering is not Bashō’s goal but his method, while Oku no hosomichi is his report on the results of his method.22 On the assumption that travel facilitates a glimpse of eternity, we may still ask how the reader is to know that Bashō has reached his aim.

According to Barnhill, Bashō’s journey, ‘as described here is not defined by any particular sacred site or sites, nor is there a limited and limiting time frame. Both temporally and spatially this journey has neither beginning nor end. It is everywhere and always’ (Barnhill 1990, 278). A closer inspection of the opening statement in its larger context reveals a different picture, though.

The destination If we read onwards from the opening statement quoted by Barnhill we find a reference to Bashō’s immediately preceding journey. Interestingly, all but one of his previous journeys, for which we have poetic travel diaries, had a common, quite explicitly announced goal, namely the viewing of the moon in some particularly propitious location.

Contrary to the impression we may gather from Barnhill’s interpretation of the opening statement, Bashō does not just wander off into the blue yonder. From the very start he claims that he will be travelling three thousand miles (Yuasa 1966, 98),21 and he shows awareness that his previous ‘normal life’ is going to be

Nozarashi Kikō claims that Bashō is following the aims of an ancient predecessor: ‘Following the example of the ancient priest who is said to have travelled thousands of miles caring naught for his provisions and attaining the state of sheer ecstasy under the pure beams of the

19

David L. Barnhill, ‘Bashō as Bat: Wayfaring and Antistructure in the Journals of Matsuo Bashō’, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 2 (May 1990), 274-90, p. 277. 20 Barnhill credits Victor Turner, Process, Performance and Pilgrimage: A Study in Comparative Symbology (New Delhi: Concept Publishing Co., 1979), p. 153. 21 Dombrady, ‘Introduction’, Auf Schmalen Pfaden, p. 9, points out that it actually was around 2,400 miles.

22 Also see Dombrady, ‘Introduction’, Auf Schmalen Pfaden, especially pp. 31-32.

200

THOM MAS HEYD: INT TERPRETING BASHŌ’S NARR ROW ROAD TO THE INTERIOR AS A JOURNEY Y TO THE DEPTHS OF BEING G Of course, it iss common inn Japan to celebrate thee appeearance of thee full moon, ass well as the appearance a off flow wers, especially those of tthe sakura (ccherry) trees.. Bash hō has suggeested in Oi nno Kobumi, however, h thatt theree is a deeper reason r for thee fact that neaarly every onee of his travel diaries is prefacedd with the stattement that hee ntent on viewiing the moon,, namely that this is a signn is in of a mind that ‘is one with naature’ and a sign of beingg truly y cultivated. His acquainttance with, and a his greatt respect for, the wandering w poeet Saigyō sug ggests that hee pted the latteer’s belief thaat viewing th he moon andd adop flow wers are ways to recall thee Buddha’s deeath and finall enlig ghtenment, which w purporteedly happened d under a fulll moo on when the trrees were whitte with flowerrs.23

moon…’ (Yuuasa 1966, 51). Similarly, Kashima K Kikōō tells us about a revered poett and his mooon viewing, and proposes thaat this is reasoon enough foor Bashō to foollow suit: ‘Havingg for some tiime cherishedd in my mindd the memory of this t poet, I wandered w out on o the road at a last one day thiss past autumnn, possessed by an irresisstible desire to see the rise of thhe full moon over o the mounntains ( 1966, 65). Sarasshina of the Kashiima Shrine’ (Yuasa Kikō, furtherrmore, begins with the stateement ‘The auttumn wind inspiredd my heart wiith a desire to see the rise of o the full moon ovver Mount Obaasute’ (Yuasa 1966, 91).

So, I propose thatt, when Bashōō says that greeat artists cann w the moon annd flowers in anything, this is not just a view metaaphorical waay of saying that they have h a greatt capaacity for aesthhetic appreciattion, but also a reminder off the special importance that liiterally viewing the moonn he Buddha’ss and flowers has, since theey signify th ghtenment. Iff viewing the moon and appreciatingg enlig flow wers were inddeed key featuures of an ap ppreciation off natu ure, and hencee eternity, it w would seem ob bvious that wee shou uld find Bashhō intent on such activitiees in Oku noo hoso omichi as welll. Surprisingly, though, moon m viewingg occu urs very seldoom in the textt, but I believ ve that its few w occu urrences havee signal charaacter for the destination d off Bash hō’s pilgrimagge.

Figure 15.6. Views acrooss the Kumanno Mountainss, a famous piilgrimage areaa.

on and flowerr viewing in O Oku no hosom michi Moo

The explanaation for Bashhō’s interest in moon vieewing may be found in Oi no Koobumi. In this text the reasoon for h journey is presented in more m subtle teerms. undertaking his After his disccussion of how w the spirit off poetry has guuided his life he takes t note off the commonn characteristtic of diverse greatt Japanese artiists:

As in the previouss travel reportts, Bashō tellss us very earlyy n Oku no hossomichi that hhe is intent on n viewing thee on in moo on: ‘Even whiile I was gettiing ready … I was alreadyy dreaaming of the full moon rrising over th he islands off Matsushima’. (Y Yuasa 1966, 97) This ex xpectation iss satissfied for Bashhō when he lannds on the islland of Ojimaa in th he Bay of Mattsushima:

Saiggyō in tradittional poetryy, Sōgi in liinked versse, Sesshu inn painting and a Rikyū inn tea cereemony, and indeed i all whho have achiieved reall excellence inn any art, possess one thinng in com mmon, that is,, a mind to obey o nature, to t be one with nature, throughout thhe four seasonns of the year. (Yuasa 1966, 71)

I was wondering w whhat kind of people weree living in those isolatedd houses, … when, w as if too interruptt me, the mooon rose glitteering over thee darkenedd sea completting the full trransformationn to a nighht-time scene ((Yuasa 1966, 116). m is said aabout this moon viewing,, Curiiously, no more whicch, given thee purported bbeauty of thee islandscapee shou uld have been remarkable.

t How does suuch a mind maanifest itself, though? Whatever such a mind sees is a flower,, and whaatever such a mind dreams of is the mooon. It is onnly a barbarouus mind that sees s other thaan the flow wer, merely an a animal minnd that dream ms of otheer than the mooon (Yuasa 19966, 72). Nothing moore is said about a aims journey, eveen though thee last poem Kobumi in fact f celebratess ‘the moon relevant is thhat Bashō hass here given hints for his travels. t

Nearr the very ennd of the travvel report theere is anotherr instaance of moonn viewing. Bashō rushes ou ut of Fukui too reach the port tow wn of Tsurugga in order to o see the ‘fulll on of autumn’. (Yuasa 19666, 139) He arrives a at thee moo Myō ōjin Shrine thhe day previoous to the fu ull moon and,, notin ng that the moon m is ‘unuusually bright’, writes ‘thee

o this partiicular on iincluded in Oi O no o summer’. More of M u key interprretive us

23

On n Saigyō and thhe importance foor him of moon and flowers, inn particcular cherry blosssoms, see William R. LaFleur, ‘The Death andd “Livees” of Poet-Monkk Saigyō’ in Frannk E. Reynolds an nd Donald Cappss (eds.)), The Biographiccal Process: Studdies in the Historyy and Psychologyy of Reeligion (The Haguue/Paris: Mouton,, 1977), 343-61.

201

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS moon through the dark needles of pine shone brilliantly upon the white sand in front of the altar’. (Yuasa 1966, 140) This occasions a poem, but the next day, the day of the full moon, it rains and Bashō is reduced to bemoaning this sad event.

This experience is truly special since Gassan, means Moon Mountain. G.S. Dombrady, furthermore, comments that on Gassan there is a Shintō shrine dedicated to the moon god Tsukiyomi no Mikoto. (Dombrady 1985, annotation 289) Together with its companions, Haguro San and Yudono San, Gassan traditionally was seen as an appropriate abode of the deities, shintai (‘the body of the gods’). (Dombrady 1985, annotation 284) Apparently, just as, according to Japanese tradition, the sun goddess Amaterasu’s mirror is the appropriate abode for the sun deity, Gassan is an appropriate place for contact with the moon. Hence, Bashō’s description of his arrival on the summit of Gassan, reaching ‘the very paths of the sun and the moon …’, is not mere poetic license.

If we consider these two occasions together, we may note that in these instances the moon primarily is seen in its reflection on other surfaces, that is, on the waters surrounding Matsushima and on the sand in front of the Myōjin Shrine. The moon, one might say, primarily is a decorative enhancement for these sites and is not properly apprehended for itself in these instances. The moon comes into its own in more ways than one, however, at Dewa Sanzan (the Three Holy Mountains of Dewa), one of the three foremost places where shamanistic mountain austerities (shugendo) were practised (Earhart 1970).24

Gassan, moreover, had acquired its fame through its association with the Amida Buddha, which hence associates the place with the realisation of the Buddhist Western Paradise.27 Finally, as Bashō descends from Gassan to the adjoining, and significantly lower, Yudono San he encounters a cherry tree which, most strikingly, even this late in spring, is still about to blossom. If we are to judge by Saigyō’s use of the symbols of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, we may say that Bashō has arrived at the destination of his pilgrimage. He has viewed the moon and he has seen a miraculous cherry tree ready to bloom after a long wait under the mountain snow.

Bashō’s visit to the Dewa Sanzan occurs some time after his visit to Matsushima and some time before his visit to Tsuruga, more or less in the middle of his journey. After some days of poetry-making with the monks and priests at Haguro San (Mt. Haguro) he attempts the ascent of Gassan (Mt. Gassan), 1950 metres above sea level. Although he is there at the end of spring, he has to walk on slippery ice remaining from winter to reach the summit and, although it is close to the summer solstice, Bashō and his guide only reach the top near sunset. He is exhausted and nearly dead of cold.

Bashō states that he is not betraying any details of what else he saw on Yudono San, which, as a pilgrim, he supposedly was forbidden to tell about, but then writes two poems which speak of the tears he sheds at this site. Yudono, we know, was a site where Dainichi Buddha, associated by Gyōgi with Amaterasu (Dombrady 1985, annotation 98), was venerated, where diverse types of shugendo (mountain austerities) were practised and where, significantly, one might become a Buddha in one’s own body and be mummified as such (Earhart 1970, 50).

I walked through mists and clouds, breathing the thin air of high altitudes and stepping on slippery ice and snow, till at last through a gateway of clouds, as it seemed, to the very paths of the sun and the moon, I reached the summit, completely out of breath and nearly frozen to death. Presently the sun went down and the moon rose glistening in the sky (Yuasa 1966, 125).

So, we may suppose that, in a veiled way, Bashō’s verses describing his tears at this site were further signs that he was overwhelmed by the idea of having had a glimpse at Buddhahood. All of this indicates that Bashō has reached the high point of his journey. As seen from the Buddhist perspective, Bashō has advanced to the deepest of the interior of reality.

Notably, the prose poetry just quoted echoes a remarkable poem by Saigyō, which perhaps inspired Bashō: A man with his mind At one with the sky-void steps Into a spring mist And begins to wonder if he might Have just stepped out of the world. 25

From here onwards, the pilgrimage will continue offering him a diversity of worthwhile sites, but little by little he will be distancing himself from the depth or the interior that he had become apprised of at Dewa Sanzan. More particularly, when he arrives at Kisagata he compares this beautiful coastal spot with Matsushima, but the site inspires him to sadness. Then travel over diverse mountain passes is difficult and so tiring for him that he cannot write any poetry for many days. As noted, further on his companion Sora leaves him, signalling the end of

Here on Gassan, and only here, does Bashō come to see the moon in all its beauty. It occasions a celebratory poem. How many columns of clouds Had risen and crumbled, I wonder Before the silent moon rose Over Mount Gassan.26 24

See H. Byron Earhart, A Religious Study of the Mount Haguro Sect of Shugendō (Tokyo: Sophia University, 1970). Quoted by LaFleur, ‘Saigyō and the Buddhist Value of Nature’, part I, p. 120.

26

Quoted by LaFleur, ‘Saigyō and the Buddhist Value of Nature’, part I, p. 120. 27 With respect to the worship of Amida on Gassan, see Earhart, p. 49.

25

202

THOMAS HEYD: INTERPRETING BASHŌ’S NARROW ROAD TO THE INTERIOR AS A JOURNEY TO THE DEPTHS OF BEING its constant beauty.29 Oku no hosomichi owes its unity to the weighted resonances among diverse parts of the text which jointly seek a gestalt around the idea of glimpsing nature’s enlightenment.

Bashō’s own journey. And, as already discussed, Bashō’s hope of seeing the full moon of autumn in Tsuruga is dashed. Surely there were valuable experiences still to be had but nothing brings him as close to death as he had been on Gassan, and nothing seems to bring him to tears again in the manner that he had experienced at Yudono.

My analysis is supported by the framework of Oku no hosomichi and by the larger context of Bashō’s oeuvre, as manifested in his other travel diaries. It is evidence of Bashō’s mastery that the underlying structure of this work remains mostly hidden such that, for the reader, only a mind that is ‘one with nature’ becomes apparent.30

Obviously, other aspects of his journey, such as the relative importance of sites on the way to and from Dewa Sanzan, could be examined to test the idea that Bashō is on a pilgrimage to the Three Holy Mountains of Dewa. My analysis, though, already provides sufficient evidence that his journey has the pattern which is to be expected from a pilgrimage: we find a separation from relatively normal, structured life, as Bashō had lived in Edo; a movement to the sacred periphery, high up and far north, to the hallowed Three Holy Mountains of Dewa and, in particular, to Gassan; finally, a reintegration in normal life, as far as was possible for him, at Ōgaki, where he announces his intention to go on another, albeit more ‘standard’, pilgrimage to the Shrine of Ise.

Acknowledgements Photos of figures 15.1-3 are by Thomas Heyd, photos of figures 15.4-6 are by Cody Poulton. I am grateful to Cody Poulton for his permission to use them here. Bibliography Barnhill, D.L 1990. ‘Bashō as Bat: Wayfaring and Antistructure in the Journals of Matsuo Bashō’, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 49, No. 2 (May 1990), 274-90. Bussy, J. (trans.) 1988. La route étroite du Nord profond in L’Ermitage d’Ilusion. La Delirante. Corman, C. & Susumu, K. (trans.) 1968. Back Roads to Far Towns. New York: Grossman/Mushinsha. Dombrady (trans.) G.S. 1985. Auf Schmalen Pfaden durchs Hinterland. Mainz: Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. Downer, L. 1989. On the Narrow Road to the Deep North: Journey into a Lost Japan. London: Jonathan Cape. Earhart, H. B. 1970. A Religious Study of the Mount Haguro Sect of Shugendō. Tokyo: Sophia University. Eliade, M. 1974. Shamanism: Ancient Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton University Press. Helvenston, P.A. & Bahn, P.G. 2003. ‘Testing the “Three Stages of Trance” Model’, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 13: 213-224, with comments by John L. Bradshaw and Christopher Chippindale. Heyd, T. 2003. ‘Bashō and Wandering Aesthetics: Recuperating Space, Recognizing Place, Following the Ways of the Universe’, Philosophy East and West 53 (3), July 2003, 291-307. Heyd, T. (ed.) 2005. Recognizing the Autonomy of Nature. Columbia University Press. Heyd, T. 2007. Encountering Nature: Toward an Environmental Culture. Aldershot: Ashgate.

It is the structuring of the voyage as visionary pilgrimage, constituted by a variety of signal moments, which illuminates the journey’s underlying aim, moreover, which brings about the unity of the text. In other words, what seemed like a ‘circular’ sequence to Yuasa by way of the parallelisms in the first and second half of the text, I interpret as the resonances of a central theme, namely the appreciation of nature’s original enlightenment and Bashō’s corresponding glimpse at Buddhahood, which finds its most vivid expression when he comes to view the moon on Gassan. Conclusion I have argued that Oku no hosomichi is to be understood as the poetic account of a visionary pilgrimage.28 I claim that Bashō’s pilgrimage to Dewa Sanzan resonates throughout the whole text, such that earlier and later stages of the journey properly should be viewed in relation to Bashō’s experiences at these mountains. I propose that the journey is a vision quest because the wandering poet is represented as entering ever deeper into an extra-ordinary state which makes possible his full apprehension of human impermanence and, at the same time, nature’s original enlightenment expressed through

28 In Octavio Paz’s Spanish translation of Oku no hosomichi (Matsuo Bashō, Sendas de Oku, trans. Octavio Paz and Eikichi Hayashiya (Barcelona: Barral Editores, Breve Biblioteca de Respuesta, 1970; original edition of the trans. 1957)), Bashō’s wandering is repeatedly referred to as a peregrination. For example, when he meditates on his fate after the bad night in Iizaka (p. 72), while admiring the historical monument at Tsubo (p. 76), and after the visit to the three mountains of Dewa (p. 93). The Paz/Hayashiya translation also points toward the meaning of the journey as an ‘awakening’, by referring to the visit to the pine tree of Takekuma as a kind of awakening. It is interesting, furthermore, in the context of the importance given to viewing the moon in Oku no hosomichi, that Bashō refers to himself as ‘moon’ in the poem about himself and the prostitutes after his night at Ichiburi (see p. 98 and note 87 on p. 126).

29 On the idea of nature’s capacity to act in an autonomous way, see Thomas Heyd (ed.), Recognizing the Autonomy of Nature (Columbia University Press, 2005). 30 I am grateful to Prof. Masaru Ogawa of Naruto University for valuable suggestions on this paper. This paper was written while I was a guest professor in the World Heritage Programme at the University of Cottbus at the invitation of the German Academic Exchange Service (D.A.A.D.) 2001-02. I am also grateful to E. Haeberlein and M.S. Celepoglu for their hospitality at their home in El Paradiso, Altea La Vella, enabling me to revise this paper at full ease. A previous version of this paper appeared as “The Unity of Bashō’s Narrow Road to Interior: Vision Quest and Pilgrimage, Poetica (2006).

203

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEMIOTICS AND THE SOCIAL ORDER OF THINGS Heyd T. & Clegg, J. 2005. Aesthetics and Rock Art (eds.), Aldershot: Ashgate. Keene D. (trans.) 1996. The Narrow Road to Oku. Tokyo: Kodansha. LaFleur, W. R. 1974. ‘Saigyō and the Buddhist Value of Nature’, part I in History of Religions, Vol. 13, No. 2 (November 1973), 93-128, and part II in History of Religions, Vol. 13, (February 1974), No. 3, 227-48. LaFleur, W. R. 1977. ‘The Death and “Lives” of PoetMonk Saigyō’ in Frank E. Reynolds and Donald Capps (eds.), The Biographical Process: Studies in the History and Psychology of Religion. The Hague/Paris: Mouton, 343-61. LaFleur, W. R. 1983. ‘Poet as Seer: Bashō Looks Back’ in his The Karma of Words: Buddhism and the Literary Arts of Medieval Japan. University of California Press, 149-64. Matsuo Bashō, Oku no Hosomichi, Kyoto, 1702; Matsuo Bashō shū, ed. Imoto Nōichi, Hori Nobuo, and Muramatsu Tomotsugu, Nihon koten bungaku zenshū (Shōgakukan, 1972), Vol. 41, 341-86. Matsuo Bashō, Sendas de Oku, trans. Octavio Paz and Eikichi Hayashiya (Barcelona: Barral Editores, Breve Biblioteca de Respuesta, 1970; original edition of the trans. 1957). Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches, Nobuyuki Yuasa (trans.), (Penguin, 1966). Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road Through the Provinces, Earl Miner (trans.) included in Miner, Japanese Poetic Diaries (University of California Press, 1969). Matsuo Bashō, Le haikai selon Bashō (including Le livre rouge), René Sieffert (trans.), (Publications Orientalistes de France, 1989). Matsuo Bashō, The Narrow Road to Oku, Donald Keene (trans.) (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1996). Miner, E. 1969. Japanese Poetic Diaries. University of California Press. Miner, E. (ed.) 1985. Principles of Japanese Literature. Princeton University Press. Sieffert, R. (trans.) 1989. Le haikai selon Bashō (including Le livre rouge). Publications Orientalistes de France. Shirane, H. 1998. Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bashō. Stanford University Press. Turner, V. 1979. Process, Performance and Pilgrimage: A Study in Comparative Symbology. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Co., 1979. Ueda, M. 1963. ‘Bashō and the poetics of ‘Haiku’’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 21, 42331. Ueda, M. 1970. Matsuo Bashō. New York: Twayne Publishers. Ueda, M. 1985. ‘The Taxonomy of Sequence’ in Earl Miner (ed.), Principles of Japanese Literature. Princeton University Press, 63-105. Ueda, M. 1991. Bashō and His Interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary. Stanford University Press. Yuasa, N. (trans.). 1966. The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches. Penguin. 204