Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States

Description

Rituals, Collapse, and Radical Transformation in Archaic States explores the role of ritual in a variety of archaic states and generates discussion on how the decline in a state’s ability to continue in its current form affected the practices of ritual and how ritual as a culture-forming dynamic affected decline, collapse, and regeneration of the state. Chapters examine ritual in collapsing and regenerating archaic states from diverse locations, time periods, and societies including Crete, Mycenean and Byzantine Greece, Mesopotamia, India, Africa, Mexico, and Peru. Underscoring similarities in a variety of archaic states in the role of ritual during periods of threat, collapse, and transformation, the volume shows how ritual can be used as a stabilizing or divisive force or a connecting medium between the present to the past in an empowering way. It also highlights the diversity of ritual roles and location in similar situations and illustrates how states in close proximity and sharing many cultural similarities can respond differently through ritual to stress and contrast the different response in rural and urban settings. Through detailed, cultural specific studies, the book provides a nuanced understanding of the diverse roles of ritual in the decline, collapse, and regeneration of societies and will be important for all archaeologists involved in the important notions of state "collapse" and "regeneration". Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of contents Figures Tables Contributors 1 Ritual during periods of decline, collapse, and transformation in ancient states Decline, collapse, and regeneration Ritual in declining, collapsing, and regenerating states Contributions in this volume Conclusions References 2 Old deities for new men Religious practices and societal transformation during the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age transitiona Late Bronze Age palatial collapse versus Cretan regeneration: a societal transformation The Postpalatial bench sanctuaries and figures with upraised arms Meaning and role of figures with upraised arms Reconsidering the figures Examining the architectural evolution of cult spaces on Late Minoan III Crete Identifying the votaries From Minoan bench sanctuaries to Greek temples: the Late Minoan IIIC period as a turning point in the history of Crete References 3 Rituals and tombs during the radical transformation of the Pylian state Pylos: a state in collapse Evidence for ritual at Pylos during the palatial period Ritual around Pylos in the post-palatial period Discussion Conclusions References 4 The legacy of Byzantine Christianity in the southern Mani Peninsula, Greece, after imperial collapse Church construction and use Churches built in the Byzantine periods (324–1463 ce) Churches built in the Ottoman to the Modern periods (after 1463 ce) Church use over time Patronage, church design, and local artisanship Professed religious belief Discussion Acknowledgments Notes References 5 As Wari weakened Ritual transitions in the Terminal Middle Horizon of Moquegua, Peru Ritual and power relations in archaic states Collapse: the dissolution of state institutions Demographic dynamics in Moquegua Ritual in the Middle Horizon (ca. 600–950 ce) House space and cosmology Mountain worship Ritual in the Terminal Middle Horizon (ca. 950–1150 ce) Transformation The results of collapse Note References 6 Ritual resilience and adaptation in the wake of political transformation at Dainzú, Oaxaca, Mexico Background Classic to Postclassic site organization and religious practices at Dainzú Discussion Note References 7 Rejecting, reinventing, resituating: A diachronic perspective on ritual in the aftermath of Tiwanaku state collapse The Tiwanaku Tiwanaku ritual Tiwanaku state collapse Post-collapse decentralization Tumilaca la Chimba Tumilaca ritual practice during the terminal Middle Horizon Public ritual Funerary ritual Household ritual Estuquiña ritual practice during the Late Intermediate Period Conclusion Acknowledgments References 8 Contextualizing the ritual phase in the evolution of eastern and southern African chiefdoms and states The role of ritual in the emergence of the state Complex chiefdoms and the state in eastern and southern Africa Archaeological evidence for emergence of the state Regional and transoceanic trade Investment in extractive technologies Summing up: the evolution of social complexity and the state in eastern and southern Africa Note References 9 Flux and continuity in monument-building traditions in south India Monument-building traditions in southern India—a brief overview The production and maintenance of monuments Temple-building as ritual The nature of the Hindu temple Temples: patterns of patronage The construction of temples as ritual The rise of empires and their collapse in medieval south India The temple tradition in times of the establishment, collapse, and regeneration of states Temple architecture and the fortunes of the state Conclusion: temple architecture as an indicator of the political stability of the state Acknowledgments References 10 Merit-making at ancient Bagan, Myanmar: The role of socio-spiritual and political-cultural entanglements in the rise and f Resilience theory and entanglement Bagan as a “plain of merit” Merit-making at Bagan “Collapse” of the Bagan polity Ultimate cause Proximal causes Regeneration Conclusions References 11 Scales and pathways of human politico-economic affiliation: The roles of ritual Contextualizing collapse Aggregation and disaggregation Variation in ritual practice Ritual in collapse and regeneration: a few concluding thoughts References Index