Death's Reflection in the Water
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Version 2021-02-17 Institutionen för arkeologi och antik historia Death’s reflection in the water Mortuary ritual, ancestral worship and the cosmological significance of water on the island of Gotland during the Pitted Ware culture Maja Hed BA thesis 15 credits in archaeology Spring term 2021 Supervisor: Terje Östigård Campus Engelska Parken Abstract Hed, M. 2021. Death’s reflection in the water – Mortuary ritual, ancestral worship and the cosmological significance of water on the island of Gotland during the Pitted Ware culture. Hed, M. 2021. Dödens reflektion i vattnet – Gravritualer, förfädersdyrkan och vattnets kosmologiska signifikans under gropkeramisk kultur på Gotland. (English) The Pitted Ware culture on Gotland presents a multitude of material that allow archeologists to re-construct and visit the socio-economic structure of a middle-neolithic settlement in the Baltic sea. I will be analyzing the archaeological material in accordance to the ocean, and to what we can interpret as ritual and cosmological variables at the site through ritual theory, and with a method of comparative analogy and research. How maritime aspects of divinity manifested itself to the PWC, ontology and belief system could perhaps reveal how the cognitive, collective mind of one culture evolved and made connections to otherworldly entities. Often in the form of ancestral worship, which will be one of the main issues that will be analyzed and discussed throughout, in addition to mortuary ritual. (Swedish/Svenska) Den Gropkeramiska kulturen på Gotland demonstrerar ett extensivt material som tillåter arkeologer att rekonstruera och besöka den socioekonomiska strukturen hos en mellanneolitisk kultur i Östersjön. Jag kommer att analysera materialet i relation till havet, och försöka utgöra havets rituella och kosmologiska kopplingar till lokalen genom ritualteori och en analogisk, komparativ metod. Sättet som maritima aspekter av gudomlighet manifesterade sig inom den Gropkeramiska kulturen på Gotland, dess ontologi och trossystem kan möjligtvis avslöja hur det kollektiva, kognitiva sinnet hos en kultur utvecklades och skapade kontakter till utomvärldsliga ting. Ofta i form av förfädersdyrkan, som tillsammans med begravningsritualer kommer vara ett centralt ämne genom hela uppsatsen. Keywords: ritual, neolithic, grave goods, cosmology, flowing water, divinity, death, Pitted Ware culture Nyckelord: ritual, neolitikum, gravgåvor, kosmologi, rörligt vatten, gudomlighet, döde, Gropkeramisk kultur BA thesis in archaeology, 15 credits. Supervisor: Terje Östigård. Examinator: Paul Wallin. Defended and passed 2021-06-15. © Maja Hed Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University, Box 626, 75126 Uppsala, Sweden. Front page picture: A man from grave 54 at the Ajvide burial ground, buried in supine position. Burenhult, Göran. Uppsala University Website. Retrieved 2021/06/02. Thank you. I would like to extend my gratitude mainly to my supervisor Terje Oestigaard. Not only for helping me find relevant literature, information and case studies, but also for inspiring me and keeping me motivated to peruse my interest of ritual and water as a combined element. It has been a pleasure to share theories and discuss the amazing science of archaeology with him. Further, I would like to thank Paul Wallin for discussing my several theories on the Ajvide burial ground and humoring my numerous amount of emails and questions, and also for providing me with such interesting literature on the subject. Of course, my fellow students that have helped me throughout my time as a bachelor student also deserve a sincere thank you. Contents Thank you. ............................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 5 1.1. Purpose and issues in question ........................................................................................................ 6 1.2. Theory and method ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.2.1 Ritual theory ............................................................................................................................. 7 1.2.2 Agency ..................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2.3 Continuity ................................................................................................................................. 8 1.2.4. Analogy ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.3. Delimitations ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.4. Material ........................................................................................................................................... 9 1.4.1. Ajvide burial ground, Eksta parrish, Gotland ......................................................................... 9 1.4.2. Hindby Mosse, Röekillorna spring and Kanaljorden .............................................................. 9 1.4.3. Scattered bones and human remains ....................................................................................... 9 1.4.4. Literature and case studies ...................................................................................................... 9 1.5. Source criticism ............................................................................................................................ 10 1.5.1 A changing seascape .............................................................................................................. 10 1.5.2 Trustworthy sources ............................................................................................................... 10 1.5.3 Plow–zones and manipulation ................................................................................................ 11 2. Prior research ................................................................................................................................... 12 2.1. The Pitted Ware Culture ............................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1. Origin and appearance of the Pitted Ware Culture ............................................................... 12 2.1.2. Economy and diet .................................................................................................................. 13 2.1.3. Ideology and ritual ................................................................................................................ 13 2.2. The Pitted Ware community of Ajvide ......................................................................................... 14 2.3. Death vs. Water ............................................................................................................................. 15 2.4. Cosmic waters ............................................................................................................................... 15 2.4.1. The divinity of moving waters .............................................................................................. 15 2.4.2. Sensory experiences .............................................................................................................. 16 2.4.3. Water in mythology ............................................................................................................... 16 3. Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1. Humans and the ocean – Until death do us part? .......................................................................... 17 3.1.1. Maritime variables in the black surface ................................................................................ 17 3.2. Ancestral worship at the Ajvide burial ground ............................................................................. 18 3.2.1 Dispersed skulls and cranial fragments .................................................................................. 18 3.2.2 Water in connection to revisiting sites of worship ................................................................. 19 4. Discussion and result ....................................................................................................................... 22 5. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 24 Web references: ............................................................................................................................... 26 Appendix 1: ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Appendix 2: ..................................................................................................................................... 26 1. Introduction Rituals – they are simultaneously tangible and out of reach. They are what cannot be seen by the naked eye, and at the same time they are right in front of us. It is in these so called “liminal phases” where the archaeologist