Embedded Implication of Cultural Worldviews in the Use and Pattern of Magical Material Culture

• Autores: C. Riley Augé
• Localización: Historical Archaeology, ISSN 0440-9213, Vol. 48, Nº. 3, 2014, págs. 166-178
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The continuing challenge for archaeologists of ritual and magic revolves around recognition of such beliefs and practices in the archaeological record. This is especially true in contexts where material culture functions as both mundane utilitarian objects and magical devices simultaneously or alternatively. In such cases, mere typologies are insufficient to differentiate magical application from quotidian use. Nor are the most frequently used criteria for distinguishing between magical and non-magical artifact function—irregularities of depositional location—reliable predictors, if the underlying logic of those locations defies articulation. A critical first step in recognizing magical material culture involves understanding the embeddedness of worldviews, particularly aspects of cosmology, in the use and pattern of magical material culture. This article examines the implicated roles of religious frameworks and doctrine with cosmological constructs on “cultural logic” by using an example of 17th-century Anglo-European numerology to illustrate the connection between worldviews and material expression.