title: Technological Analysis of the World's Earliest Shamanic Costume: A Multi-Scalar, Experimental Study of a Red Deer Headdress from the Early Holocene Site of Star Carr, North Yorkshire, UK.
abstract: Shamanic belief systems represent the first form of religious practice visible within the global archaeological record. Here we report on the earliest known evidence of shamanic costume: modified red deer crania headdresses from the Early Holocene site of Star Carr (c. 11 kya). More than 90% of the examples from prehistoric Europe come from this one site, establishing it as a place of outstanding shamanistic/cosmological significance. Our work, involving a programme of experimental replication, analysis of macroscopic traces, organic residue analysis and 3D image acquisition, metrology and visualisation, represents the first attempt to understand the manufacturing processes used to create these artefacts. The results produced were unexpected--rather than being carefully crafted objects, elements of their production can only be described as expedient.
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Aimée
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Little
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Conneller
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Diederik
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pomstra
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Adrian A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.|Hull York Medical School, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Laura C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Fitton
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kershaw
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sparrow
authors.affiliation: School of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Arctic centre, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Collins
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: André Carlo
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Colonese
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Oliver E
authors.initials: OE
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexandre J A
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lucquin
authors.affiliation: Department of History and Archaeology, Department, Chester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicky
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Milner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D003670:Deer; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D019423:Shamanism / Q000266:history*; D006113:United Kingdom