The Sacred and the sacred

Summary

The word sacred (or Sacred) can encompass many meanings. Some are tangible – others not. The sacred can exist in the mind or be defined on a map. Are there two sacreds – one with a small "s" and the other with a capital "S"? What constitutes the Sacred and who defines it, and with what parameters? How is sacredness determined, and who decides? Is it a legal term that is defined by the courts? Are there degrees of sacredness? Can sacred and profane co-exist? What role do Native oral traditions play in defining a sacred landscape? Is a sacred landscape static, or can it be fluid and change? From an archaeological perspective, the term sacred can be applied to rock art sites, formations on the physical landscape, rituals, artifacts, evidence of past activities, and even intangible oral traditions. Long before the word sacred entered the lexicon in the 14th century, evidence of the concept of sacredness was present. The papers presented in this symposium will explore the many facets of sacredness focusing on the concept of sacredness from an emic perspective.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Intersection of Sacredness and Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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