Wayward Shamans : The Prehistory of an Idea

Wayward Shamans Tells The Story Of An Idea That Humanity's First Expression Of Art, Religion And Creativity Found Form In The Figure Of A Proto-priest Known As A Shaman. Tracing This Classic Category Of The History Of Anthropology Back To The Emergence Of The Term In Siberia, The Work Follows The Trajectory Of European Knowledge About The Continent's Eastern Frontier. The Ethnographic Record Left By German Natural Historians Engaged In The Russian Colonial Expansion Project In The 18th Century Includes A Range Of Shamanic Practitioners, Varied By Gender And Age. Later Accounts By Exiled Russian Revolutionaries Noted Transgendered Shamans. This Variation Vanished, However, In The Translation Of Shamanism Into Archaeology Theory, Where A Male Sorcerer Emerged As The Key Agent Of Prehistoric Art. More Recent Efforts To Provide A Universal Shamanic Explanation For Rock Art Via South Africa And Neurobiology Likewise Gloss Over Historical Evidence Of Diversity. By Contrast This Book Argues For Recognizing Indeterminacy In The Categories We Use, And Reopening Them By Recalling Their Complex History.--publisher's Website. Introduction -- Discoveries Of An Imaginary Place -- Strange Landscapes, Familiar Magic -- People In A Land Before Time -- The Invention Of Siberian Ethnology -- Sex, Gender, And Encounters With Spirits -- Changed Men And Changed Women -- French Connections And The Spirits Of Prehistory -- Conclusion. Silvia Tomášková. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 227-261) And Index. This book tells the story of an idea that humanity's first expression of art, religion, and creativity found form in the figure of a proto-priest known as a shaman. Tracing this classic category of the history of anthropology back to the emergence of the term in Siberia, the work follows the trajectory of European knowledge about the continent's eastern frontier. The ethnographic record left by German natural historians engaged in the Russian colonial expansion project in the 18th century includes a range of shamanic practitioners, varied by gender and age. Later accounts by exiled Russian revolutionaries noted transgendered shamans. This variation vanished, however, in the translation of shamanism into archaeology theory, where a male sorcerer emerged as the key agent of prehistoric art. More recent efforts to provide a universal shamanic explanation for rock art via South Africa and neurobiology likewise gloss over historical evidence of diversity. By contrast, this book argues for recognizing indeterminacy in the categories we use, and reopening them by recalling their complex history.--description provided by publisher Wayward Shamans tells the story of an idea that humanity’s first expression of art, religion and creativity found form in the figure of a proto-priest known as a shaman. Tracing this classic category of the history of anthropology back to the emergence of the term in Siberia, the work follows the trajectory of European knowledge about the continent’s eastern frontier. The ethnographic record left by German natural historians engaged in the Russian colonial expansion project in the 18th century includes a range of shamanic practitioners, varied by gender and age. Later accounts by exiled Russian revolutionaries noted transgendered shamans. This variation vanished, however, in the translation of shamanism into archaeology theory, where a male sorcerer emerged as the key agent of prehistoric art. More recent efforts to provide a universal shamanic explanation for rock art via South Africa and neurobiology likewise gloss over historical evidence of diversity. By contrast this book argues for recognizing indeterminacy in the categories we use, and reopening them by recalling their complex history. __Wayward Shamans__ tells the story of an idea that humanity’s first expression of art, religion and creativity found form in the figure of a proto-priest known as a shaman. Tracing this classic category of the history of anthropology back to the emergence of the term in Siberia, the work follows the trajectory of European knowledge about the continent’s eastern frontier. The ethnographic record left by German natural historians engaged in the Russian colonial expansion project in the 18th century includes a range of shamanic practitioners, varied by gender and age. Later accounts by exiled Russian revolutionaries noted transgendered shamans. This variation vanished, however, in the translation of shamanism into archaeology theory, where a male sorcerer emerged as the key agent of prehistoric art. More recent efforts to provide a universal shamanic explanation for rock art via South Africa and neurobiology likewise gloss over historical evidence of diversity. By contrast this book argues for recognizing indeterminacy in the categories we use, and reopening them by recalling their complex history. 4e de couv.: Wayward shamans tells the story of an idea: that humanity's first expressions of art, religion, and creativity found form in the figure of a proto-priest known as a shaman. The book traces the shamanic category beginning with its emergence in ethnographic accounts in Siberia, following the trajectory of European knowledge about the continent's eastern frontier, and examining the general application of the category in anthropology and human prehistory. Along the way, Tomášková shows that early ethnographic concerns about gender variation faded, leaving the image of a male sorcerer as the key agent of human creative expression according to archeological accounts. Rather than argue for or against a universal shamanic explanation, the book calls for recognizing indeterminacy in the categories we use by evoking their complex history Tells the story of an idea that humanity's expression of art, religion and creativity found form in the figure of a proto-priest known as a shaman. Tracing this classic category of the history of anthropology back to the emergence of the term in Siberia, this title follows the trajectory of European knowledge about continent's eastern frontier.