Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East
Journal of Landscape Ecology December 1, 2017 Michael Freikman 5 citations
Pottery vessels and luxury objects from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, found in Zarda Cave in Western Samaria, Israel, were deposited as part of rituals rather than as burial offerings or ordinary hoards. The cave's deep and dark setting was chosen for rites of passage in which specially chosen members of society, akin to shamans, experienced altered states of consciousness. Over time, these caves accumulated social power, becoming liminal monuments on the fringes of social landscapes and elements of pre-urban cosmology, with traces detectable in later traditions.