An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)

Religious change is at its core a material as much as a spiritual process. Beliefs related to intangible spirits, ghosts, or gods were enacted through material relationships between people, places, and objects. The archaeology of mission sites from Tanna and Erromango islands, southern Vanuatu (form...

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Tác giả chính: L. Flexner, James
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author L. Flexner, James
author_browse L. Flexner, James
author_facet L. Flexner, James
author_sort L. Flexner, James
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Religious change is at its core a material as much as a spiritual process. Beliefs related to intangible spirits, ghosts, or gods were enacted through material relationships between people, places, and objects. The archaeology of mission sites from Tanna and Erromango islands, southern Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), offer an informative case study for understanding the material dimensions of religious change. One of the primary ways that cultural difference was thrown into relief in the Presbyterian New Hebrides missions was in the realm of objects. Christian Protestant missionaries believed that religious conversion had to be accompanied by changes in the material conditions of everyday life. Results of field archaeology and museum research on Tanna and Erromango, southern Vanuatu, show that the process of material transformation was not unidirectional. Just as Melanesian people changed religious beliefs and integrated some imported objects into everyday life, missionaries integrated local elements into their daily lives. Attempts to produce ‘civilised Christian natives’, or to change some elements of native life relating purely to ‘religion’ but not others, resulted instead in a proliferation of ‘hybrid’ forms. This is visible in the continuity of a variety of traditional practices subsumed under the umbrella term ‘kastom’ through to the present alongside Christianity. Melanesians didn’t become Christian, Christianity became Melanesian. The material basis of religious change was integral to this process.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-289702025-07-21T15:56:58Z An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44) L. Flexner, James vanuatu archaelogy religion Erromango James Thomas Flexner Melanesians Missionary New Hebrides Tanna Island Terra Australis thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs Religious change is at its core a material as much as a spiritual process. Beliefs related to intangible spirits, ghosts, or gods were enacted through material relationships between people, places, and objects. The archaeology of mission sites from Tanna and Erromango islands, southern Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides), offer an informative case study for understanding the material dimensions of religious change. One of the primary ways that cultural difference was thrown into relief in the Presbyterian New Hebrides missions was in the realm of objects. Christian Protestant missionaries believed that religious conversion had to be accompanied by changes in the material conditions of everyday life. Results of field archaeology and museum research on Tanna and Erromango, southern Vanuatu, show that the process of material transformation was not unidirectional. Just as Melanesian people changed religious beliefs and integrated some imported objects into everyday life, missionaries integrated local elements into their daily lives. Attempts to produce ‘civilised Christian natives’, or to change some elements of native life relating purely to ‘religion’ but not others, resulted instead in a proliferation of ‘hybrid’ forms. This is visible in the continuity of a variety of traditional practices subsumed under the umbrella term ‘kastom’ through to the present alongside Christianity. Melanesians didn’t become Christian, Christianity became Melanesian. The material basis of religious change was integral to this process. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2017-02-17 00:00:00 2020-04-01T13:51:51Z 2016 book 624294 OCN: 1030820286 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31867 9781760460747 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/28970 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31867/1/624294.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31867/1/624294.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31867/1/624294.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31867/1/624294.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31867/1/624294.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/31867/1/624294.pdf ANU Press 10.22459/TA44.12.2016 10.22459/TA44.12.2016 975ba519-3ce2-4517-95bf-b847729fbcf1 9781760460747 open access
spellingShingle vanuatu
archaelogy
religion
Erromango
James Thomas Flexner
Melanesians
Missionary
New Hebrides
Tanna Island
Terra Australis
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
L. Flexner, James
An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)
title An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)
title_full An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)
title_fullStr An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)
title_full_unstemmed An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)
title_short An Archaeology of Early Christianity in Vanuatu (Terra Australis 44)
title_sort archaeology of early christianity in vanuatu terra australis 44
topic vanuatu
archaelogy
religion
Erromango
James Thomas Flexner
Melanesians
Missionary
New Hebrides
Tanna Island
Terra Australis
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
topic_facet vanuatu
archaelogy
religion
Erromango
James Thomas Flexner
Melanesians
Missionary
New Hebrides
Tanna Island
Terra Australis
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia
thema EDItEUR::1 Place qualifiers::1M Australasia, Oceania, Pacific Islands, Atlantic Islands::1MK Oceania::1MKL Melanesia::1MKLV Vanuatu
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NK Archaeology
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs
url 624294
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