Altered states of consciousness and ritual in late Bronze Age Cyprus. PhD thesis, University of ...

420 Pages·2017·3.88 MB·English

by  Christine Middleton

Altered States of Consciousness and
Ritual in Late Bronze Age Cyprus

DAVID COLLARD
B.Eng, Grad.Dip (Arts), Pgrad.Dip (Arts), MA (Archaeology).

Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract
This thesis combines an anthropological approach to the study of Altered States of
Consciousness (ASCs) with a detailed analysis of previously published evidence for the
consumption of psychoactives from Late Bronze Age Cypriote (Late Cypriote) contexts
to investigate the possibility that such mental phenomena may have been utilised within
religious rituals of this period. This evidence primarily consists of ceramic vessels
associated with the consumption of opium and alcohol (often supported by organic
residue analysis), but also includes iconography, ethnographic and historical sources and
neuro-psychological studies of the effects of the relevant psychoactive substances. This
range of evidence is analysed using a ‘contextual analysis’ designed to interpret the
meanings (symbolic and socio-political) associated with the ASCs these substances can
induce, particularly in relation to ritual practice.
Within Late Cypriote mortuary ritual, extreme drunkenness and opium-induced
ASCs are interpreted to have been symbolically linked to ritualised interaction with the
underworld, suggesting that these mental phenomena possessed significant symbolic
meaning. In the context of mortuary feasting, however, alcohol induced ASCs also
appears to have possessed significant socio-political meaning relating to their ability to
promote the development of group identity and the negotiation of individual rights and
status.
In non-mortuary contexts opium consumption was identified in a limited number
of cases, exclusively linked with religious ritual, suggesting a continued association
between the supernatural and opium induced ASCs, most likely within the context of
divination ritual. In these cases opium consumption appears to have been restricted,
suggesting that this activity had been incorporated into strategies involved with the
ritualised legitimisation and maintenance of status and hierarchy. Alcohol induced ASCs,
however, are primarily associated with feasting within non-mortuary ritual, suggesting
that the socio-political meanings associated with such convivial activity were most
prominent in these contexts.
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Acknowledgements
Throughout the completion of this thesis, there are numerous people whose
support and advice has proven invaluable.
I would firstly like to thank my supervisor, Professor William Cavanagh, whose
encyclopaedic knowledge and guidance ensured that the focus of my research never
drifted off course. Special thanks also to Dr Louise Hitchcock for valuable advice and
inspiration during the early stages of the project.
I wish to thank the following scholars for their assistance with this research
project, Dr Thomas Brogan, Dr Betsy Bryan, Dr Lindy Crewe, Dr Tom Davis, Dr Mara
Horowitz, Dr Arianne Jacobs, Dr Thomas Kiely, Dr Christopher Loveluck, Dr Andrew
McCarthy, Professor Edgar Peltenburg, Dr Ulf Schoop, Dr Katy Soar, Dr Jeffery Soles,
Dr Alison South, Dr Joanna Smith, Dr Soultana Valamoti, Dr Lloyd Weeks, Dr Gisela
Whalburg, Dr Alsihan Yenner, Jerolyn Morrison, Vathoulla Moustoukki and Dean Smith.
Extra special thanks to Dr Peter Licence and Dr Mick Cooper from the School of
Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham for their
amazing assistance with the organic residue analysis. Special thanks also to Dr Maria
Hadjicosti and the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus for so readily permitting access to
material for analysis.
My research was funded by a Ray and Edith Bennett Travelling Scholarship from
the University of Melbourne, a University of Nottingham Scholarship for the Arts,
Universitas 21, the Near Eastern Archaeological Foundation and the Department of
Archaeology at the University of Nottingham. Big thanks to these funding bodies.
To my friends and family, particularly my parents John and Monica, thanks for
the support, especially for donating time for proof reading.
Last but not least, an extra special thank you to my wife, Anna, for the love,
encouragement (and proof reading) I needed to persevere with my work. Thanks also to
Peanut, for not arriving too soon.
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Table of Contents
List of Figures.....................................................................................................................9
List of Tables....................................................................................................................17
List of Abbreviations........................................................................................................19
Chronology of Prehistoric Cyprus....................................................................................21
Introduction.......................................................................................................................23
The Late Cypriote Context............................................................................................27
End of the Bronze Age..............................................................................................32
Chapter 1. Altered States of Consciousness.....................................................................37
1.1 Defining Altered States of Consciousness..............................................................37
1.2 Inducing Altered States of Consciousness..............................................................38
1.3 Experiential Characteristics of Altered States of Consciousness...........................40
1.4 Historical and Ethnographic Examples of Altered States of Consciousness..........44
1.4.1 Shamanism.......................................................................................................44
1.4.2 !Kung Trance Performances............................................................................50
1.4.3 Voodoo Spirit-Possession in Haiti...................................................................54
1.5 The Social and Cultural Roles of Altered States of Consciousness........................56
1.5.1 Altered States of Consciousness and Religious Ritual....................................58
1.5.2 The Significance of the Ritual Experience......................................................62
1.6 Altered States of Consciousness in Archaeology...................................................63
1.6.1 Altered States of Consciousness in the East Mediterranean Bronze Age........67
1.6.2 Psychoactive Substances in the East Mediterranean Bronze Age...................71
1.7 Investigating Altered States of Consciousness.......................................................80
Chapter 2. Theory and Approach......................................................................................83
2.1 Post-processual Approaches...................................................................................84
2.1.1 Contextual Analysis.........................................................................................86
2.2 Religion and Ritual.................................................................................................88
2.2.1 Archaeologically Identifying Ritual................................................................95
2.3 Ethnographic and Historical Analogy.....................................................................96
2.4 Methodological Approach......................................................................................98
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Chapter 3. Evidence for Altered States of Consciousness..............................................103
3.1 Textual Evidence..................................................................................................104
3.1.1 The Marzihu/Marzēah at Ugarit....................................................................104
3.1.2 Ritual Alcohol Consumption in Egyptian and Hittite Texts..........................112
3.2 Iconographic Evidence..........................................................................................114
3.2.1 Alcohol Consumption and ‘Banquet Scenes’................................................115
3.2.2 Opium Poppy Representations.......................................................................126
3.3 Evidence for Consumption of Psychoactives.......................................................132
3.3.1 Opium Consumption Evidence......................................................................132
3.3.2 Evidence for Alcohol Consumption...............................................................148
3.3.3 Evidence for Other Psychoactives.................................................................155
3.4 The Psychoactives.................................................................................................159
3.4.1 Opium............................................................................................................159
3.4.2 Alcohol...........................................................................................................162
3.5 Organic Residue Analysis.....................................................................................163
Sample Selection and Results.................................................................................164
Chapter 4. Cypriote Mortuary Ritual..............................................................................167
4.0.1 Tomb Assemblage Preservation....................................................................168
4.1 Theoretical Considerations...................................................................................170
4.1.1 Ethnographic Studies.....................................................................................170
4.1.2 Archaeological Studies..................................................................................173
4.2 Early & Middle Cypriote Mortuary Ritual...........................................................176
4.2.1 Tombs and Cemeteries...................................................................................176
4.2.2 Collective and Multi-Stage Burial.................................................................177
4.2.3 Grave Goods..................................................................................................180
4.2.4 Feasting..........................................................................................................182
4.2.5 Wider Social Implications..............................................................................185
4.3 ASCs in Early and Middle Cypriote Mortuary Ritual..........................................186
Chapter 5. Late Cypriote Mortuary Ritual – A Contextual Analysis.............................193
5.0.1 Late Cypriote Variation.................................................................................194
5.1 Tomb Case Studies...............................................................................................195
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5.1.1 Kazaphani-Ayios Andronikos Tomb 2..........................................................196
Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios Tombs.......................................................................205
5.1.2 Tombs 11 and 9..............................................................................................205
5.1.3 Tomb 6...........................................................................................................213
Enkomi-Ayios Iakovos Tombs...............................................................................217
5.1.4 French Tomb 49/5..........................................................................................218
5.1.5 French Tomb 49/2..........................................................................................221
5.1.6 French Tomb 47/1..........................................................................................226
5.2 The Complete Late Cypriote Tomb Corpus..........................................................230
5.2.1 Numerical Pottery Distributions....................................................................231
5.2.2 Alcohol Consumption Vessels.......................................................................235
5.2.3 Opium Consumption Vessels.........................................................................241
5.2.4 Iconography in Tombs...................................................................................249
5.3 Discussion.............................................................................................................251
Chapter 6. Late Cypriote Non-Mortuary Ritual – A Contextual Analysis.....................255
6.1 Non-mortuary Ritual Case Studies.......................................................................255
6.1.1 Athienou-Bamboulari tis Koukounninas.......................................................256
6.1.2 Kition-Kathari................................................................................................265
6.1.3 Enkomi-Ayios Iakovos...................................................................................276
6.2 All Late Cypriote Non-Mortuary Sites.................................................................286
6.2.1 Alcohol Consumption....................................................................................287
6.2.2 Opium............................................................................................................297
6.3 Discussion.............................................................................................................300
Chapter 7. Late Cypriote Altered States of Consciousness............................................303
7.1 Alcohol-Induced ASCs.........................................................................................303
7.2 Opium-Induced ASCs...........................................................................................306
7.3 Diachronic Change................................................................................................308
Conclusion......................................................................................................................313
References.......................................................................................................................319
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