New Book: Belief in the Past

Left Coast Press

Belief in the Past
Theoretical Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion
David S. Whitley (Editor); Kelley Hays-Gilpin (Editor)

One of potential interest to anyone interested in ancient religions. There's no table of contents so it is impossible to know which geographical areas and which datasets are being discussed, although I'm guessing that rock art will feature fairly strongly.

Human actions are often deeply intertwined with religion and can be understood in a strictly religious context. Yet, many volumes and articles pertaining to discussions of religion in the archaeological past have focused primarily on the sociopolitical implications of such remains. The authors in this volume argue that while these interpretations certainly have a meaningful place in understanding the human past, they provide only part of the picture. Because strictly religious contexts have often been ignored, this has resulted in an incomplete assessment of religious behavior in the past. This volume considers exciting new directions for considering an archaeology of religion, offering examples from theory, tangible archaeological remains, and ethnography.