| 1. |
- Kaliff, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Kremation och kosmologi : en komparativ arkeologisk introduktion
- 2013
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cremation and Cosmology – A Comparative Archaeological Introduction aims to synthesise in an easily accessible style the current state of cremation research and some of the recent interpretations providing new understandings of the past. Since cremation is a highly complicated technological and cosmological process and ritual, part 1 emphasises what has shaped and restricted most of the Western perceptions of cremation. The Christian hell and its torturing fires, Hindu cremations along holy rivers in Nepal and India, and the ancient Vedic traditions have all to various degrees constructed images of what a cremation is, including our understanding of cremation in the past. This comparative part is stressed not only because it is important knowledge in itself, but also because it is a good point of departure for approaching the past and exploring new interpretations of funerals in general and cremations in particular, which have no ethnographic parallels. With mainly examples from Scandinavian Bronze- and Iron Age, in part 2 a wide range of cremation contexts are analysed from different perspectives highlighting new approaches to the materiality of death. A central theme throughout the book is that cremation is not one, but many funeral practices. By stressing this unique character of cremation compared to other burial practices, cremation as a ritual opens up a wide range of opportunities within the sphere of death, which can be studied archaeologically. As such, this book is intended to be an introductory and coarse book for archaeological students studying death and cremation, but hopefully it may also have interest and relevance beyond the archaeological circles.
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| 2. |
- Oestigaard, Terje, 1973-, et al.
(författare)
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Cremation, Corpses and Cannibalism : Comparative Cosmologies and Centuries of Cosmic Consumption
- 2017
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Death matters and the matters of death are initially, and to a large extent, the decaying flesh of the corpse. Cremation as a ritual practice is the fastest and most optimal way of dissolving the corpse’s flesh, either by annihilation or purification, or a combination. Still, cremation was not the final rite, and the archaeological record testifies that the dead represented a means to other ends – the flesh, and not the least the bones – have been incorporated in a wide range of other ritual contexts. While human sacrifices and cannibalism as ritual phenomena are much discussed in anthropology, archaeology has an advantage, since the actual bone material leaves traces of ritual practices that are unseen and unheard of in the contemporary world. As such, this book fleshes out a broader and more coherent understanding of prehistoric religions and funeral practices in Scandinavia by focusing on cremation, corpses and cannibalism.
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| 3. |
- Oestigaard, Terje, 1973-
(författare)
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Holy water : the works of water indefining and understanding holiness
- 2017
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Ingår i: WIREs Water. - : Wiley. - 2049-1948. ; 4:3, s. 1-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Holy water has a central role in shaping the understanding and beliefs of holiness in general, but how does holy water work, and what defines holy water? By analyzing holy water in three different religious traditions—Christianity in Northern Europe, Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, and Hinduism—the aim is to discuss the metaphysical essence of water in human understanding and ideas of holiness embodied in water. On the one hand, holy water represents purity and has to be protected from defilement, but on the other hand, many holy rivers are severely polluted. This seeming paradox will be analyzed by focusing on actual beliefs and uses of holy water in ritual and religious practices. Holy water transmits purity and holiness, but it also transfers, transports, and transforms impurities. In the process of obtaining spiritual purity, devotees may pollute the holy because holy water is believed to have a divine agency. By comparing ritual practices and beliefs in three distinct religious traditions in Europe, Africa, and Asia, it is possible to enhance the understanding of the ways holiness and holy water are perceived to work in cultural-specific religious worldviews based on essential capacities of water cross-culturally. This directs the attention to the structuring mechanisms at work because water is conceptualized and used as holy in remarkably similar ways in many religions.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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A History of Water, Series 3, Vol. 3 : Water and Food: From Hunter-Gatherers to Global Production in Africa.
- 2016
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- All societies must manage their water resources. From the early civilizations of the Indus valley, nearly 5,000 years ago, to today’s megacities, meeting the water needs of an urban population remains a perpetual task. How a society manages and controls its water resources - whether for food and farming, drinking, sanitation, power or transport – plays a formative role in its development. And never more so than in our own century, with the global population approaching seven billion and the continuing threat of climate change.As concerns over global water resources continue to grow, the pioneering History of Water series brings a much needed historical perspective to the relationship between water and society. Covering all aspects of water and society - social, cultural, political, religious and technological - the volumes reveal how water issues can only be fully understood when all aspects are properly integrated. Unprecedented in its geographical coverage and unrivalled in its multidisciplinary span, the History of Water series makes a unique and original contribution to a key contemporary issue.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Oestigaard, Terje, 1973-
(författare)
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Cremations in culture and cosmology
- 2013
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Ingår i: The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Death and Burial. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780199569069 ; , s. 497-509
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 8. |
- Oestigaard, Terje, 1973-
(författare)
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Dammed divinities : the water powers at Bujagali Falls, Uganda
- 2015
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The damming of Bujagali Falls, located only 8 kilometers north of the historic source of the White Nile or the outlet of Lake Victoria, has been seen as one of the most controversial dams in modern times. In 2012, the dam was eventually inaugurated after years of anti-dam opposition and delays. A unique aspect of the controversies was the river spirit Budhagaali living in the falls blocking the dam and opposing the destruction of the waterfalls. This spirits embodies a particular healer – Jaja Bujagali, but he was bypassed by another healer who conducted no less than three grandiose appeasement and relocation ceremonies for the Budhagaali spirit clearing the way for the dam. Why has this particular dam been so controversial? How can a water spirit block a nearly billion dollar dam? What was the ritual drama behind the construction of the dam and is it possible to move a spirit? And what happened to Budhagaali and the indigenous religion after the falls were flooded and can a river spirit be drowned in its own element – water?
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Oestigaard, Terje
(författare)
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Rainbows, pythons and waterfalls : heritage, poverty and sacrifice among the Busoga, Uganda
- 2019
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cultural and natural heritage is a fundamental part of society and crucial in any development process; yet because of the complexity, it has proved difficult to incorporate culture and tradition in actual policy practice. Here the rich heritage of the Busoga is explored, using the water cosmology at the Itanda Falls in Uganda, with a specific emphasis on a rainmaking ritual and sacrifice to the rain-god during a drought. While rainmaking rituals cannot mitigate climate change in the modern world, and while fewer and fewer people believe in the traditional religion, the past and its traditions are still sources for the future. As we rethink the role of heritage in the processes of poverty alleviation, it is argued, a strong emphasis on cultural and natural heritage is one of the most efficient and important areas of long-term development in an era of globalization, when traditions are disappearing. Without a past, there is no future.
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