Alcohol and Humans by Hockings Kimberley;Dunbar Robin;

Author:Hockings, Kimberley;Dunbar, Robin;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Published: 2019-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 7.8 Human–animal composite sculptures from Göbekli Tepe.

© DAI, Photos N. Becker, Dieter Johannes

Figure 7.9 Imagery related to human heads/headless humans from Building D.

© DAI, Photos N. Becker, E. Kücük, K. Schmidt.

In several works, Whitehouse (1995, 1996, 2000) has presented the so-called modes of religiosity theory. It is based on the different levels of emotional arousal generated by rituals, resulting in two ‘modes’ of ritual performances. The ‘doctrinal mode’ is characterized by frequent repetition of low arousal rituals and teachings. Knowledge is stored and spread through texts and religious leaders. The high frequency of rituals leads to orthodoxy and a wide spread of teachings. The ‘imagistic mode’ on the other hand is based on rare, high-arousal rituals often including unpleasant and traumatic events, that create long-lasting memories and enhance group cohesion between participants. ‘Imagistic’ rituals include fewer people and are of a more regionalized character. Typical examples are traumatic and violent initiation rituals, ecstatic practices, collective possession, or ritual acts including homicide or cannibalism (Whitehouse, 2000). Rarely performed rituals with high emotional impact leave vivid and detailed mental images (‘flashbulb memories’: Whitehouse, 2000: 304). This high emotional intensity is a necessity for rarely performed rituals to be remembered, and further fosters cohesion between the participants that often form close, localized, and exclusive communities of initiates (Whitehouse, 2000: 307). Whitehouse (2000: 311) sees the ‘imagistic mode’ of religion as predating the more organized doctrinal mode. The latter may be coupled with the emergence of literacy, as storage media for complex and canonized rituals are necessary.

So far, this theoretical framework has been tested in a PPN archaeological context only for Çatalhöyük. Whitehouse and Hodder (2010: 127) collate a list of indicators for ‘imagistic’ religions. They point out the following traits: (1) the performance of collective rituals no more than once a year; (2) infliction of pain; (3) psychological torments; (4) trials of endurance; and (5) sometimes ecstatic components. For Çatalhöyük, ‘imagistic’ rituals have been proposed as a key to generate social cohesion and group identities. Under the term ‘history houses’, Hodder and Pels (2010) have developed an explanation for one of Çatalhöyük’s peculiarities, the retrieval and reuse of sculptures and architectural elements as well as the retrieval, display, and reburial of skulls after decades. They argue that people started to relate to specific pasts/genealogies and houses; for these links, material evidence of the past was necessary and provided for in the form of spolia and ancestor skulls integrated into important houses that were constantly rebuilt in the same loci over long periods of time. The ‘history houses’ would relate to small corporate groups generating and upholding their identities and cohesion through these high-arousal rituals (Whitehouse & Hodder, 2010: 134–7). Interestingly, there are several parallels between the ‘history houses’ and Göbekli Tepe’s monumental buildings (Clare et al., 2018).

Given the general characteristics of Göbekli Tepe’s iconography and the highly possible use of drugs as just outlined, rituals held at the site could be described as ‘imagistic’ in nature. Göbekli Tepe’s imagery is centred on fear, a mythology related to death, and male sexuality.

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