Holy Sites, Archaeological Monuments and the Perennial Contest over Material Heritage
Issued Date: 12 Oct 2015
Abstract
The article examines several cases of contested sites, situating the sometimes fraught relationship between proponents of religion and archaeology—with their competing claims to authority and ‘truth’—within the longstanding contest between Religion and Science. In particular the article addresses cases where sites in Greece (classical temples), Ireland (the Hill of Tara), Britain (Avebury, Stonehenge, the Rollright Stones) and Estonia have been contested by archaeologists and modern Pagans. Such contests begin with the ways in which places are named and discursively framed (‘holy’ or ‘sacred place’ versus ‘archaeological site’), which in turn have material consequences for what happens at sites: how they are presented, represented, preserved, experienced and made available for different kinds of use by different kinds of people. The paper shows that archaeologists and Pagans are not always on opposite sides. Given that the State frequently has the ultimate power to determine what happens at heritage sites, Pagans’ alignments or negotiations with State agendas in relation to sites can make a difference to their ability to contribute to sites’ meanings, management, protection and use.
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References
Aitamurto, Kaarina, and Scott Simpson (eds)
2013 Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Acumen, Durham.
Alexander, Timothy
2007 A Beginner’s Guide to Hellenismos. Lulu Press Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
Bender, Barbara
1993 Stonehenge: Contested Landscapes (Medieval to Present-day). In Landscape: Politics and Perspectives, edited by Barbara Bender, 245-79. Berg, Oxford.
Bender, Barbara
1998 Stonehenge: Making Space. Berg, Oxford.
Bhreathnach, Edel, Conor Newman, and Joseph Fenwick
2004 The M3 Motorway: Driving a Stake through the Heart of Tara. History Ireland, 12(2): 5-6.
Blain, Jenny, and Robert Wallis
2007 Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Pagan Engagements with Archaeological Monuments. Sussex Academic Press, Portland, Oregon.
Bourdieu, Pierre
1986 The Forms of Capital. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John Richardson, 241-58. Greenwood Press, New York.
Butler, Jenny
2015 Paganism in Ireland: Syncretic Processes, Identity and a Sense of Place. In Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses, edited by Kathryn Rountree, 196-215. Berghahn, Oxford and New York.
Clifton, Chas
2006 Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Altamira, New York.
Cooney, Gabriel
1995 Tara and the M3: Putting the Debate in Context. Archaeology Ireland (Summer): 8-9.
Draper, John William
1874 History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. D. Appleton, New York. Online: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1185/1185-h/1185-h.htm (accessed January 13, 2015).
Dawkins, Richard
1998 When Religion Steps on Science’s Turf: The Alleged Separation between the Two is not so Tidy. Free Inquiry Magazine, 18(2). Online: http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/dawkins_18_2.html (accessed January 14, 2015).
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2005 The Geo-physical Survey of the M3 Toll-motorway Corridor: A Prelude to Tara’s Destruction? Riocht na Midhe. Records of Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, 16: 8-22.
Frazer, James
1994 [1890] The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion. Abridged edition, edited by Robert Fraser. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Gould, Stephen Jay
1999 Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life. Ballantine Books, New York.
Hammer, Olav, and James R. Lewis
2011 Introduction. In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 1-20. Brill, Leiden and Boston.
Hodder, Ian
1998 The Past as Passion and Play: Çatalhöyük as a Site of Conflict in the Construction of Multiple Pasts. In Archaeology under Fire: Nationalism, Politics and Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, edited by Lyn Meskell, 124-39. Routledge, London.
Hodder, Ian
2003 Archaeological Reflexivity and the ‘Local’ Voice. Anthropological Quarterly, 76(1): 55-69.
Jonuks, Tõnno
2012 From Holy Hiis to Sacred Stone: Diverse and Dynamic Meanings of Estonian Holy Sites. In Archaeology of Spiritualities, edited by Kathryn Rountree, et al., 163-83. Springer, New York.
Killian, Nick
2008 Protecting Tara. Roads Ireland 5: 11-13.
Kourounis, Angelique
2007 Greece: Exploring the Revival of Ancient Religious Traditions. Deutsche Welle, August. Online: http://www.dw.de/greece-exploring-the-revival-of-ancient-religious-traditions/a-2786954-1 (accessed September 15, 2014).
Leonard, Liam
2009 Contesting the Irish Countryside: Rural Sentiment, Public Space and Identity. Nature and Culture, 4: 123-37.
Lewis, James R.
2012 The Pagan Explosion Revisited: A Statistical Postmortem on the Teen Witch Fad. The Pomegranate, 14(1): 128-39.
Lewis, James R.
2011 How Religions Appeal to the Authority of Science. In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 23-40. Brill, Leiden and Boston.
Miller, Jon
2007 The Return of the Hellenes. Radio Documentary Project for ‘Worlds of Difference: Local Culture in a Global Age’. Homelands Productions. Online: http://www.homelands.org/worlds/hellenes.html (accessed September 15, 2013).
Monaghan, Patricia
2004 The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Facts on File Inc.,
New York.
Newman, Conor
1997 Tara: An Archaeological Survey. Discovery Programme Monograph 2. Royal Irish Academy/Discovery Programme, Dublin.
Newman, Conor
2007 Misinformation, Disinformation and Downright Distortion: The Battle to Save Tara 1999-2005. In Uninhabited Ireland: Tara, the M3 and Public Spaces in Galway, edited by Conor Newman and Ulf Strohmayer, 59-102. Arlen House, Galway.
O’Hara, Robert
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Pearson, Mike, and Michael Shanks
2001 Theatre/Archaeology. Routledge, London.
Pomeroy, Melanie
1998 Avebury World Heritage Site Management Plan. English Heritage, London.
Ringvee, Ringo
2011 Riik ja religioon nõukogudejärgses Eestis 1991–2008 [State and Religion in Post-Soviet Estonia from 1991 to 2008], Dissertationes Theologiae Universitatis Tartuensis 23. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, Tartu. Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10062/17525 (accessed October 6, 2014).
Ronayne, Maggie
2008 The State We’re in on the Eve of the World Archaeological Congress (WAC) 6: Archaeology in Ireland vs Corporate Takeover. Public Archaeology, 7: 114-29.
Rountree, Kathryn
2007 Archaeologists and Goddess Feminists at Çatalhöyük. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 23(2): 7-26.
Rountree, Kathryn
2011 Is Dialogue between Religion and Science Possible? The Case of Archaeology and the Goddess Movement. In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 797-818. Brill, Leiden and Boston.
Rountree, Kathryn
2012 Tara, the M3 and the Celtic Tiger: Contesting Cultural Heritage, Identity and a Sacred Landscape in Ireland. Journal of Anthropological Research, 68(4): 519-44.
Rountree, Kathryn (ed.)
2015 Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses. Berghahn, Oxford and New York.
Sepp, Arvi
2012 National Plan on Natural Sanctuaries in Estonia 2008–2012: Challenges and Perspectives. In Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of Europe. Workshop Proceedings, edited by Josep-Maria Mallarach, 149–155. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn. Online: http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/service/Skript322.pdf (accessed October 6, 2014).
Slavin, Michael
1996 The Book of Tara. Wolfhound Press, Dublin.
Thomas, Keith
1971 Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London.
Västrik, Ergo-Hart
2015 In Search of Genuine Religion: The Contemporary Estonian Maausulised Movement and Nationalist Discourse. In Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses, edited by Kathryn Rountree, 130-53. Berghahn, Oxford and New York.
White, Ethan Doyle
2014 Devil’s Stones and Midnight Rites: Megaliths, Folklore and Contemporary Pagan Witchcraft. Folklore, 125(1): 60-79.
Winter, Sarah
2008 Kharis: Hellenic Polytheism Explored. Createspace, U.S.A.
Woodman, Peter
1995 Who Possesses Tara? Politics and Archaeology in Ireland. In Theory in Archaeology: A World Perspective, edited by Peter J. Ucko, 278-97. Routledge, London.
2013 Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Acumen, Durham.
Alexander, Timothy
2007 A Beginner’s Guide to Hellenismos. Lulu Press Inc., Raleigh, N.C.
Bender, Barbara
1993 Stonehenge: Contested Landscapes (Medieval to Present-day). In Landscape: Politics and Perspectives, edited by Barbara Bender, 245-79. Berg, Oxford.
Bender, Barbara
1998 Stonehenge: Making Space. Berg, Oxford.
Bhreathnach, Edel, Conor Newman, and Joseph Fenwick
2004 The M3 Motorway: Driving a Stake through the Heart of Tara. History Ireland, 12(2): 5-6.
Blain, Jenny, and Robert Wallis
2007 Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights: Pagan Engagements with Archaeological Monuments. Sussex Academic Press, Portland, Oregon.
Bourdieu, Pierre
1986 The Forms of Capital. In Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, edited by John Richardson, 241-58. Greenwood Press, New York.
Butler, Jenny
2015 Paganism in Ireland: Syncretic Processes, Identity and a Sense of Place. In Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses, edited by Kathryn Rountree, 196-215. Berghahn, Oxford and New York.
Clifton, Chas
2006 Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Altamira, New York.
Cooney, Gabriel
1995 Tara and the M3: Putting the Debate in Context. Archaeology Ireland (Summer): 8-9.
Draper, John William
1874 History of the Conflict between Religion and Science. D. Appleton, New York. Online: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1185/1185-h/1185-h.htm (accessed January 13, 2015).
Dawkins, Richard
1998 When Religion Steps on Science’s Turf: The Alleged Separation between the Two is not so Tidy. Free Inquiry Magazine, 18(2). Online: http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/dawkins_18_2.html (accessed January 14, 2015).
Fenwick, Joseph
2005 The Geo-physical Survey of the M3 Toll-motorway Corridor: A Prelude to Tara’s Destruction? Riocht na Midhe. Records of Meath Archaeological and Historical Society, 16: 8-22.
Frazer, James
1994 [1890] The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion. Abridged edition, edited by Robert Fraser. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Gould, Stephen Jay
1999 Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life. Ballantine Books, New York.
Hammer, Olav, and James R. Lewis
2011 Introduction. In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 1-20. Brill, Leiden and Boston.
Hodder, Ian
1998 The Past as Passion and Play: Çatalhöyük as a Site of Conflict in the Construction of Multiple Pasts. In Archaeology under Fire: Nationalism, Politics and Heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, edited by Lyn Meskell, 124-39. Routledge, London.
Hodder, Ian
2003 Archaeological Reflexivity and the ‘Local’ Voice. Anthropological Quarterly, 76(1): 55-69.
Jonuks, Tõnno
2012 From Holy Hiis to Sacred Stone: Diverse and Dynamic Meanings of Estonian Holy Sites. In Archaeology of Spiritualities, edited by Kathryn Rountree, et al., 163-83. Springer, New York.
Killian, Nick
2008 Protecting Tara. Roads Ireland 5: 11-13.
Kourounis, Angelique
2007 Greece: Exploring the Revival of Ancient Religious Traditions. Deutsche Welle, August. Online: http://www.dw.de/greece-exploring-the-revival-of-ancient-religious-traditions/a-2786954-1 (accessed September 15, 2014).
Leonard, Liam
2009 Contesting the Irish Countryside: Rural Sentiment, Public Space and Identity. Nature and Culture, 4: 123-37.
Lewis, James R.
2012 The Pagan Explosion Revisited: A Statistical Postmortem on the Teen Witch Fad. The Pomegranate, 14(1): 128-39.
Lewis, James R.
2011 How Religions Appeal to the Authority of Science. In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 23-40. Brill, Leiden and Boston.
Miller, Jon
2007 The Return of the Hellenes. Radio Documentary Project for ‘Worlds of Difference: Local Culture in a Global Age’. Homelands Productions. Online: http://www.homelands.org/worlds/hellenes.html (accessed September 15, 2013).
Monaghan, Patricia
2004 The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore. Facts on File Inc.,
New York.
Newman, Conor
1997 Tara: An Archaeological Survey. Discovery Programme Monograph 2. Royal Irish Academy/Discovery Programme, Dublin.
Newman, Conor
2007 Misinformation, Disinformation and Downright Distortion: The Battle to Save Tara 1999-2005. In Uninhabited Ireland: Tara, the M3 and Public Spaces in Galway, edited by Conor Newman and Ulf Strohmayer, 59-102. Arlen House, Galway.
O’Hara, Robert
2009 Report on the Archaeological Excavation of Collierstown 1, Co. Meath. M3 Clonee – North of Kells, Contract 2, Dunshaughlin – Navan. Ministerial Directions no. A008/015 E3068. Online: http://www.m3motorway.ie/Archaeology/Section2/Collierstown1/file,16721,en.pdf (accessed September 22, 2014).
Pearson, Mike, and Michael Shanks
2001 Theatre/Archaeology. Routledge, London.
Pomeroy, Melanie
1998 Avebury World Heritage Site Management Plan. English Heritage, London.
Ringvee, Ringo
2011 Riik ja religioon nõukogudejärgses Eestis 1991–2008 [State and Religion in Post-Soviet Estonia from 1991 to 2008], Dissertationes Theologiae Universitatis Tartuensis 23. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus, Tartu. Online: http://hdl.handle.net/10062/17525 (accessed October 6, 2014).
Ronayne, Maggie
2008 The State We’re in on the Eve of the World Archaeological Congress (WAC) 6: Archaeology in Ireland vs Corporate Takeover. Public Archaeology, 7: 114-29.
Rountree, Kathryn
2007 Archaeologists and Goddess Feminists at Çatalhöyük. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, 23(2): 7-26.
Rountree, Kathryn
2011 Is Dialogue between Religion and Science Possible? The Case of Archaeology and the Goddess Movement. In Handbook of Religion and the Authority of Science, edited by James R. Lewis and Olav Hammer, 797-818. Brill, Leiden and Boston.
Rountree, Kathryn
2012 Tara, the M3 and the Celtic Tiger: Contesting Cultural Heritage, Identity and a Sacred Landscape in Ireland. Journal of Anthropological Research, 68(4): 519-44.
Rountree, Kathryn (ed.)
2015 Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses. Berghahn, Oxford and New York.
Sepp, Arvi
2012 National Plan on Natural Sanctuaries in Estonia 2008–2012: Challenges and Perspectives. In Spiritual Values of Protected Areas of Europe. Workshop Proceedings, edited by Josep-Maria Mallarach, 149–155. Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Bonn. Online: http://www.bfn.de/fileadmin/MDB/documents/service/Skript322.pdf (accessed October 6, 2014).
Slavin, Michael
1996 The Book of Tara. Wolfhound Press, Dublin.
Thomas, Keith
1971 Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London.
Västrik, Ergo-Hart
2015 In Search of Genuine Religion: The Contemporary Estonian Maausulised Movement and Nationalist Discourse. In Contemporary Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Europe: Colonialist and Nationalist Impulses, edited by Kathryn Rountree, 130-53. Berghahn, Oxford and New York.
White, Ethan Doyle
2014 Devil’s Stones and Midnight Rites: Megaliths, Folklore and Contemporary Pagan Witchcraft. Folklore, 125(1): 60-79.
Winter, Sarah
2008 Kharis: Hellenic Polytheism Explored. Createspace, U.S.A.
Woodman, Peter
1995 Who Possesses Tara? Politics and Archaeology in Ireland. In Theory in Archaeology: A World Perspective, edited by Peter J. Ucko, 278-97. Routledge, London.
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