From Gran Paradiso to the Dolomites: a pioneer contribution to an archaeology of the sacred in the high Alps

MARÍA CONSTANZA CERUTI

Innsbruck

Simposio; IV International Glacial Archaeology Symposium (Frozen Pasts); 2016

University of Innsbruck

High altitudearchaeology has made significant contributions to the understanding of the sacredaspects of mountains in South America. Not only by the results of archaeologicalsurveys and excavations, but also, by means of historical analysis andanthropological studies on mountain pilgrimages, rituals and beliefs. Currentadvances in glacier archaeology in Europe are accompanied by a growing interestin the material evidences of XXth century war and conflict, preserved on mountainsand high passes in the Alps. However, no scholarly attention is being paid to theuse of alpine peaks and summits for religious purposes. The author of thispresentation has ascended to the summits of Gran Paradiso and Monte Rosa(Zumstein peak) in the Western Alps, the summits of Mt. Similaun and Mt. Cevedalein the eastern Alps; and she has completed more than a dozen climbs in theDolomites. Additionally, she has published about Notre Dame the Guerison (andits connection to Mont Blanc), the mountaintop shrine of Mount Zerbion, and theimpact of Walser mythology in the Peruvian mountain pilgrimage of Qoyllur Rit´i,among other topics covered in her current studies. Based on the expertiseacquired during two decades of anthropological work in the Andes, thispresentation will provide a summary of four years of pioneer observations in anemerging field of research that could be described as an archaeology of thesacred in the high Alps.