On the Theoretical and Methodological Problems of Studying the Archaeology of Religious Culture and Religious Consciousness

Abstract

This article examines theoretical and methodological issues related to the archaeological study of religious culture and religious consciousness. In particular, it distinguishes between two meanings of the concept of “archaeology”. The first refers to the study of material remains and traces of human activity preserved from past historical periods. The second concerns Michel Foucault’s concept of the archaeology of knowledge, which focuses on analyzing the historical conditions and rules governing the formation of various discourses. The article discusses the classical theories of E.B. Tylor, J.Frazer, and E.Durkheim, the main approaches to cognitive archaeology, the research of D. Lewis-Williams, as well as the concepts of M. Eliade and M. Foucault. As examples of the material manifestations of religious culture, the article analyzes burial complexes, memorial structures, sacred landscapes, and cemeteries dating to the early Islamic period in Kazakhstan. It argues that archaeological evidence makes it possible to identify material traces of past religious practices and reconstruct probable ritual activities; however, it does not provide direct access to individuals’ personal religious beliefs. In this regard, the article proposes an integrated methodological approach that distinguishes established archaeological facts from scholarly reconstructions and research hypotheses. This approach involves combining archaeological methods with other relevant research methods to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the material manifestations of religious culture and the religious practices of past societies.