Publisher's Synopsis
Art, religion and folklore have always been at the fringes of archaeological research. The assumption is often made that they have little to do with social processes and their reciprocation; at the very least they might passively reflect the social. The papers in this volume challenge this view and firmly locate art, religion and folklore in active social relations. Thus, many of the papers challenge the orthodox, the conventional and the mainstream: they reinstate the themes of art, religion and folklore at the centre of archaeological enquiry. Each chapter has the central theme of 'permeability', from the transgression of disciplinary or theoretical boundaries and examination of liminal archaeological contexts to the fluidity of altered states of consciousness and permeation of what is conventionally deemed 'acceptable' research. In so doing, the volume demonstrates that by challenging the orthodox and deconstructing rigidity, new and thought-provoking approaches to art, religion and folklore emerge.
