Title
The Rock Art of the Blood of the Ancestors Grotto (11SA557): The Archaeology of Religious Theater
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
11SA557 is a pictographic rock art site in the Hill Section of southern Illinois. To date, 33 icons, both simple and complex, have been identified. The distinctive biophysical qualities of the site have compelled an interpretation that it was in some fundamental sense “female.” Ethnohistorical and ethnographic explorations inform a treatment of 11SA557 as a religious theater where female puberty ceremonies of the Dhegiha Sioux were performed. Exploitation likely dates to the Protohistoric period. Twenty-one elements of religious theater are explored archaeologically and ethnographically. The application of the heuristic model of religious theater afforded a measureable enhancement of the understanding of the site.
Rights
Copyright is retained by Illinois Archaeological Survey and is published here with their permission.
Recommended Citation
Stelle, Lenville J., "The Rock Art of the Blood of the Ancestors Grotto (11SA557): The Archaeology of Religious Theater" (2012). Anthropology Faculty Scholarship. 6.
https://spark.parkland.edu/ant_fac_pubs/6
Comments
This article was originally published in Illinois Archaeology 2012. Vol. 24. pp. 1–70.