TY - JOUR
T1 - Bewitched by an Elf Dart
T2 - Fairy archaeology, folk magic and traditional medicine in Ireland
AU - Dowd, Marion
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2018.
PY - 2018
Y1 - 2018
N2 - In Ireland the supernatural sí (loosely translated as 'fairies') were strongly associated with thousands of archaeological monuments and natural places in the landscape, and many prehistoric artefacts were regarded as material culture of the sí. Such artefacts assumed an important role in popular religious practices, folk medicine and magic, most frequently to invoke cures for farm animals, but also to protect the homestead. Though little discussed in archaeological literature, the interpretation of prehistoric artefacts as potent objects from the supernatural world, and their ability actively to influence the well-being of livestock and the household, illustrates the rich and complex lives many archaeological artefacts assumed several thousand years after their initial manufacture, use and discard. The folk use of such artefacts as active agencies contrasts with the contemporaneous antiquarian collection and display of archaeological material as relics of ancient cultures.
AB - In Ireland the supernatural sí (loosely translated as 'fairies') were strongly associated with thousands of archaeological monuments and natural places in the landscape, and many prehistoric artefacts were regarded as material culture of the sí. Such artefacts assumed an important role in popular religious practices, folk medicine and magic, most frequently to invoke cures for farm animals, but also to protect the homestead. Though little discussed in archaeological literature, the interpretation of prehistoric artefacts as potent objects from the supernatural world, and their ability actively to influence the well-being of livestock and the household, illustrates the rich and complex lives many archaeological artefacts assumed several thousand years after their initial manufacture, use and discard. The folk use of such artefacts as active agencies contrasts with the contemporaneous antiquarian collection and display of archaeological material as relics of ancient cultures.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060098315&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0959774318000124
DO - 10.1017/S0959774318000124
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85060098315
SN - 0959-7743
VL - 28
SP - 451
EP - 473
JO - Cambridge Archaeological Journal
JF - Cambridge Archaeological Journal
IS - 3
ER -