Entering Alternative Realities: Cognition, Art and Architecture in Irish Passage-Tombs
Cambridge Archaeological Journal April 1, 1996 DOI: 10.1017/s0959774300001591 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 38 |
| Key points | Argues that the association between passages and concentric motifs in Irish passage-tomb art can be interpreted through the 'tunnel experience' linked to altered states of consciousness, as a means of access between the 'real' and supernatural worlds, and considers the implications of tunnel experiences coinciding with visions of the dead. |
Abstract
This article examines the significance of the passage in Irish passage-tombs. An association between passages and concentric motifs in the engraved parietal art is analyzed, and interpreted in terms of the ‘tunnel experience’ often associated with altered states of consciousness as a means of access between ‘real’ and supernatural worlds. In addition, the implications of the coincidence of tunnel experiences and visions of the dead are considered.
Citations in the library
Cites 4
- Medicinal and hallucinogenic plants identified in the sediments and pictographs of the Lower Pecos, Texas Archaic Antiquity June 1, 1996
- Seeing and Construing: The Making and ‘Meaning’ of a Southern African Rock Art Motif Cambridge Archaeological Journal April 1, 1995
- Tobacco and Shamanism in South America The Latin American Anthropology Review December 1, 1991
- Cocaine hallucinations. American Journal of Psychiatry March 1978