Beschreibung:
This edited volume analyzes the belief in supernatural gamekeepers and/or animal masters of wildlife from a cross-cultural perspective. It documents the antiquity and widespread occurrence of the belief in supernatural gamekeepers at the global level. This interdisciplinary volume documents both the antiquity and the widespread geographical distribution of this belief along with surveying the various manifestations of this cosmology by way of studies from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Some chapters explore the manifestations of this belief as they appear in petroglyphs/pictographs and other forms of material culture. Others focus on the environmental impacts of these beliefs/rituals and prescribed foraging restrictions by analyzing how they affect game harvests. The internationally recognized scholars in this volume assess the efficacy of this particular form of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and investigate if adherence to the belief in animal masters actually causes hunters to refrain from overharvesting wild game and thereby contributes to sustainable hunting practices. This volume is of interest to anthropologists, archaeologists and other social scientists researching traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), indigenous conservation, biodiversity, and sustainability practices, and animal deities.
This edited volume analyzes the belief in supernatural gamekeepers and/or animal masters of wildlife from a cross-cultural perspective. It documents the antiquity and widespread occurrence of the belief in supernatural gamekeepers at the global level. This interdisciplinary volume documents both the antiquity and the widespread geographical distribution of this belief along with surveying the various manifestations of this cosmology by way of studies from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Some chapters explore the manifestations of this belief as they appear in petroglyphs/pictographs and other forms of material culture. Others focus on the environmental impacts of these beliefs/rituals and prescribed foraging restrictions by analyzing how they affect game harvests. The internationally recognized scholars in this volume assess the efficacy of this particular form of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and investigate if adherence to the belief in animal masters actually causes hunters to refrain from overharvesting wild game and thereby contributes to sustainable hunting practices.
This volume is of interest to anthropologists, archaeologists and other social scientists researching traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), indigenous conservation, biodiversity, and sustainability practices, and animal deities.
Introduction to Supernatural Gamekeepers.- Antlered Mother: From the Paleolithic to the Modern Era.- Spirit Forces and Liminal Beings in North Asian Rock Art.- Humanoid Pillars and the Leopard’s Paw: Thoughts on Animal Masters and Gamekeepers in the Ancient Near East.- Baghan Deo: An Indian Tiger God.- A Spirit-Ruled Landscape: Ecology, Cosmology, and Change among Katuic Upland Groups in the Central Annamites of Laos.- Shamans, Spiritualists, Shapeshifters, Healers, and Diviners among the Hunting and Gathering Societies of Africa.- Holy Enforcers: St. Cuthbert and St. Hubert as Modern Icons of Conservation.- Iconic Resources, Prestige and Conservation on Boigu Island of the Torres Strait, Australia.- Shadow of the Whale: West Coast Rituals Associated with Luring Whales.- Supernatural Gamekeeper: Yahwera, Sacred Narrative, and Rock Art, Tehachapi Mountains, California.- Supernatural Gamekeepers of Eastern North America: Animal Masters, Guardian Animals, and Masters of Animals.- Supernatural Gamekeepers among the Tsimane’ of Bolivian Amazonia.- Supernatural Gamekeepers/Animal Masters among the Munduruku (Wuy Jugu), Tukano, Embera, and Achuar (Shiwiar) of the Neotropics.- Andean Guardian Mountains and the Ethical Obligations Underlying Resource Management: Between Reciprocity and Predation
Supernatural Gamekeepers: Conclusions from an Archaeological Perspective.- Of Game Keepers, Opportunism, and Conservation.
