Into the Darkness: Deep Caves in the Ancient Near East

Abstract

In this paper I will present the assemblage of pottery vessels and objects of luxury dated to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods discovered in the Zarda Cave in Western Samaria, Israel. The context in which this assemblage was found is strongly reminiscent of other proto-historic depositions found in Israel. As determent of objects of value found in the deep and dark caves cannot be explained by means of burial offerings or regular hoards one most provide this remarkable phenomenon by a different theory. In this paper, I claim that these depositions were ritual in nature. They bear physical evidence for rituals performed by specially chosen members of the society, which we call today shamans. These caves were chosen due to their physical properties to become scenes for rituals of rites of passage in the course of which they experienced altered states of consciousness. In the course of time these caves have accumulated considerable social power becoming liminal monuments on the fringes of social landscapes in the local cultures. We may understand deep and dark caves as an element of pre-urban cosmology embedded into the local landscape, traces of which can be detected in much later traditions.

Hypoxia in Paleolithic decorated caves: the use of artificial light in deep caves reduces oxygen concentration and induces altered states of consciousness

“…The dark cave environment combined with extended isolation from the outside world and disorientation may result in altered states of consciousness (Clottes and Lewis-Williams 1998;Freikman 2017;Lewis-Williams 2002a;Mlekuž 2019;Prijatelj and Skeates 2019;Sireteanu et al 2008), which originate within the nervous system, and thus are common to all humans, regardless of cultural differences. An ASC can be attained in many ways: by means of psychoactive drugs, intense concentration, hyperventilation, sustained rhythmic movement, food restriction, dehydration, sleep deprivation, meditation, and extreme environmental conditions, such as those in caves (Asaad and Shapiro 1986;Guerra-Doce, 2015a, 2015bHorowitz 1964;Kluver 1942;Lewis-Williams 1997;Morris 2006).…”

“…An ASC can be attained in many ways: by means of psychoactive drugs, intense concentration, hyperventilation, sustained rhythmic movement, food restriction, dehydration, sleep deprivation, meditation, and extreme environmental conditions, such as those in caves (Asaad and Shapiro 1986;Guerra-Doce, 2015a, 2015bHorowitz 1964;Kluver 1942;Lewis-Williams 1997;Morris 2006). Advancing through the cave's narrow passages increases the effects of sensory deprivation and the feeling of isolation (Freikman 2017;Lewis-Williams 1997, 2002a. The cave environment might create a sensation where past, present, and future come together but where time stands still (Prijatelj and Skeates 2019).…”