The multi-symbolic profile of caves: spiritual landscapes, disaster environments and cultural monuments Dr. Amanda Laoupi Centre for the Assessment of Natural Hazards and Proactive Planning - NTUA
Abstract The circum-Mediterranean area , rich in geodiversity, became the cradle of strong poetic images, symbols of fear, admiration and magic, all related to the mystic world of the caves. Places of death beyond the realm of the livings, nurseries for the gods, shelters for the goddesses, sites for initiation or education, cult sceneries, sites of divine revelation, idyllic environments where the Nymphs lived and played or dwellings of monsters and chthonic creatures, caves’ multidimensional symbolic motif travelled as psychic ‘kit’ with Homo Sapiens, all the way into the heart of the Neolithic, and beyond.. Zeus and Hephaistos, Persephone and Hades, Odysseus , Aiolos and Calypso, the pastoral gods Hermes, Pan and the Nymphs , Centaurs and heroes who were born or nurtured within them, shared these chthonic wombs of life and destruction. In addition, humans created allegories by transforming the caves into powerful symbols, the Spartan Kaiadas, the Minoan labyrinth/womb, the Platonic cave and the archaeoastronomical archetype of the two portals, being among them. Furthermore, Karst formations, apart from their ecological and environmental value, have played a prominent role in the study of man’s adventure on Earth. From Palaeolithic Times onward, humans used, worldwide, these geological formations for a variety of reasons. Throughout the whole human history, caves and rock shelters have provided Archaeologists, Anthropologists and other scientists of multidisciplinary origin with a plethora of artefacts / mentifacts of our ancestors (e.g. the famous rock art, the Palaeolithic tool industries, the first fire hearths, burials), along with palaeoanthropological remains of tremendous scientific value, creating thus, unique archaeoenvironments which require autonomous investigating methodologies. Modern interdisciplinary research has already detected the scientific pathways between cave environments and Disaster Archaeology, as well as the need for the adoption of a more flexible methodological framework which integrates the caves into the cultural landscapes of modern societies. Keywords sacred landscapes, cultural heritage, cave mythology, Disaster Archaeology, Astromythology
Conclusions The caves hold a prominent position in the mythology, cult and daily life of past human communities. Their deep dual symbolism range from idyllic sceneries and wombs of birth to dens for monsters and chthonic creatures, creating unique cultural landscapes that need protection, management and integration into the heritage’s agenda of modern societies. Life and death, light and dark, rejection and healing, Eros and Mania, inspiration and terror, are the Ianos’ face of the archetypal cave. Ceremonies and celebrations took place within them, asking for protection, abundance, wealth, power, divine revelation and prophecies .. On the other hand, there is also an international consensus on the fact that modern technologies have broadened the horizons of cave archaeologists. Foreign travellers were first to explore the Greek caves in modern years. Only in 1950 the Greek Speleological Society was founded. In Greece, where approximately 7.600 caves have been recorded so far, researchers usually do not document the material in situ, although the application of GIS in combination with a flexible recording system could provide efficient means of recording the whole context. Archaeologists
traditionally conceive of units as discrete, horizontal, stratigraphic levels, even though archaeological excavations are conducted in three-dimensional space. Divisions between levels may be arbitrarily assigned or may represent temporal or cultural changes. Unfortunately, this cognitive model is not always appropriate for archaeology in caves. So, we look forward to the continuing evolution and expansion of GIS in the cave and Karst domain in our country, with speleothems, habitats for cave-adapted species and paleontological / archaeological/cultural features taken under consideration. The results will be better understanding, management, and conservation of these unique resources.