Cognitive Archaeology as Symbolic Archaeology

Ten essays from a session of the 15th UISPP Congress (2006), which demonstrate the importance of the cognitive-processual approach pioneered by Colin Renfrew in studying prehistoric iconography. Topics include the location and orientation of passage tombs in Ireland, the symbolic use of celestial bodies in Bronze Age Hungary, ship images in rock art, female statues in Romania, symbolism in the East European Chalcolothic, rock art in France, and metal deposits in the Alps. There are also three purely theoretical papers.