"The fear guards the sacred". The Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus, NW Greece

Author(s): Rigas Tsiakiris; Kalliopi Stara

Year: 2015

Summary

In various parts of the world local societies have effectively maintained mature groves through religious rules. A network of such sacred groves characterize the mountainous cultural landscapes of Epirus. These serve as protective wood belts above villages or form groups of veteran trees around churches. Except of settlements protection against natural hazards as also aesthetic functions, these locally-adapted management systems could regulate the use of natural resources for the community. Sacred trees and groves have been associated with taboos about cutting and supernatural punishments. These are based on pre-Christian local beliefs, according to which mature trees are demonic creatures, or are inhabited, haunted or embodied by such creatures, which can damage those who try to harm them. Such taboos succeed to protect and conserve sacred trees and groves until present coexisting informally with formal religion. However nowadays taboos are fading along with the older generation and Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus could be characterized as threaten. Sacred groves are ignored by modern conservation, but they can serve as exemplars of cultural values of nature, historical places of high aesthetic qualities and potentially as conservation important areas for several species, which are depended on mature trees.

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Cite this Record

"The fear guards the sacred". The Sacred Natural Sites of Epirus, NW Greece. Kalliopi Stara, Rigas Tsiakiris. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 396478)

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Keywords

General
Northen Pindos Natioanl Park • Sacred Groves • Sacred Natural Sites

Geographic Keywords
Europe

Spatial Coverage

min long: -11.074; min lat: 37.44 ; max long: 50.098; max lat: 70.845 ;