From black land to fifth sun : the science of sacred sites
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Includes bibliographical references (p. 383-385) and index
The archaeology of the intangible -- Dark caves, obscure visions -- San artists in southern Africa -- Fertility and death -- Power and the ancestors -- Avebury : landscapes of the ancestors -- Stonehenge and the idea of time -- Two livings : agriculture and religion -- The moundbuilders of eastern North America -- The bull beneath the earth -- A shrine at Phylakopi -- Divine kings along the Nile -- Xunantunich : "The maiden of the rock" -- The world of the fifth sun
Shamans, spirit mediums, mysterious cave paintings, enigmatic earthworks, and temples - the religious and spiritual lives of our forebears have always seemed inaccessible to archaeologists. Now, however, science is finally beginning to lift the veil. Brian Fagan draws upon a wealth of scientific disciplines - from botany, zoology, and geology to neuropsychology, palynology (the study of spores and pollen), and nuclear physics - to explore this new "archaeology of the mind." Armed with new recording technologies that expose the paintings' finest detail and new radiocarbon dating methods, Fagan describes a revolution in our understanding of the world's first artists. Fagan describes how space-age radar has revealed a network of ancient roadways linking the great pueblos of Chaco Canyon, and how the CAD-mapping of Stonehenge has sparked an intense debate about the original purpose of the site. His story culminates with a vivid depiction of the Aztec civilization of highland Mexico, where a marriage of archaeology, science, and ethnohistory is offering new interpretations of one of the world's last pre-industrial civilizations
The archaeology of the intangible -- Dark caves, obscure visions -- San artists in southern Africa -- Fertility and death -- Power and the ancestors -- Avebury : landscapes of the ancestors -- Stonehenge and the idea of time -- Two livings : agriculture and religion -- The moundbuilders of eastern North America -- The bull beneath the earth -- A shrine at Phylakopi -- Divine kings along the Nile -- Xunantunich : "The maiden of the rock" -- The world of the fifth sun
Shamans, spirit mediums, mysterious cave paintings, enigmatic earthworks, and temples - the religious and spiritual lives of our forebears have always seemed inaccessible to archaeologists. Now, however, science is finally beginning to lift the veil. Brian Fagan draws upon a wealth of scientific disciplines - from botany, zoology, and geology to neuropsychology, palynology (the study of spores and pollen), and nuclear physics - to explore this new "archaeology of the mind." Armed with new recording technologies that expose the paintings' finest detail and new radiocarbon dating methods, Fagan describes a revolution in our understanding of the world's first artists. Fagan describes how space-age radar has revealed a network of ancient roadways linking the great pueblos of Chaco Canyon, and how the CAD-mapping of Stonehenge has sparked an intense debate about the original purpose of the site. His story culminates with a vivid depiction of the Aztec civilization of highland Mexico, where a marriage of archaeology, science, and ethnohistory is offering new interpretations of one of the world's last pre-industrial civilizations
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