Dr Robert Wallis delivers keynote lecture at University of Vienna
01/11/2010
Dr Robert J. Wallis Professor of Visual Culture and Director of the MA in Art History gave a keynote lecture in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Vienna on 19 November 2010. The ‘Performance - Transformation - Aesthetics: Scientific Encounters and their Spiritual Dimensions’ workshop was in honour of Professor Manfred Kremser. Dr Wallis presented on his two research interests, the interpretation of rock art, and contemporary pagan engagement with archaeology, suggesting that recent discussions on animism in anthropology and archaeology offer a useful point for taking analysis of both of these areas forward.
From Autoarchaeology and Neuropsychology to Animist Ontologies: new directions in studies on rock art, shamanism and neoshamanism
My research interests concern two main strands which interface directly with the theme of this conference: first, indigenous and prehistoric visual and material culture in shamanistic/animist communities, specifically the shamanistic interpretation of rock art; second, the re-presentation of the past in the present by neo-shamans and contemporary pagans. In my recent work, these strands have converged around the themes of consciousness and animism, and in this lecture I examine this point of convergence. At the crux of the ‘trance hypothesis’ has been the possibility that imagery from shamans’ altered states of consciousness (ASCs) are reproduced in certain rock art traditions. This research has arguably moved rock art research forward significantly over the last two decades or so, but I have become concerned that with a focus on ASCs as ‘brain events’ our thinking has become increasingly entrenched in a rational materialist position which overlooks the wider ontological setting of shamans’ experiences. Moving forward, I argue for the relevance of anthropologists’ rethinking of ‘animism’ which has led to exciting ways of thinking about consciousness and shamans – with implications for how we approach rock art. By contrast, in my work on neoshamanism and paganism I have proposed and positioned myself according to an ‘autoarchaeological’ method, situating myself as a scholar-practitioner. I am particularly interested in how today’s pagans approach archaeological monuments as ‘sacred sites’ and the implications of this for archaeologists and heritage managers, and have watched with interest an emerging interest in self-identifying as ‘animist’ among pagans. I examine here how an animist ontological position informs pagan interest in respect for and the reburial of British prehistoric human remains. My two research strands have converged, then, in discourse on consciousness and animism, and I conclude my lecture by setting out what I see as the implications of these findings for future research in these fields.
Link to this page: http://www.richmond.ac.uk/n/1090.aspx
