Cargo Cults: Actually a Thing? - Dirt 191

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First used to describe religious movements that emerged in Melanesia following contact with Allied military personnel in World War II, cargo cults are sects and ritualized behaviors intended to summon outsiders (and their stuff) back and bring about a new age. We’ll explore theories for why they come about, discuss some examples of cargo cults in the traditional definition, and consider what parallels might exist in other cultures.

Interested in learning about how to use X-Rays and similar technology in archaeology? Check out the linked PaleoImaging course from James Elliot!

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Links

• Cargo cults (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Anthropology)
• How “Cargo Cult” Is Born: Scientific Angle on an Old Subject (Pacific Islands Monthly, via Trove)
• 50 Years Ago: Cargo Cults of Melanesia (Scientific American)
• The Cargo Cults (Air Force Magazine)
• Strange Stories of John Frum (Cargo Cult, via JSTOR)
• In John They Trust (Smithsonian Magazine)
• 'Cargo Cults' and the Prince Philip Movement (CenSAMM)
• Prince Philip: the unlikely but willing Pacific deity (The Guardian)
• Prince Philip: The Vanuatu tribes mourning the death of their 'god' (BBC News)
• Cargo Cult Science (Caltech Library)

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