tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post1196815357926932433..comments2024-01-04T04:11:55.717+02:00Comments on Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog: Lactose intolerant prehistoric northern European hunter-gatherers (Malmstrom et al. 2010)Dienekeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02082684850093948970noreply@blogger.comBlogger83125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-1479247884976203812010-04-12T15:24:04.524+03:002010-04-12T15:24:04.524+03:00Thanks onur. It's been a pleasure talking with...<i>Thanks onur. It's been a pleasure talking with you.</i><br /><br />It's been my pleasure, Marnie. Thank you for the very valuable information you've shared.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-45445981704877658212010-04-12T07:48:12.469+03:002010-04-12T07:48:12.469+03:00Thanks onur. It's been a pleasure talking wit...Thanks onur. It's been a pleasure talking with you.Marniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10850856778953207810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-76121230510676233922010-04-12T06:50:01.148+03:002010-04-12T06:50:01.148+03:00Do you know of any customs regarding springs(water...<i>Do you know of any customs regarding springs(water)? The ones coming out of the ground?</i><br /><br />This subject is beyond my knowledge as it almost exclusively pertains to rural culture and I don't know much about Turkish <b>rural</b> culture, as I was born and have lived in Istanbul all my life. In my father's village (I've been there for an exceedingly short time in total) in central Anatolia, I feel a little bit like a tourist. Even if there are sacred springs in Turkey, I have no knowledge of them as such subjects have usually been away from my sphere of interest. This is a natural result of living away from the countryside and I don't feel regretful about it.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-56088317884070109102010-04-12T06:29:47.287+03:002010-04-12T06:29:47.287+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-23276834042093401462010-04-12T06:28:27.259+03:002010-04-12T06:28:27.259+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-6390036715917041012010-04-12T06:22:04.168+03:002010-04-12T06:22:04.168+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-26887732786336201262010-04-12T06:17:12.351+03:002010-04-12T06:17:12.351+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-87317359347781965942010-04-12T06:04:31.425+03:002010-04-12T06:04:31.425+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-30410685028921026742010-04-12T04:31:50.005+03:002010-04-12T04:31:50.005+03:00onur, thanks for the information. I will have to ...onur, thanks for the information. I will have to check this out. <br /><br />Do you know of any customs regarding springs(water)? The ones coming out of the ground?<br /><br />In Avgerino, the local springs seem to be sacred, but I haven't had a chance to fully delve into it.Marniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10850856778953207810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-20950900758630689452010-04-12T03:44:42.631+03:002010-04-12T03:44:42.631+03:00nazar boncu(s?)
Its singular is "nazar boncu...<i>nazar boncu(s?)</i><br /><br />Its singular is "nazar boncugu", not "nazar boncu" (meaningless in Turkish). That 's' I used above was nothing but the English plural suffix "-(e)s". The Turkish plural suffix is "ler" or "lar" depending on the vowels (as a result of the Turkish vowel harmony).<br /><br /><i>to give children salt (a pinch of salt on the tongue)</i> <br /><br />Just as in Turkey. <br /><br />In Turkey, salt and water have to be ingested (eaten/drinken) in order to function as protectors. Consecration - performed by first praying (always) and then puffing at the end (not always but mostly) - of them is another necessity for their functioning as protectors, though I am not actually so sure whether consecration is a necessity for salt, but it certainly is for water.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-57543307725090576582010-04-12T03:20:55.637+03:002010-04-12T03:20:55.637+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-48620586619724217192010-04-12T03:14:10.954+03:002010-04-12T03:14:10.954+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-20204754140653259572010-04-12T03:11:25.329+03:002010-04-12T03:11:25.329+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-45997908082355208832010-04-12T03:07:12.706+03:002010-04-12T03:07:12.706+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-24199588715003325152010-04-12T02:01:46.150+03:002010-04-12T02:01:46.150+03:00onur,
I looked at the google images of "naz...onur, <br /><br />I looked at the google images of "nazar boncu." Those are exactly it. And the beads are blue, Mediterranean blue (azure) or sky blue (a bit lighter). Those pictures make me feel like rushing out and buying some more. I like the images of the "nazar boncu(s?)" in the trees.<br /><br />Regarding the salt customs, I'm not fully up on all the variations. My husband had a "declaration of independence" moment when he was at about seven-y-o, on Greek Independence Day, when his mother took him on a Philadelphia bus in full foustanela dress. As a result, my mother-in-law has scaled herself back a bit.<br /><br />On of her more enduring practices is to give children salt (a pinch of salt on the tongue) after someone comes over to visit. There are all kinds of implications of this, which I don't understand and I try not to think about!Marniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10850856778953207810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-40833990515970406272010-04-12T01:29:14.522+03:002010-04-12T01:29:14.522+03:00NVM, it's green beads, not blue.NVM, it's <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7457755.stm" rel="nofollow">green beads</a>, not blue.Majuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369840391933337204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-40372081354346385982010-04-12T01:19:35.851+03:002010-04-12T01:19:35.851+03:00I've lost the links, Onur. All I can tell is f...I've lost the links, Onur. All I can tell is from memory: blue or turquoise beads were already in use in early Neolithic in Palestine (not sure if PPNA or PPNB, which comes from further North).Majuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369840391933337204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-68732533763438949242010-04-12T01:06:13.495+03:002010-04-12T01:06:13.495+03:00Yes, the evil eye bead is given as a protection to...<i>Yes, the evil eye bead is given as a protection to children. It's blue, black and white</i><br /><br />Exactly the same description with the nazar boncugu. Is it like these: <br /><br />http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=%22nazar%20boncu%C4%9Fu%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi<br /><br /><i>my mother-in-law's greater practices against the evil eye have to do with various uses of salt. Yes, salt. Especially given to children.</i><br /><br />Just like nazar boncugu (evil eye bead), using salt as a protection against evil eye, sickness and so on - especially for children - is very widespread in Turkey. My grandmother used to give sanctified (with prayer and puff) salt to my father and aunts when they were children.<br /><br />Using water - like salt, sanctified - for the same purposes is also very widespread in Turkey. <br /><br /><i>FYI: blue beads have been used in the Eastern Med since Neolithic times, apparently as magic protection. The explanation I read is rather that the color blue (water-related?) was considered beneficial.</i><br /><br />Interesting, Maju, can you tell us more about blue beads and their origins and original functions?Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-77200134513735361252010-04-12T01:01:32.910+03:002010-04-12T01:01:32.910+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-69239769553812967602010-04-12T00:33:50.713+03:002010-04-12T00:33:50.713+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-4495123808897969812010-04-12T00:28:58.923+03:002010-04-12T00:28:58.923+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-67384331544565937652010-04-12T00:26:13.603+03:002010-04-12T00:26:13.603+03:00This comment has been removed by the author.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-42343723484362536512010-04-11T21:47:39.935+03:002010-04-11T21:47:39.935+03:00FYI: blue beads have been used in the Eastern Med ...FYI: blue beads have been used in the Eastern Med since Neolithic times, apparently as magic protection. The explanation I read is rather that the color blue (water-related?) was considered beneficial.Majuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12369840391933337204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-78905603458736537692010-04-11T19:29:06.115+03:002010-04-11T19:29:06.115+03:00onur,
Yes, the evil eye bead is given as a protec...onur,<br /><br />Yes, the evil eye bead is given as a protection to children. It's blue, black and white, which leaves me to believe that the evil eye evolved as a protection against blue eyed invaders from the north. or against sickness. variously, both.<br /><br />my mother-in-law's greater practices against the evil eye have to do with various uses of salt. Yes, salt. Especially given to children.<br /><br />in fact, I don't entirely disqualify these practices as pure superstition as salt is a known antibiotic.Marniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10850856778953207810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7785493.post-61182250529015703442010-04-11T05:13:31.537+03:002010-04-11T05:13:31.537+03:00but my mother-in-law and our great aunt Antigone, ...<i>but my mother-in-law and our great aunt Antigone, are true believers, on most days</i><br /><br />Yeah, so are some of my oldish relatives.<br /><br /><i>Well, they also believe in the warding off the evil eye, but that's another story!</i><br /><br />That is even a more widespread belief in Turkey, even among young generations! What kinds of charms and amulets do they use in Greece and the Balkans in general? In Turkey we have "nazar boncugu"s (means "evil eye bead" in Turkish) and small amulets containing passages from the Koran among many other kinds of amulets and charms. We even have minuscule Korans whose writings are so small that they are impossible to read without a microscope! Many of the charms and amulets can also be worn around the neck and wrist, you can see them on many people's necks and wrists in Turkey, especially the nazar (evil eye) beads.<br /><br />Btw, the 'c' in "boncugu" or "boncuk" (bead) is without cadilla, so it is pronounced in Turkish as the 'j' in English "jam". The 'g' in "boncugu" is with breve, so it is silent in Turkish. The rest is pronounced as in Spanish. "Nazar" is pronounced as in the Latin transliterations of modern Greek.Onur Dincerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05041378853428912894noreply@blogger.com