A Call for Papers has been issued for a highly unusual gathering.
Everyone wants to know what was going on at places like Stonehenge. Megaliths, mounds, kivas and cairns: monumental ceremonial and ritual spaces are hallmarks of human development that predate agriculture and technology, and signify a revolution in lifestyle. In March 2018 researchers from around the world will gather on Florida’s Gulf Coast to explore and share the traditions of various Indigenous people in pursuit of a better understanding of how civilization got on its current path.
“A lot of things can be proved by local archeological, historical, folkloric material but cross-cultural analysis would complete the researcher’s final conclusions and findings,” says H. G. Ananyan, Curator of the Museum of the Armenian State Pedagogical University in Yerevan. “This initiative is a great opportunity to exchange thoughts and get acquainted with the rituals, legends and beliefs of other people.”
Equal benefit to the New World side of the exchange is suggested by Stanford University Anthropology professor Dr. Ian Hodder: “I do think that there is an exciting potential for getting the new generation of Native American scholars to interpret the monuments of the ‘origin of civilization’ in the Mediterranean and Middle East – a wonderful example of ‘talking back’.”
The People of the Great Stones Symposium welcomes contributions from researchers, scholars and technologists working across diverse disciplines, sites and practices. Details for participation are on the website: http://www.OTSF.org/greatstonesymposium.html