Lohmann, Roger I

This thesis analyzes the processes and rationales of ritual creation among contemporaryGermanic Neopagans (Heathens). It is based on ethnographic fieldwork from May– September, 2023 at Raven's Knoll, a campground near Eganville, Ontario that hosts Heathen festivals. I identify selection criteria used to determine which cultural practices to adopt, adapt, or omit from rituals. I analyze both rituals and selection criteria as configurations or collections of interchangeable components that I call cultural configurants. Leaders and participants assembled rituals at the Heathen festival, Stone and Flame Gathering, guided by five criteria: inclusivity, Lore accuracy (ancient Germanic aesthetics), resonance (feeling right), woo (religious experience), and pragmatism (circumstantial adjustment). Inclusivity and pragmatism dominated, while Lore accuracy determined an omnipresent aesthetic.

Author Keywords: Cultural Dynamics, Germanic Neopaganism, Ritual

Flaked stones tools are the oldest and longest persisting human cultural remains. Some of these tools were made by hominins who were not anatomically or cognitively modern. My thesis uses an eye-tracking device, developed by psychology, to study modern day novice and expert tool making. By comparing these two groups I was able to characterize the behaviours that lead to successful flake making, and furthermore make inferences about the cognitive capacities that hominins would have had to have to have been successful themselves. This study suggests limited engagement of short-term memory and problem solving skills, which is consistent with other studies. However, this study seems to refute the hypothesis that improvements in hand-eye coordination alone account for the rise of flaked stone technology. My thesis also shows that eye-tracking is a fruitful way to study flake making and, based on my research, I propose several future directions of study.

Author Keywords: Eye-tracking, Human Evolution, Knapping, Oldowan, Skill