Materialising ritual performance in the Australia, Pacific and Asia

The materiality of ritual performance is a growing focus for archaeologists. In Europe, collective ritual performance is expected to be highly structured and to leave behind a loud archaeological signature that can be further contextualised through synergies between written histories, physical features (including monumental architecture, roads and trackways) and artefacts. In Australasia and the Pacific, ritual is highly structured; however, material signatures of performance are not always apparent, with ritual frequently bound up in the surrounding natural and cultural landscape. This has requiredreconceptionalisation of what constitutes constructed ritual places with a focus on broad themes such as “cosmologies”, “ontologies” (e.g. David 2011; David and Wilson 1999), “spiritscapes”, “seascapes” (e.g. McNiven 2003; Rainbird 2004), “Landscapes of movement” (Ucko and Layton 1999) and “sacred geographies” (Ashmore and Knapp 1999; Ballard 1994; Taçon 1999). This session provides a forum to discuss recent archaeological research relating to the archaeology of ritual performance in regions that to date have been under-represented in global dialogues. Contributors may wish to consider region-specific models and methods or provide case studies that relate to dynamic and performative aspects of prehistoric ritual. This could include bodily understandings of space and material culture; materiality of inter-connected ritual places and processions; the role of monumental architecture and funerary activity and the construction and reuse of memory places. 

Convenors: Duncan Wright and Marc Oxenham (The Australian National University)
Email address: Duncan.wright@anu.edu.au