Ritual Individuation and Ritual Change

AbstractWhat makes a ritual performance an instance of one ritual and not another? When we observe unfamiliar rituals, how do we know where one ends and the next begins? Is there a principled way of distinguishing mere preparations from the ritual proper? Can rituals change, and how do we know if they have changed? Current ritual studies methods give us no systematic means of answering such questions. Individuation is a familiar and fundamental concept in philosophy, and it should belong to the methodological toolbox of every student of ritual. This paper provides a solid introduction to some basic problems in ritual studies theory, illustrated by detailed examples from Episcopal liturgy and ritual in New Ireland (Papua New Guinea).

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Ritual pathways and public memory: Archaeology of Waiet zogo in Eastern Torres Strait, far north Australia

Journal of Social Archaeology ◽

10.1177/1469605318771186 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 116-138 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Duncan Wright ◽

Glenn van der Kolk ◽

Dauareb community

Keyword(s):

Papua New Guinea ◽

Public Memory ◽

Political Process ◽

New Guinea ◽

Ritual Performance ◽

Far North ◽

Torres Strait ◽

Insight Into

The materiality of performative ritual is a growing focus for archaeologists. In Europe, collective ritual performance is expected to be highly structured with ritual often resulting in a loud archaeological signature. In Australia and Papua New Guinea, ritual (and collective ritual movement) is also highly structured; however, materiality and permanence are frequently secondary to intangible and/or impermanent considerations. In this paper, we apply the framework of public memory to places and objects associated with the Waiet cult in Eastern Torres Strait. We explore the extent to which ritual performance spanning multiple islands can survive through archaeology, as well as whether ethno-archaeology and history provide insight into the structured and highly political process by which rituals were remembered, celebrated and forgotten.

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Exploring Ceremony: The Archaeology of a Men's Meeting House (‘Kod’) on Mabuyag, Western Torres Strait

Cambridge Archaeological Journal ◽

10.1017/s0959774316000445 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 721-740 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Duncan Wright ◽

Birgitta Stephenson ◽

Paul S.C. Taçon ◽

Robert N. Williams ◽

Aaron Fogel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Papua New Guinea ◽

Cultural Landscape ◽

Rock Art ◽

Microscopic Analysis ◽

New Guinea ◽

Boundary Zone ◽

Ritual Performance ◽

Torres Strait ◽

A Site

The materiality of ritual performance is a growing focus for archaeologists. In Europe, collective ritual performance is expected to be highly structured and to leave behind a loud archaeological signature. In Australia and Papua New Guinea, ritual is highly structured; however, material signatures for performance are not always apparent, with ritual frequently bound up in the surrounding natural and cultural landscape. One way of assessing long-term ritual in this context is by using archaeology to historicize ethno-historical and ethnographic accounts. Examples of this in the Torres Strait region, islands between Papua New Guinea and mainland Australia, suggest that ritual activities were materially inscribed at kod sites (ceremonial men's meeting places) through distribution of clan fireplaces, mounds of stone/bone and shell. This paper examines the structure of Torres Strait ritual for a site ethnographically reputed to be the ancestral kod of the Mabuyag Islanders. Intra-site partitioning of ritual performance is interpreted using ethnography, rock art and the divergent distribution of surface and sub-surface materials (including microscopic analysis of dugong bone and lithic material) across the site. Finally, it discusses the materiality of ritual at a boundary zone between mainland Australia and Papua New Guinea and the extent to which archaeology provides evidence for Islander negotiation through ceremony of external incursions.

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