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Inside the Neolithic Mind: Consciousness, Cosmos and the Realm of the Gods is a
cognitive archaeological study of Neolithic religious beliefs in Europe co-written by
the archaeologists David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce, both of the University of
the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was first published by Thames
and Hudson in 2005. Following on from Lewis-Williams' earlier work, The Mind in
the Cave (2002), the book discusses the role of human cognition in the development
of religion and Neolithic art.
The premise of Inside the Neolithic Mind is that irrespective of cultural differences,
all humans share in the ability to enter into altered states of consciousness, in which
they experience entoptic phenomenon, which the authors discern as a three-stage
process leading to visionary experiences. Arguing that such altered experiences have
provided the background to religious beliefs and some artistic creativity throughout
human history, they focus their attention on the Neolithic, or "New Stone Age"
period, when across Europe, communities abandoned their nomadic hunter-gatherer
lifestyles and settled to become sedentary agriculturalists.
Adopting case studies from the opposite ends of Neolithic Europe, Lewis-Williams
and Pearce discuss the archaeological evidence from both the Near East including
such sites as Neval ori, Gbekli Tepe and atalhyk and Atlantic Europe,
including the sites of Newgrange, Knowth and Bryn Celli Ddu. The authors argue that
these monuments illustrate the influence of altered states of consciousness in
constructing cosmological views of a tiered universe, in doing so drawing
ethnographic parallels with shamanistic cultures in Siberia and Amazonia.
Contents
1 Synopsis
2 Main arguments
o 2.1 The nature of religion
o 2.2 Shamanism in Neolithic Europe
3 Reception
o 3.1 Academic reviews
4 References
o 4.1 Footnotes
o 4.2 Bibliography
Synopsis
In their preface, Lewis-Williams and Pearce explain their approach, and their reasons
for comparing megalithic art and archaeology from the Near East and Atlantic
Europe. They express their opinion that such comparisons are made possible despite
the cultural and geographical differences because of the "universal functioning of
the human brain" which unites all Homo sapiens and leads different societies to
develop similar religious and cosmological beliefs.[1]
Monolith with animals in high and low relief from Gbekli Tepe.
Chapter one, "The Revolutionary Neolithic", explores the background to this period
of time, in which humans became increasingly sedentary and developed agriculture.
Discussing the various different understandings of the Neolithic advocated within
archaeology, they propose that it should be seen as a "revolutionary" period than as "a
revolution" in itself, in this way challenging the view made famous by V. Gordon
Childe. Moving on to an exploration of why humans adopted agriculture, they
proclaim their adherence to Jacques Cauvin's concept of the Symbolic Revolution.
From there, they discuss the role of religion, suggesting that it should be understood
as a tripartite system uniting experience, practice and belief. This leads on to a
discussion of some of the earliest archaeological evidence for the Neolithic, at Neval
ori and Gbekli Tepe, both in Southeastern Turkey, referring to the theory that the
ritual beliefs practiced here resulted in the development of agriculture. Lewis-
Williams and Pearce round off the chapter by quoting Samuel Taylor Coleridge's
poem "Kubla Khan", written after an experience in an altered state of
consciousness.[2]
In the second chapter, "The Consciousness Contract", the authors explore such altered
states of consciousness, beginning with a discussion of the life and work of Jean-
Jacques Rousseau. Listing the symptoms of such altered states, they put forward their
three-stage model for how the human brain experiences these states, and then
interprets them as recognisable images.[3] Chapter three, "Seeing and Building a
Cosmos", proceeds to discuss early humanity's conceptions of cosmology, which the
authors argue was probably divided into several tiered realms through which shamans
were believed to traverse while in an altered state of consciousness. They follow this
with a discussion of the shamanic symbolism of the eye, drawing comparisons with
the eyes in the clay statues from 'Ain Ghazal and the plastered skulls from other Near
Eastern sites.[4] Chapter four, "Close Encounters with a Built Cosmos", examines two
Neolithic settlements in the Near East 'Ain Ghazal and atalhyk and argues that
their layout and design may have reflected shamanistic conceptions of cosmology. In
doing so, the authors draw parallels with the ethnographically-recorded Barasana
people of Amazonia, whose maloca buildings were understood as cosmological
microcosms.[5]
In the fifth chapter, "Domesticating Wild Nature", the authors seek to explore how the
people of the Neolithic Near East might have understood the concepts of "death",
"birth" and the "wild", drawing on ethnographic examples from various recorded
shamanistic societies in order to do so.[6] Chapter six, "Treasure the Dream Whatever
the Terror", discusses how aspects of consciousness and cosmology can make their
way into myth, expanding on the problematic nature of defining "myth". Turning to
the structuralist ideas of anthropologist Claude Lvi-Strauss, they discuss Lvi-
Strauss's ideas of neurologically based "mythemes" that provided the building blocks
for myths; although rejecting his structuralism, they concur that there is a
neuropsychological "deep structure" behind mythology, and proceed to compare the
Epic of Gilgamesh with a Samoyed narrative, "The Cave of the Reindeer Woman."[7]
The entrance stone to Newgrange; Lewis-Williams and Pearce argue that these motifs
represent entopic phenomenon that have resulted from altered states of consciousness.
The seventh chapter, "The Mound in the Dark Grove", turns its attention to Atlantic
Europe, on the western end of the continent. Opening with a reference to William
Blake, the authors focus their attention on two Early Neolithic tombs on the island of
Anglesey off the Welsh coast: Bryn Celli Ddu and Barclodiad y Gawres.[8] Chapter
eight, "Br na Binne", examines the valley of the same name in County Meath,
Ireland, the home to a number of Early Neolithic tombs. Lewis-Williams and Pearce
turn their attention to the most prominent two, Newgrange and Knowth, arguing that
their architectural designs reflect cosmological views of the world influenced by
altered states of consciousness.[9]
Main arguments
The nature of religion
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2012)
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2012)
Reception
Academic reviews
Susan A. Johnston of George Washington University reviewed the book for the
American Anthropologist journal, in which she noted that many of the authors'
analyses were "interesting, and sometimes quite new and innovative." However, she
also felt that there was a disconnection between the theoretical underpinnings to the
tome and the analyses that followed; noting that while they were trying to avoid the
neurological determinism which had been critiqued by Paul Bahn and Patricia
Helvenston in their Waking the Trance Fixed (2005), she nevertheless thought their
approach similar to it. Ultimately acknowledging that the analysis on offer do not
require the neurological backing that the authors provide, Johnston suggested that the
contemporary preoccupation with rooting archaeological interpretations in "biological
reality" was a part of the "21st-century mind".[12]
The Antiquity journal published a review of Inside the Neolithic Mind authored by
Chris Scarre of Durham University, in which he noted the controversial nature of
Lewis-Williams' "three stages of trance" model, proclaiming that those already
unconvinced by the theory will get little from the new book. Scarre noted that
inevitably, there was "much to question and to applaud" in the work, before
highlighting that the use of evidence was selective, and that the art on the Breton
megaliths was not included.[13] American Scientist published a review authored by
Brian D. Hayden of Simon Fraser University, in which he described it as a "very
enjoyable" book, praising the book's vignettes as making it "eminently readable".
Although remarking that the authors' "endorse cognitive interpretations that are quite
different from the more economic and practical interpretations that I generally favor",
Hayden nevertheless commented that he agreed with their basic premise. He
comments that while some of their assertions do seem plausible, others for instance
their claims that the idea of a tiered cosmos has a neurological basis are less so,
being the sort of "speculative indulgences" that he believes typify "English
archaeology". Moving on to discuss the authors' views on the relationship between
altered states of consciousness and power elites, he expresses his disagreement with
them, noting that "the issues of domestication and the emergence of socioeconomic
complexity are poorly served by cognitively based explanations."[14]
References
Footnotes
1.