Sally's Rockshelter and the Archaeology of the Vision Quest

Abstract

Quartz, the most common mineral on earth, is almost universally associated with shamans. Why this ritual association occurred worldwide has remained unexplained scientifically, at least in part because western scientific thinking assumes that religious beliefs and practices are epiphenomenal and not worthy of study. This association is archaeologi-cally evident at Sally's Rocksheiter, a small rock engraving-vision quest site in the Mojave Desert, where quartz rocks were placed as offerings in cracks around the rock art panel. SEM and electron microprobe foreign materials analyses of Mojave rock engravings show that the association between quartz and rock art was common: almost 65 per cent contained remnants of quartz hammerstones, used to peck the motifs. A combination of ethnohistory and physical sciences explains why quartz, shamans and vision questing were so strongly associated: triboluminescence causes quartz to glow when struck or abraded, which was believed a visible manifestation of supernatural power. Recognition that this belief and behavioural association were based on quartz's physical properties aids our ability to identify the antiquity of the vision quest in the far west, suggesting that Mojave Desert shamanism is the oldest continuously practiced religious tradition so far identified in the world.

Microscale acoustofluidics: Microfluidics driven via acoustics and ultrasonics

“…White quartz pebbles, rocks, and stones are found at a number of prehistorical sites worldwide, and the ethnographic interpretation of this behavior is the ancient peoples' belief that the materials contained supernatural power with their emission of bright flashes of light upon fracture or impact (Whitley et al, 1999). Theophrastus noted in 314 BC that after heating (Ramos et al, 2001).…”

Pinturas rupestres en un espacio funerario: El caso del sitio Cueva Galpón (Noreste de Patagonia)

“…Esta particularidad inherente al arte rupestre permite definirlo como una "obra abierta", siempre sujeta a reutilizaciones y resignificaciones (Tilley, 1991;Troncoso, 2008). Los usos posteriores del arte rupestre pueden dejar correlatos materiales tales como el mantenimiento, yuxtaposición, superposición o supresión de imágenes (Martel et al 2012;Pastor, 2012;Troncoso, 2008), o la presencia de objetos que fueron depositados en estrecha proximidad a los paneles con arte (Cáceres & Berenguer, 1996;Whitley et al 1999).…”

La Elección De Rocas De Colores Por Los Pobladores Tempranos De La Región Pampeana (Buenos Aires, Argentina): Nuevas Consideraciones Desde Las Canteras

“…(véase, por ejemplo, Ericson & Purdy 1984;Nelson 1991;Nami 1992;Franco & Borrero 1999;Flegenheimer & Bayón 2002). Sin embargo, en la actualidad, diversos autores sostienen que otras propiedades físicas, vinculadas a la percepción de las rocas, pudieron ser tenidas en cuenta para su elección; entre las mismas destacan el brillo y el color (Taçon 1991(Taçon , 1999Whitley et al 1999;Boivin 2004;Saunders 2004). Estos atributos físicos de las rocas que se perciben mediante los sentidos, constituyen temas abordados ampliamente en el estudio de la materialidad de los objetos (Hurcombe 2007).…”