Pásztor Emília (szerk.): Sámánizmus és természethit régen és ma - Bajai dolgozatok 23. (Baja, 2019)

Sergio Poggianella: A szakrális táj. A Dalmeri menedék sámánja

A Sacred Landscape. The Shaman of the Dalmeri Shelter

In Trentino in Italy at 1240 metres altitude was discovered the Epigravettian site known as the Dalmeri Shelter1, the most fascinating prehistoric hunting camp of the late glacial period. Here during excavations beginning in 1990, in the ritual area - so named by the archaeologists - in front of the shelter was found a collection of 267 painted stones, without equal in prehistoric European sites. An important detail was that when found, most of the stones were face down. The red ochre silhouette paintings - without borders - on local calcareous stone2 have subjects that are anthropomorphic, zoormorphic, phytomorphic, with schematic markings and hand prints. Among these some show surfaces with evident organized traces of red pigment, a stylistic and typological variety that has led to an intense series of studies on the artistic-religious life of the men of the upper Palaeolithic, a field of study privileged by anthropologists and historians of religion. We are aware of the traps that comparisons of this type may hide, as the prehistoric art that we are aware of is only a "residue" of a far more complex belief system. Given the time that separates Prehistory from the first scientific observations of shamanism, we suggest that research into these themes can find its own legitimacy, well beyond any supposed aesthetic and stylistic affinities between objects from diverse cultures.

The painted stones of the Dalmeri Shelter and the shaman's ritual artefacts in general, refer as well as to the ordinary dimension of life, to a "magic" and "spiritual" cosmogonic conception of time and space, linked to individual magic practice and to forms of religious community cult3. The analysis of the diverse social, artistic and religious aspects sets serious problems as to the theoretical and methodological criteria to use in a multidisciplinary perspective, seeing involved mainly archaeology, anthropology, history of art and cognitive sciences in general. At first sight, in the stones of the Dalmeri Shelter, we find characteristics specific to works of art, although the concept of art, as understood by the contemporary art system, is highly debatable if applied to artefacts whether prehistoric or from other cultures4. Such objects on the other hand, were not created purely for the aesthetic pleasure linked to taste, to art pour I'art - a theory now abandoned by most students - but for symbolic use in community and ritual functions, practiced by special visionary individuals, able to create particular relationships with the invisible world of spirits. Those who have this ability, knowledge and charisma, are the shamans. As they are masters of trance they can communicate with spirits, acting for the community. The specialities and qualities of a shaman during the Upper Palaeolithic - with respect to the more studied historic and contemporary shaman cultures of Siberia, South Africa, the Americas, China, Korea or Europe - can be deduced mainly by analysis and study of archaeological finds, in their respective contexts. But we must