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In the summer of 2009, rescue excavations of a tumulus were conducted in relation to the construction of the ‘Thrace’ motorway. The tumulus was located to the northeast of the village of Kabyle, Yambol district and it is known as the Big Tumulus (Golyamata mogila) among the locals. Only one grave was uncovered in the north-eastern part of the mound. It is of a pyre-grave type, not particularly common for pre-Roman Thrace. The deceased has been placed on a wooden bed construction in the pyre together with his personal belongings and armor. The observations made in the course of excavations point to the conclusion that most of the inventory has been put in the pyre during the quenching of the fire by soil, after which, the piling of the primary mound began. Probably wine was used in this ritual, as revealed by an extant Thasos amphora. The armor consists of a sword and more than ten spearheads with butt-spikes. A bronze horse-bit, parts of a gold laurel wreath and more than one wreath with gilded leaves and fruits, two iron strigilae and not the least, a golden stater of Phillip II type have also been documented. Most probably, the coin was put in the mouth of the dead as a Charon obolus. The pyre-grave should be dated to the 30s or 20s of the 4th c. BC., and could be interpreted as a funeral of an officer from the Macedonian garrison of the town of Kabyle.

A rescue excavation of a tumulus near the of village Buzovgrad, Kazanlak district was carried out in 2012. In 2006, looters have come upon a tomb in this tumulus.The investigations have shown that tomb consists of a circular burial chamber with a vault, a rectangular pre-burial chamber and a roofless dromos. Both chambers are made of granite blocks, carefully shaped from the inside. Their floors were made of thick stone plates. The pre-burial chamber was entirely covered by white mortar, the same was valid for the first two rows of blocks in the burial chamber.In addition to the tomb, the terrain around the tumulus was also investigated. An eschara with elaborate decoration was discovered. The latter consisted of corded impressions into the wet clay. A smaller and less elabo-. elabo-A smaller and less elaborately decorated eschara was found under the first eschara. The escharas and the features around them are most probably connected to the commemorational practices performed in front of the entrance of the tomb.The trizna in front of the eastern wall of the dromos is probably also related to some burial or commemorational activities.The tomb was robbed in antiquity. Probably at that time its representative facade was destroyed, the doors were removed, together with the metal clamps and the floor blocks were taken away. The lack of finds that could have pointed to a more or less precise date prevents from determining the time of tomb’s construction and use. Similarities in its plan, construction particularities and style suggest that the tomb was built at the end of the 4th c. BC.

The Late and Historical Period Chumash and Tongva societies of southern California are canonical examples of complex maritime hunter-gatherers. This chapter explains the origins of economic and political complexity on southern California’s islands and coasts by focusing on the need of leaders to provision feasts, ceremonies, and other ritual activities. Drawing on the concept of the Ritual Economy, the chapter focuses on the evidence for the procurement and conveyance of numerous resources, including raw materials and formal tools, that were required for ritual performances and ceremonial activities. Many high-value items such as soapstone bowls, charmstones, bone whistles, and red ochre were patchily distributed across the region, of which some originate from single islands or sources, and would have been exchanged between islands as well as across the mainland coast. Shell beads produced by island bead specialists would have circulated in tandem with many of these goods. Surplus foods may also have been exchanged to support feasting. The ritual economy perspective employed in this chapter represents a move away from models of hunter-gatherer exchange focused on subsistence provisioning and toward an approach that accounts for the agency of individuals who sought to fulfill their ritual obligations.

\"Good fish get dull but sex is always fun.\" So say the Mehinaku people of Brazil. But Thomas Gregor shows that sex brings a supreme ambiguity to the villagers' lives. In their elaborate rituals—especially those practiced by the men in their secret societies—the Mehinaku give expression to a system of symbols reminiscent of psychosexual neuroses identified by Freud: castration anxiety, Oedipal conflict, fantasies of loss of strength through sex, and a host of others. \"If we look carefully,\" writes Gregor, \"we will see reflections of our own sexual nature in the life ways of an Amazonian people.\" The book is illustrated with Mehinaku drawings of ritual texts and myths, as well as with photographs of the villagers taking part in both everyday and ceremonial activities.

No detailed description available for \"Anxious Pleasures\".

A King Travelsexamines the scripting and performance of festivals in Spain between 1327 and 1620, offering an unprecedented look at the different types of festivals that were held in Iberia during this crucial period of European history. Bridging the gap between the medieval and early modern eras, Teofilo Ruiz focuses on the travels and festivities of Philip II, exploring the complex relationship between power and ceremony, and offering a vibrant portrait of Spain's cultural and political life. Ruiz covers a range of festival categories: carnival, royal entries, tournaments, calendrical and noncalendrical celebrations, autos de fe, and Corpus Christi processions. He probes the ritual meanings of these events, paying special attention to the use of colors and symbols, and to the power relations articulated through these festive displays. Ruiz argues that the fluid and at times subversive character of medieval festivals gave way to highly formalized and hierarchical events reflecting a broader shift in how power was articulated in late medieval and early modern Spain. Yet Ruiz contends that these festivals, while they sought to buttress authority and instruct different social orders about hierarchies of power, also served as sites of contestation, dialogue, and resistance. A King Travelssheds new light on Iberian festive traditions and their unique role in the centralizing state in early modern Castile.

Since the 1970s, monumental stone structures now called mustatil have been documented across Saudi Arabia. However, it was not until 2017 that the first intensive and systematic study of this structure type was undertaken, although this study could not determine the precise function of these features. Recent excavations in AlUla have now determined that these structures fulfilled a ritual purpose, with specifically selected elements of both wild and domestic taxa deposited around a betyl. This paper outlines the results of the University of Western Australia’s work at site IDIHA-0008222, a 140 m long mustatil (IDIHA-F-0011081), located 55 km east of AlUla. Work at this site sheds new and important light on the cult, herding and ‘pilgrimage’ in the Late Neolithic of north-west Arabia, with the site revealing one of the earliest chronometrically dated betyls in the Arabian Peninsula and some of the earliest evidence for domestic cattle in northern Arabia.

Zooarchaeological analyses of the skeletal remains of 52 animals unearthed in the courtyard of an Iron Age Tartessian building known as Casas del Turuñuelo (Badajoz, Spain) shed light on a massive sacrifice forming part of a series of rituals linked to the site’s last period of activity and final abandonment. The rites took place towards the end of the 5th century BCE when both the building (intentionally destroyed) and the sacrificed animals were intentionally buried under a tumulus 90 m in diameter and 6 m high. The main objective of the zooarchaeological and microstratigraphic analyses was to determine the phasing of the sacrificial depositions. Evidence gathered from taphonomic assessments and a series of radiocarbon datings indicate that the sacrifices fall into three consecutive phases spanning several years. The findings of the zooarchaeological analyses clearly point to a selection of equid and cattle males. Adult equids predominate (MNI = 41) followed by adult and sub-adult cattle (MNI = 6). Pigs, in turn, are only represented by a few adults and sub-adult females (MNI = 4). Among the animals is a single dog of undetermined sex between 3 and 4 years of age. The fact that the animals are mostly adults discards the likelihood that they died from natural causes or an epidemic. In addition, the scenographic deposition of certain equids in pairs, as well as evidence of the burning of plant offerings, suggest an intentional ritualistic sacrifice. Nine of the initial depositions of Phase 1 in the SE quadrant were scattered and certain of their bones bear marks characteristic of both prolonged open air exposure and scavengers. Another 31 animals from Phases 1 and 2 are represented by almost complete, articulated skeletons, indicating they were promptly covered. Phase 3, by contrast, reveals both almost complete and partial animals bearing clear signs of processing for human consumption. This study thus sheds light on both the sequence of the animal sacrifices and the protocols linked to rites accompanied by the celebration of banquets. Certain features associated with the sealing of this building under a tumulus offer evidence of the decline of the Tartessian Culture. This study thus advances notions serving to contextualize ritual animal sacrifices in the framework of practice observed at other Iron Age sites in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere throughout Europe.

Situated at a geographic crossroads, the eastern Tianshan Mountain region in northwest China is crucial to understanding various economic, social, and cultural developments on the Eurasian Steppes. One promising way to gain a better knowledge of ancient subsistence economy, craft production, and social change in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region is to study the artifact assemblages from archaeological contexts. Here, we present an analysis of 488 worked animal bones from the large site of Shirenzigou (ca. 1300–1 BCE), to date the largest assemblage of this kind uncovered in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region. We classified these worked bones into six categories, including “ritual objects”, “ornaments”, “tools”, “worked astragali”, “warfare and mobility”, and “indeterminate”. The identification of animal species and skeletal elements indicates that worked bones from Shirenzigou are characterized by a predominance of caprine products, particularly worked astragali, which is consistent with the large proportion of caprine fragments found in animal remains associated with food consumption. This demonstrates the contribution of caprine pastoralism to bone working activities at Shirenzigou. The making of most worked bones does not appear to have required advanced or specialized skills. Considering the absence of dedicated bone working space, alongside the variability in raw material selection and in dimensions of certain types of artifacts, we infer that worked bone production at Shirenzigou was not standardized. In terms of raw material selection and mode of production, Shirenzigou differed from their settled, farming counterparts in the Yellow River valley of northern China. In addition, along with the evidence for violence and horseback riding, the increasing use of bone artifacts associated with warfare and mobility during the late occupation phase of Shirenzigou reflects growing social instability and implies the likely emergence of single mounted horsemen, equipped with light armors, in the region during the late first millennium BCE. Our results provide new insights into animal resource exploitation and changing lifeways of early pastoral societies in the eastern Tianshan Mountain region, expanding our knowledge of the economic, social, and political milieu of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age eastern Eurasia.

This chapter contains sections titled: Religious Offices and Actions in Caesar's Career Caesar and Ruler Cult Caesar and the Observance of Religious Practices Religion in Caesar's Own Works Ancient Sources' Picture of Caesar and Religious Observance Conclusion Further Reading