International Journal of Modern Anthropology

Information management and cultural evolution in Aboriginal Australia (In light of the cultural heterochrony hypothesis)

George F. Steiner — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Following a recent re-evaluation of evidence from an archaeological site in SE Australia, the possibility of a 120 thousand years (ka) old human presence in the Fifth Continent has been suggested. However, the commonly accepted date for the peopling of Australia remains within the range of 50 - 65 ka. Even if the newly proposed date were halved, an uninterrupted 60 ka continuity in the same territory would raise a few questions regarding the transmission mechanisms that have enabled the retention of the massive amount of knowledge acquired during such an extended period, especially when considering the lack of demographic strength, which is believed to be a prerequisite for effective social learning. I argue that the emergence, developmental rate, and extent of Australian culture reflect an ‘additive’ evolutionary strategy centred on a ritually regulated feedback loop between the volume of information flow and the level of social elaboration. The model forwarded in this paper is at odds with current theoretical approaches to cultural evolution in which Aboriginal traditions are often portrayed as living examples of Pleistocene cross-cultural universals.

Parallelism of Prehistoric Lanzarote (Canary Islands) Quesera/Cheeseboard Lunisolar Calendar and intriguing strip band channels of the City of David archaeological site (Middle East)

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

It has recently been discovered and widespread in worldwide media that a puzzling and unusual channel structures have appeared at the City of David archaeological site in Middle East (Al Quds - Jerusalem). No function has been agreed for them and their building age has been calculated in an uncertain time before 2800 years BC when these structures ceased to be used. We have been working in Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands) rock epigraphy and other archaeological matters in the last 20 years, and we have found that the structure of “Quesera”/Cheeseboard of Zonzamas was a lunisolar calendar similar to the Egyptian one (365 solar days and about 27.5 days) built up by aboriginal Guanches. It consists in channels carved in basaltic rocks in a precise way, which is very similar to one of the intriguing structures found at the City of David that may also represent an ancient Egyptian-like calendar. The second structure having parallel channels may be either part of another “Quesera”/Cheeseboard-like calendar or even a cart- ruts structure more widely defined in Malta as a Bronze Age construction. Both structures might also be astronomical observatories. We have proposed from our studies in Lanzarote and Malta Bronze Age cart-ruts that they also may be used to measure time and astronomic observations. This specific homology would certainly may bring Lanzarote megalithic archaeological “Quesera”/Cheese board centuries of years BC in antiquity. This so specific parallel between artifacts found in Middle East and Lanzarote could be explained by a “green” Sahara culture before desertification started 10-5,000 years BC.

Second funeral rituals and integration of the dead with the living among the Nawfia of Southeastern Nigeria

Ugochukwu Titus Ugwu — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study explores the second funeral rituals practiced among the Nawfia of Southeastern Nigeria and their integration of the dead with the living. Second funerals are traditionally conducted by the Nawfia to honor and celebrate the lives of their deceased family members. Through detailed ethnographic interviews and focus group discussion (FGD), this research examines the customs, practices, and beliefs related to second funeral rituals and the integration of the dead with the living. The study reveals that second funerals are seen as an important part of the grieving process and are conducted to provide closure to the grieving family members. Findings of this study also reveals that the rituals often involve the preparation of a special meal and libation and blessings. Additionally, participants discuss the idea that the dead can “witness” these rituals from the spirit realm and that these rituals serve as a source of comfort for grieving family members. The study further explores the ways in which these rituals serve to integrate the dead with the living. Reports show that these rituals help to bridge the gap between the physical world and the spirit world, allowing for a closer connection between those who have passed and those who remain. The study also suggest that the rituals create a sense of security, as they provide a sense of continuity and hope for the future. Overall, this study provides important insights into the second funeral rituals and the integration of the dead with the living among the Nawfia of Southeastern Nigeria. This research highlights the importance of these rituals and sheds light on the traditions, customs, and beliefs associated with them. It also offers valuable implications for both grief counseling and the preservation of cultural heritage.

The long lost Ebionites. A relook at the Ibo region of West Africa

Charles Okwuobi — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Ebionites were a Jewish sect that knew Jesus intimately; had their own Nazarene Gospel; but held immovable beliefs that challenged key tenets of Christianity. They disappeared in the fourth century leaving a vacuum physically and ideologically. About a millennium later, the Portuguese reported of a people in West Africa with a Pope and Papacy similar in structure and veneration as the Roman Catholic Pope. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, missionaries and anthropologists scouring the region confirmed those reports, as well as the presence of other Levitical influences amongst the Igbos of Nigeria. This paper researches those similarities with a focus on the religious cosmology of the Ibo people of Asaba. It applies ethnographic qualitative research, then places the findings over the tenets of Catholicism with respect to their organizational structure; sacraments; rites; and steps to becoming sons of God. The results show that the ideologies of the Ibo and the Romans were deeply intertwined in every area of the study. The paper posits that the only way the religious ideologies of the Romans and the Ibos could have so closely mirrored each other, is if they were both in the same place at the same time. Thus, concludes that the Ibos [Eboe, Igbo] are the Ebionites. The paper offers hypotheses to explain the role of the ego in creating the core tenet of this unifying cosmology, and possibly how the convergence occurred. The paper could form the basis for renewed research in Hebraic-African studies; Black-American dispersion; Mary Magdalene; Jesus’ crown of thorns; the sequence of biblical gospel events; and even a template for future religion in this ego-driven civilization.

Tindaya Guanche sacred mountain, Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain) and its Ibero-Guanche (Latin) rock inscriptions

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Tindaya volcano is a sacred Guanche (or Majo)* mountain, Canary Islands, Spain. This mountain was probably a religious / pilgrimage place for Guanche /Majo people. Many of its rocks are covered by lineal and figurative motifs with incised or picketed (carved) technology the most abundant reported are podomorphs, which in the Atlantic European façade usually point towards either the summer solstice sunset or the sunset yearly arch at these latitudes (Northwest direction). Podomorphs are generally admixed with other motifs in the rock panel. Among these motifs are the so called Ibero-Guanche incised Lineal Megalithic Scripts or pre-Guanche-Iberian signs. These are similar to those found in other Canary Islands, Algerian Sahara Desert or Iberia, some of them scripted in dolmens themselves (5-3,000 years BC). This finding at Tindaya volcano supports a very early Fuerteventura Island, longer before than Punic or Roman influence, if any; podomorphs todays Bronze Age chronology in Iberia supports ancient peopling in Fuerteventura and other Canary Islands. In the present paper we analyse these incise Iberian-Guanche (or earlier) writing and put forward a mainly religious/ funeral meaning in the context of the Paleolithic/Neolithic widespread Religion of the Mother. The Saharo-Canarian cultural circle may have been the origin of Eurafrican and Mediterranean Lineal scripts, like Runes, Iberian Tartessian, Etruscan, Lepontic, Minoan Lineal A and others. Particularly Iberian- Guanche scripts and their probable precursor Linela Megalithic signs also present in Sahara supports that Saharan people migration when desertification started about 10,000 BC was origin of this culture. *Majos= Lanzarote and Fuerteventura Islands inhabitants.

The Antequera (Spain) Slate: an undetermined writing found in a Roman-type Villa and the need of revision of Iberia history, anthropology and archaeology

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Antequera Slate is a striking scripted finding in the Roman “Villa de la Estacion” (Railway Station Villa) archaeological site which was in use in its Roman known period approximately between 100 years BC and 450 AD. Some of the slate incised signs were familiar to us because they were similar to the so-called pre-IberianTartessian scripted incise or picketed signs found in a Megalithic context or not in rocks and stones in Iberia, Canary Islands and Algerian Sahara. The antiquity of these signs may vary depending the place but some may have been done thousands of years BC. We have put forward that these Antequera Slate signs may be pre-Iberian-Tartessian that had remained in Iberian autochthonous rural or aristocratic people during centuries, but a firm conclusion is premature. Otherwise, the scripts are not done in Roman or any other standard writing. Visigoth scripted slates were started to be performed in Central West Iberia when Visigoths appeared in Iberia, together with Suebi, Vandals and Alans. The Antequera Slate incise signs may have been originated by these new cultures, but no Visigoth tables signs have been found with similar signs to Antequera Slate signs. Taking into account that we do not now either the language/symbols or writing of many Visigothic slates (5th - 8th century AD) nor the Antequera Slate, we also agree with other scholars that this is an important enigma which does not fit with archaeology, anthropology and history of Iberian Peninsula and that all these disciplines should be revised in the context detailed in this and others work.