Exploring the Easter E.g. - Shifting Baselines and Changing Perceptions of Cultural and Biological "Aliens"

探索复活节

• 批准号: AH/N004558/1
• 负责人: Naomi Sykes
• 金额: $ 86.21万
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FN004558%2F1
• 关键词: Exploring; Easter; E.g.; Shifting; Baselines

Very little of what we see around us in Britain today can be classed as 'native'. When the sea cut off the island from the rest of the continent (c. 8,000 years ago) the flora, fauna and human population were very different. Over millennia, Britain's ecology and culture have been transformed. Change has been the only constant, with population movements being responsible for the island's unique bio-cultural heritage. Ancient migrations of people, ideas and animals are widely celebrated and incorporated into expressions of British cultural identity. However, the more recent the migrations, the more negative the attitudes towards them. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in discussions about 'native' versus 'alien' status, be it in relation to animals, people, or religious ideologies. In general, native is perceived as positive and 'natural', whereas the term 'alien' is attached negatively to cultural and environmental problems. These perceptions often translate into societal attitudes and policy making, in particular that relating to biodiversity, even though they may result from "shifting baselines". "Shifting baseline" refers to the phenomenon whereby people consider the socio-environmental circumstances of their childhood to be 'natural' and morally absolute. In the absence of deeper historical and archaeological understanding, these nostalgic ideals are adopted blindly (and often erroneously) as the foundation for decision-making both at a personal level and more broadly in science and policy. This project sets out to investigate the role of shifting baselines and their impact on the value-judgements placed on 'native' and 'alien' animals, people and ideologies through the high-profile and publicly engaging example of Easter.Easter is the most important event in the Christian calendar, yet astonishingly little is known about when it first appeared in Britain, the origins of its component customs - e.g. the gifting of eggs purportedly delivered by the Easter 'bunny' - or how they coalesced to form current practices. Easter and its associated animals - namely the brown hare, rabbit and chicken - are all 'alien' to Britain. However, they are viewed positively because they arrived in the long-forgotten past. Easter is therefore an excellent example to highlight the impact of shifting baselines and challenge negative attitudes to cultural and biological 'aliens'. Our team will achieve this by integrating evidence from anthropology, (zoo)archaeology, (art) history, evolutionary biology, law, historical linguistics, natural history and religious studies to answer the following questions:1. Where and when did modern Easter traditions first begin, when did they arrive in Britain, and how closely correlated are the arrival of religious traditions and the brown hare? 2. What were the bio-cultural, political and religious mechanisms by which:-The derivatives of Latin Pascha and Germanic forms of Easter spread and interacted with each other in Christian communities in early medieval Europe?- The rabbit diffused across Europe and replaced the hare as the main Easter animal in later British traditions?3. Can ancient interactions between the native mountain hare, the introduced brown hare and the rabbit be reconstructed to provide a deeper-time perspective on the impact of 'alien species'?4. How can the filling of knowledge gaps about human-animal bio-cultural history transform 'native' versus 'alien' discourse at both a societal level and within wildlife management policy?Addressing these questions will not only close knowledge gaps about Britain's most important religious (but also secular) festival but also those pertaining to iconic animal species. Together these datasets will be workshopped to contextualize and challenge modern cultural attitudes to society, religious beliefs and the natural world. This will be achieved through an exciting and innovative outreach and engagement programme.

今天，我们在英国周围看到的东西很少能被归类为“本土”。当大海把这个岛与大陆的其他部分隔开时（大约8000年前），这里的动植物和人口都大不相同。几千年来，英国的生态和文化发生了变化。变化是唯一不变的，人口流动是岛上独特的生物文化遗产的原因。古代人类、思想和动物的迁徙被广泛庆祝，并被纳入英国文化认同的表达。然而，越近的移民，对他们的态度就越消极。在关于“本地”与“外来”地位的讨论中，无论是与动物、人类还是宗教意识形态有关，没有比这更好的例子了。一般来说，本地人被认为是积极的和“自然的”，而“外国人”一词则被消极地与文化和环境问题联系在一起。这些观念往往转化为社会态度和政策制定，特别是与生物多样性有关的态度和政策制定，尽管它们可能是“变化的基线”造成的。“转移基线”指的是人们认为他们童年的社会环境环境是“自然的”和道德绝对的现象。在缺乏更深入的历史和考古理解的情况下，这些怀旧的理想被盲目地（而且经常是错误的）作为个人层面以及更广泛的科学和政策决策的基础。本项目旨在通过复活节的高调和公开参与的例子，调查不断变化的基线的作用及其对“本地”和“外来”动物、人类和意识形态的价值判断的影响。复活节是基督教日历上最重要的节日，但令人惊讶的是，人们对它最早出现在英国的时间、它的组成习俗的起源（例如，据说复活节的“兔子”送鸡蛋）以及它们是如何结合起来形成现在的习俗知之甚少。复活节和与之相关的动物——即褐兔、兔子和鸡——对英国来说都是“外来的”。然而，他们被认为是积极的，因为他们来到了早已被遗忘的过去。因此，复活节是一个很好的例子，突出了基线变化的影响，挑战了对文化和生物“外星人”的消极态度。我们的团队将通过整合人类学、（动物园）考古学、（艺术）历史、进化生物学、法律、历史语言学、自然史和宗教研究的证据来回答以下问题：现代复活节传统是在何时何地开始的？它们是什么时候到达英国的？宗教传统的到来与棕色兔子的到来有多密切相关？2. 什么是生物文化，政治和宗教机制：-拉丁Pascha和日耳曼形式的复活节的衍生品在中世纪早期的欧洲基督教社区中传播和相互作用？-兔子在欧洲各地传播开来，并在后来的英国传统中取代野兔成为复活节的主要动物。是否可以重建本地山兔、引进的褐兔和兔子之间的古代相互作用，从而对“外来物种”的影响提供更深入的时间视角？在社会层面和野生动物管理政策中，如何填补关于人类-动物生物文化史的知识空白来改变“本土”与“外来”的话语？解决这些问题不仅可以缩小人们对英国最重要的宗教（也是世俗）节日的认识差距，还可以缩小与标志性动物物种有关的知识差距。这些数据集将一起进行加工，以便对社会、宗教信仰和自然世界的现代文化态度进行背景化和挑战。这将通过一项令人兴奋和创新的外联和参与计划来实现。

项目成果

Estimating the age of domestic fowl ( Gallus gallus domesticus L. 1758) cockerels through spur development

通过支刺发育估算家禽 (Gallus gallus Domesticus L. 1758) 公鸡的年龄

• DOI: 10.1002/oa.2988
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
• 影响因子: 1
• 作者: Doherty S

Beyond curse or blessing: the opportunities and challenges of aDNA analysis

超越诅咒或祝福：aDNA 分析的机遇和挑战

• DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2019.1741970
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: World Archaeology
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Sykes N

Celebrating Easter, Christmas and their associated alien fauna

庆祝复活节、圣诞节及其相关的外星动物群

• DOI: 10.1080/00438243.2018.1515655
• 发表时间: 2018
• 期刊: World Archaeology
• 影响因子: 1.3
• 作者: Lauritsen M

The Shifting Baselines of the British Hare Goddess

英国兔女神的基线变化

• DOI: 10.1515/opar-2020-0109
• 发表时间: 2020
• 期刊: Open Archaeology
• 影响因子: 0.8
• 作者: Murphy L

Redefining the timing and circumstances of the chicken's introduction to Europe and north-west Africa

• DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2021.90
• 发表时间: 2022-06-07
• 期刊: ANTIQUITY
• 影响因子: 1.8
• 作者: Best, Julia;Doherty, Sean;Sykes, Naomi
• 通讯作者: Sykes, Naomi