The Temporality of Festivals

The book “The Temporality of Festivals”, edited by Anke Walter as part of the Chronoi series, is now available for free download. This book delves into the unique temporal aspects of festive times in ancient societies. It explores how festivals manage to make time “special” and imbue it with meaning that encompasses the past, present, and future. The book presents research from various fields on how the temporality of festivals from the past can be reconstructed through calendars, astronomical sources, and literature.

“Festive time” is a concept that defines the period that becomes special during festivals. It transcends ordinary, everyday time and includes unique activities, rituals, and experiences that give it special significance. Festive time not only fills the time but also pauses and halts the regular flow of time, offering participants an experience of heightened awareness and spirit.

Among the festivals discussed in the book are, for example, the New Year in ancient Babylon, a religious and political festival determined by astronomical calculations; the Dionysia in ancient Greece: the agones competitions were part of the religious and political life of Athens. The competitions included competitive performances of tragedies, satyr plays, and sports, and were considered a festive time when everyday time stopped and turned into a time of cultural and spiritual experience; the celebrations in Rome and the “festive time” according to Horace’s poetry; and the multicultural festivals in Dunhuang, medieval China, which demonstrate how festivals can cross boundaries between social classes, ethnicities, and religions.

Uncovering Europe’s Longest Prehistoric Burial Mound: Insights into the Funnel-Beaker Culture

Archaeologists in the Hradec Králové area in East Bohemia, Czechia, have discovered what appears to be the longest prehistoric burial mound in Europe. This mound, located along the D35 Plotiště-Sadová highway, stretches approximately 190 meters in length and reaches a maximum width of about 15 meters. The findings are dated to the Chalcolithic period and are attributed to the Funnel-Beaker culture (3800-3350 BCE), a pre-Indo-European culture in north-central Europe. This culture was known for its funnel-shaped pottery, megalithic structures, and the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry to the region.

The researchers identified an elongated trapezoidal ditch at the base of the mound, a feature typical of long burial mounds from the Chalcolithic period. Additionally, the entrance to the mound was discovered, preserved in the form of postholes and a ditch. The location and orientation of the graves, with the bodies lying on their left sides and facing north, suggest a religious or ritual significance to the positioning and orientation of the burials.

From the findings, it can be inferred that the burial mound was constructed as a monumental structure to demonstrate the social status of the deceased. These structures served not only as burial sites but also as religious and ritual monuments. The presence of grave goods, such as ceramic vessels and flint objects, indicates that burial rituals included offerings to the deceased, suggesting that the site may have been used for ancestor worship or other funerary rites.

A new study challenges the idea that Rapa Nui islanders caused an ‘ecocide’

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is one of the most fascinating and mysterious archaeological sites in the world. For decades, a theory has suggested that the island’s ancient inhabitants caused an ecological disaster that led to the collapse of their society. Jared Diamond wrote in his book “Collapse” that the islanders caused their own ecological downfall through poor management of natural resources. They deforested the entire island, leading to soil erosion and the extinction of various animal species, all while the population continued to grow and exploit the limited resources. This combination of factors led to an ecological and social collapse that has become a warning example in human history.

Diamond emphasizes the significant investment in the construction and transportation of the moai statues as one of the main reasons for the overexploitation of resources. The inhabitants expended enormous efforts in building and moving these giant stone statues across the island, which required vast amounts of wood and tools, leading to environmental destruction.

A recent study published in Science Advances offers a new perspective on the story of Easter Island, challenging this narrative. Archaeologist Dylan Davis and his colleagues argue that the islanders maintained a modest agricultural system and a relatively small, stable population until the arrival of Europeans in 1722. Their conclusions are based on ground surveys and machine-learning models that analyzed satellite images to identify rock gardens. These rock gardens, used for agriculture, covered less than one-half of one percent of the island’s territory, indicating limited agricultural capacity. The researchers estimate that the population on Easter Island was small and stable, with an estimate of around 3,900 individuals. This number is not sufficient to have caused overexploitation of natural resources and an ecological disaster.

However, the findings are contested by some researchers who argue that the study’s data set is too limited and does not account for all cultivation practices or the possibility that rock gardens were more widespread and used at different times.