Pasts and pagan practices
Moving beyond Stonehenge
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12674304 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jenny Blain (corresponding author), Robert J Wallis (0000-0003-4058-1922) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 211-222 |
| Publication date | 2006-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1465-5187 • E-ISSN: 1753-5530 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1179/146551806793155806 |
| OpenAlex | W4242727707 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 2 |
Theorizing the past is not restricted to archaeology, and interpretations of 'past'both influence and are themselves constituted within politicized understandings of self, community and, in certain instances, spirituality. 'The past in the imagination of the present' is appropriated, variously, to give meaning to the present or to justify actions and interpret experiences. Summer solstice at Stonehenge, with an estimated 21,000 celebrants in 2005, is only the most publicized appropriation (by pagans and other adherents of alternative spirituality and partying) of a'sacred site'; and conflicts and negotiations occurring throughout Britain are represented in popular and academic presentations of this'icon of Britishness'. This paper presents work from the Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights Project (http://www.sacredsites.org.uk) project, a collaboration of archaeology and anthropology informed by pagan and alternative approaches and standpoints, investigating and theorizing discourse and practice of heritage management and pagan siteusers. Whether in negotiations around the Stonehenge solstice access, or in dealing with numerous other sites, boundaries between groups or discourses are not clearly drawndiscursive communities merge and re-emerge. But clearly'past'and 'site'are increasingly important within today's Britain, even as television archaeology increases its following, and pagan numbers continue to grow
Aesthetics · Appropriation · Archaeology · Art · Chronotope · Dialogic · Epistemology · Literature · Negotiation · Social science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Philosophy · Religious Tourism and Spaces
| Citations per year | 0.06 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2009 - 2009 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |