International Symposium

Cultural Life Of Caves From Palaeolithic Shamans to Seven Sleepers 18 – 21 January 2012 Symposium Program

İstanbul Research Institute, Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and Ancient World Brown University is organizing this interdisciplinary symposium bringing together scholars in the humanities and the social sciences to reflect on the rich cultural life of caves and caved spaces throughout history. By definition the conference will offer cross-cultural perspectives on the various ways through which societies imagined, took shelter in, altered, painted, fantasized about, desired and feared the caves around them. As in Byzantine Cappadocia, man-made caves imitating natural caves were conceived as spaces of worship as well as shelter. From Palaeolithic rock art to Minoan and Mayan sacred caves, from sites of pilgrimage such as Ashab al-Kahf to Plato’s allegory of the cave, we invite scholars to discuss the cultural perceptions of, and human engagement with natural caves, ritual practices associated with them. We also hope to address the historical processes in the making of man-made caves and rock-cut architecture for dwelling, shelter, burial or worship. Approaches that particularly emphasize bringing together geological, environmental, speleological research with indigenous knowledge, oral histories, ethnographic and historical accounts as well visual representations of caves are particularly encouraged.

The symposium will take place at Pera Museum’s auditorium
and is free of admissions and will be conducted in English.

For detailed information:
Gülru Tanman / gulru.tanman@iae.org.tr
Erkan Bora / erkan.bora@iae.org.tr
Tel: 0212 334 09 00