Religious Liminality: Hybridized ritual formation in Post-Roman Britain
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-03-20

Hybridization occurs during periods of change, when a culture is reforming in response to stimuli, either internal or external. Within these hybridizing events, religion is a barometer for the worldview of the culture. When religions hybridize, they indicate that the culture itself is evolving. The hybridization, or adaptation, indicates that the society is rethinking how its world functions. Sometimes these hybridizations have less impact, such as the inclusion of an additional god to the polytheistic Roman pantheon, and sometimes they indicate larger transitions, such as a conversion from a polytheistic ritual practice to a monotheistic one. The case study of Post- Roman Britain, with an examination of Christian practice in the Migration Period, allows for the study of how a monotheistic religion evolves within a polytheistic society. The development of hybridization indicates the integration of one practice into another, and the resistance to hybridity can indicate something entirely different. The interactions between cultures is revealed by the degree of the subsequent hybridity and important for understanding the evolution of societies.  

Brooke Creager (University of Minnesota)