QUEST FOR THE SHAMAN, THE

As this book so ably demonstrates, archaeological remains - from cave paintings to bog bodies to Bronze- Age vessels - show that shamanism was endemic among ancient European peoples from the Stone Age to the early post-Roman era. Most shamans occupied a marginal, dual position in their communities and functioned as liaisons with the spirit world through the medium of trance. The authors draw on the most recent archaeological research and support their conclusions with rich evidence, including the 30,000-year-old lion-human ivory figurines found in southwestern Germany that may represent monsters seen by shamans in altered states of consciousness; the spectacular Nebra sky-disc, also from Germany, which depicts the sun, moon, and the Pleiades, indicating that Bronze Age shamans were using highly sophisticated objects to explore the heavens; and the 'Doctor’s Grave' from southeast England, which suggests that a Late Iron Age chieftain was sent to the Otherworld equipped with hallucinogenic drugs, medical kit, and divining tools.