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Index
Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Illustrations
Introduction The Value and Power of Sacrifice
Issues of Sacrifice in Scholarship
Themes in Scholarship
The Role of Violence
The Role of Meat in Animal Sacrifice
Framework of the Conference
Themes Explored in the Volume
Part I: Defining and Redefining the Boundaries of Sacrifice
Part II: Sacrifice across the Mediterranean World
Part III: Exploring Exceptional Cases of Sacrifice
Part IV: Formularizing and Regularizing Sacrifice
Considerations Raised through Discussion
Estimating Value
The Effects of Social Power
Importance of Setting
Final Thoughts
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Part I Defining and Redefining the Boundaries of Sacrifice
Chapter One Anthropology and Sacrifice
Early Theories
Burkert’s Homo Necans
Luc de Heusch and Valerio Valeri
Anthropological Truths and Exceptions
Altars
Libations and Burnt Offerings
Blood
Human Sacrifice
What Else Can We Say?
Acknowledgments
Note
References Cited
Chapter Two A View from a Fen: On the Concept of Sacrifice and the Possibility of Understanding Neolithic Wetland Depositions
The Hindbygården Fen
Sacrifice in Archaeology—Some Underlying Problems
Practice Theory
Ritual in Practice Theory
Embodied Practice and Objectification
Time and the Significance of the Past
Relationships and Structures Created at the Hindbygården Fen
The Late Mesolithic
The Early Neolithic
The Middle Neolithic
The Late Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age
A View from a Fen
References Cited
Chapter Three Gifts from the Gods: A New Look at Some Weapons and Vessels from the Metal Ages
Deliberate Depositions of Metalwork
Depositions of Golden Weapons
Depositions of Precious Vessels
Precious Objects Coming from the Otherworld
References Cited
Chapter Four Post-Domestic Sacrifice: Exploring the Present and Future of Gifts for the Gods
Animal Others
Sacrifice as a Ritual and Rite of Passage
Acts of Violence
Return to the Mundane
Assuaging Guilt and Animals as Actors
Foxhunting as Sacrifice
Sacrifice and Symbolic Dirt
What Does It Mean to be Human?
Hunters, Pastoralists, and Ranchers
Of Scapegoats and Totems
The Communal Meal
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Part II Sacrifice across the Mediterranean World
Chapter Five Every Good and Pure Thing: Sacrifice in the Ancient Egyptian Context
Royal Offerings: Patronage
Sacrifice in the Mortuary Context
Votive Behavior Associated with Temple Contexts
The Humble Weskhet-dish
Abydos: A Case Study
Conclusions
References Cited
Chapter Six The Mythology of Carthaginian Child Sacrifice: A Physical Anthropological Perspective
The Founding of Carthage and its Tophet
The Case for Carthaginian Child Sacrifice
Written Evidence
Biblical Evidence
Inscriptions and Iconography on Grave Markers
Archaeological and Osteological Evidence
Long Bones
Tooth Formation
The Carthaginian Tophet: 1976–79 Excavations
Urns and Urn Contents
Analysis and Interpretation of the Human Remains
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Chapter Seven The Art of Ancient Greek Sacrifice: Spectacle, Gaze, Performance
In Search of Sacrifice
The Sacrificial Gaze?
Performing Sacrifice
Sacrificial Spectacle
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Chapter Eight Etruscan Human Sacrifice: The Case of Tarquinia
The Special Case of Tarquinia
Cult Activity
Reasons for Etruscan Human Sacrifice
Appendix: The Ten Individual Burials: A Guide to the Evidence
1. No. 566 (also C 189; also 293). Epileptic child, late ninth century B.C.E. (Early Villanovan/Iron Age). Found in 1985.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
2. No. 562 (also C 180-A). Fetus or newborn, eighth century B.C.E. (Villanovan/Iron Age). Found in campaigns of 1982–88.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
3. No. 563 (also C 180-B). Fetus or newborn, eighth century B.C.E. (Villanovan/Iron Age.). Found in campaigns of 1982–88.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
4. No. 564 (also C 180 C). Fetus or newborn, eighth century B.C.E. (Villanovan/Iron Age). Found in campaigns of 1982–88.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
5. 226A. Newborn, sixth century B.C.E. (Archaic). Found in campaigns of 1982–88.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
6. No. 565 (also C 59-60; also 59A). Nursling Infant, sixth century B.C.E. (Archaic). Found in campaigns of 1982–88.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
7. Adult female, seventh century B.C.E. (Orientalizing). Found in 1997.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
8. Adult male “laborer,” seventh century B.C.E. (Orientalizing). Found in 2003.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
9. Decapitated child, early seventh century B.C.E. (Orientalizing). Found in 2005.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
10. 545/1. “Foreign sailor,” 770–740 B.C.E. (Villanovan/Iron Age). Found in 1991.
Anthropological Data
Details of Burial
Bibliography
Note
References Cited
Part III Exploring Exceptional Cases of Sacrifice
Chapter Nine Human Sacrifice as “Crisis Management”? The Case of the Early Neolithic Site of Herxheim, Palatinate, Germany
The Background
The Site of Herxheim
Concentrations of Human Remains and Artifact Groups in the Ditches
The Human Remains
Other Artifacts in the Concentrations
Interpretative Approaches to the Anthropological and Archaeological Research Results
Anthropological Interpretation of the Human Remains
Isotope Analyses
Human Sacrifices in Herxheim—A Special Case
Human Sacrifices—Some General Remarks
The Special Case of Herxheim
Acknowledgments
Note
References Cited
Chapter Ten Dog Sacrifice at the Protohistoric Site of Mas Castellar (Pontós, Spain)
Ritual Treatment of Canids at the Site of Mas Castellar
Ritual Deposits of Canids
Intentional Burial of a Dog
Blood Offering of a Dog
Deposit of Food Waste
Ritual Sacrifice of Canids
Ritual Consumption of Canids
Selection Criteria of the Canids Involved in Ritual Practices
Sacrifice and Consumption of Dogs in Prehistory and Protohistory
Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Chapter Eleven Understanding the Death and Burial of Northern European Bog Bodies
Reason for Death and Bog Internment Theories
Practicality Theory
Social Ritual Theory
Dehumanization Theory
Accidental Death or Suicide Theory
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References Cited
Part IV Formularizing and Regularizing Sacrifice
Chapter Twelve Sacrificing the Sign: The Alphabet as an Offering in Ancient Israel, or A Classicist’s Read on the Ritual Law of the Sotah
An Examination of the Ritual
Questioning Curses
Testing the Waters
An Oral and Written Test
Questioning Magic
The Physical Result
Transformations of Symbols
A Sacrifice of Alphabetic Symbols
Conclusions
Notes
References Cited
Chapter Thirteen Ancient Greek Laws on Sacrifice
Private Sacrifice
Public Sacrifice
Why Sacrificial Laws?
Appendix
1. The Cyrene Cathartic Law (SEG 9.72). Text from Solmsen-Fraenkel, no. 39
Side A
Side B
2. Dreros (BCH 70 [1946]:603–604, no. 6)
3. Corinth (IG 4.1597)
4. Gortyn (ICret 4.3)
5. Athenian Sacred Calendar (Oliver and Dow 1935:21)
6. Axos (ICret II.v.9)
7. The Decree of the Salaminioi (SEG 21.527). Text from Ferguson 1938:3–5
Notes
References Cited
Chapter Fourteen In What Way Is Christ’s Death a Sacrifice? Theories of Sacrifice and Theologies of the Cross
The Shadow of Biblical Ideas in Anthropological Study of Sacrifice
The Oddity of the “Sacrifice of Christ”
The Absence of an Image
Scriptural Types for the Meaning of Sacrifice-crucifixion
Two Sides of the Texts
Theologies of the Cross and Theories of Sacrifice
An Anti-sacrificial Reading of the Cross
Sacrifice and the Cross: Odd Partners or Not?
Acknowledgments
Notes
References Cited
Contributors
Index
Back Cover
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