Archeology uncovers remnants of spiritual belief and worship

Mi-Shell

In this thread I would like to collect bits and pieces of archeological, ethnological and other scientific discoveries that tell us of worship and spiritual practice in times gone by.
Many of these articles may be "colored" in certain ways, giving us fodder for discussions and in the end allow us to learn something "old" - or new, that broadens our horizon.

'Witch's cottage' unearthed near Pendle Hill, Lancashire
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-16066680


Is the Lion Man a Woman?
Solving the Mystery of a 35,000-Year-Old Statue
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,802415,00.html

Dig reveals human skulls mounted on stakes
http://www.thelocal.se/36226/20110919/#
 

Milfoil

Re: the lionman statue article

But who is hidden underneath the robe? From time immemorial, the lion has been viewed as a symbol of the masculine virtues of courage and strength. Shamans still exist today in the Amazon region and Australia. Most are men.

On the other hand, the statuette has some perplexing features. The navel, a symbol of childbirth, is especially pronounced. A horizontal crease runs across the lower abdomen, a feature that is typically female.

Paleontologist Schmid believes that the figure once had breasts, which eventually broke off. According to Schmid, the transition from the thighs to the buttocks is also indicative of a female body. She made a model out of modeling clay, which is now in a safe in Ulm. It depicts the Lion Man with an ample bosom.

Many scholars dismissed the jarring replica as nonsense at the time. Nevertheless, there is at least one piece of evidence to support Schmid's theory. An image of a 14,000-year-old human body with an animal head discovered in the Las Caldas cave in Spain is obviously female. The head looks like that of an ibex, while the lower part of the body features female genitalia.
Does this mean that female shamans did exist? Were women in charge of the religion of our ancestors? The new finds could solve the mystery once and for all. Hundreds of tiny ivory fragments will have to be pieced together to create a statue that experts estimate will contain 20 percent more of its original material.
Click to expand...

??? clearly the author knows very little about shamanic practice around the globe.
 

Mi-Shell

Milfoil said:
Re: the lionman statue article

??? clearly the author knows very little about shamanic practice around the globe.
Click to expand...
Yes, that is, what I thought too. and then for many archeologists/ anthropologists the thought of female shamans is outside of their viewpoint.
It will take many uncontestable finds to change that......
I wonder, when we will hear the results of the re-assembly of the Lion figurine.
 

Milfoil

I went looking to see if I could find details of dates. I know they have had these extra 1000 bits for a few months now so I guess it will depend on how good the museum staff are at jigsaws. :)
 
A Year And A Day. The Orishas...