Exploring Temporal and Geographical Aspects of Chumash Mortuary Practice and Ceremonial Integration

Summary

This is an abstract from the "AD 1150 to the Present: Ancient Political Economy to Contemporary Materiality—Archaeological Anthropology in Honor of Jeanne E. Arnold" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ethnographic and ethnohistoric evidence indicate that certain ceremonial objects were exclusively associated with 'Antap ritual specialists and were used in multi-community Chumash religious ceremonies. Analyses of the evolution of the form of these artifacts through time identified significant developments in ceremonial aspects of Chumash society. The timing of these changes is compared with transitions in other aspects of Chumash society. The evidence suggests that significant changes in artifact form correlated with increasing levels of ceremonial integration in Chumash society and supports the hypothesis that ritual elaboration and ceremonial integration were important sources of cultural change in Chumash society. This paper also addresses ethnic and cultural continuity through analyses of geographical and temporal patterns of mortuary practice in the Chumash region. Systematic analyses of mortuary assemblages provide substantial evidence for ethnic and cultural continuity rather than for population migrations and replacement. In general, mortuary practice was more strongly influenced by geography than by temporality. The most salient change in burial practice occurred approximately 2,000 years ago. There was also a convergence on a normative treatment approximately 1,000 years ago. I also examine both material and nonmaterial aspects of Chumash mortuary practice and assess the articulation between these two systems.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• AD 1150 to the Present: Ancient Political Economy to Contemporary Materiality—Archaeological Anthropology in Honor of Jeanne E. Arnold   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38648.0