“Ritual” and “Structured”discard in archaeological interpretations: Case study of water supply system at the site “Kale” in Krševica

Abstract

The issues of cult, ritual, religion, and magic are important though to a large extent neglected and theoretically insufficiently developed subjects in the current archaeological literature. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate, on particular examples of potentially ritual activities associated to the erection and subsequent “ritual killing” of the water supply system at the site “Kale” in the village Krševica, that this neglect is not merely the consequence of trends in choices of research topics, but that it further points to certain disadvantages of current approaches based upon the archaeology of identity and the concepts of structured or symbolic deposition.

Keywords

• “structured” and “ritual” deposits
• Balkan Iron Age
• “Kale” in Krševica
• material culture studies
• Hellenization
• La Tene and Celtic migration