TAG2019-UCL

Traditional ritual practices, happening outside or beyond more canonical or formal belief systems can take oral and material forms. Indeed, often such practices are characterised by a blending of the tangible and intangible, drawing on multisensory engagement with cultural and natural objects, place, songs, poems, dance and prayer. This session aims to explore how such traditions are expressed materially. Drawing on conceptual and theoretical developments within folklore, archaeology, ethnography and anthropology, such as the notion of structured deposition, bricolage, relational/assemblage approaches, feminist and queer perspectives, this session will explore the materiality and physicality of folklore, traditional and customary practices in Europe and beyond.

Organisers: David Petts; Durham University • Dr. Katy Soar; University of Winchester

14:00 | Session organisers | Introduction

14:05 | Zoe Crossland, Columbia University | Concerns about bodies and containment in 16th-17th century England

14:25 | Ethan Coyle White, UCL | In Search of the Cofgodas: History, Archaeology, and Folklore in Early Medieval England

14:45 | Miles Russell, Bournemouth University | An Archaeology of Myth-Fulfilment

15:05 | - | BREAK

15:35 | Alyssa Scott, University of California, Berkeley | Archaeology and Folkloristics at Tuberculosis Sanatoria in California

15:55 | Stephen Sherlock, Independent | TBC

16:15 | Cameron Moffett, English Heritage | Defense against the Evil Eye: evidence for magic at Roman Wroxeter

16:35 | Ceri Houlbrook, University of Hertfordhsire | Lessons from Love-Locks: The contemporary archaeology of a contemporary practice

16:55 | Session organisers | Discussion

17:30 | - | END