Stone Houses And Earth Lords

Author : Keith M. Prufer
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 424 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Stone Houses and Earth Lords written by Keith M. Prufer and published by . This book was released on 2005-11-25 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stone Houses and Earth Lords is the first volume dedicated exclusively to the use of caves in the Maya Lowlands, covering primarily Classic Period archaeology from A.D. 100 through the Spaniards' arrival. Although the caves that riddled the lowlands show no signs of habitation, most contain evidence of human use - evidence that suggests that they functioned as ritual spaces.

Author : Scott R. Hutson
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351029568
Total Pages : 983 pages
Book Rating : 4.68/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Maya World written by Scott R. Hutson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-06-17 with total page 983 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Maya World brings together over 60 authors, representing the fields of archaeology, art history, epigraphy, geography, and ethnography, who explore cutting-edge research on every major facet of the ancient Maya and all sub-regions within the Maya world. The Maya world, which covers Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, contains over a hundred ancient sites that are open to tourism, eight of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and many thousands more that have been dug or await investigation. In addition to captivating the lay public, the ancient Maya have attracted scores of major interdisciplinary research expeditions and hundreds of smaller projects going back to the 19th century, making them one of the best-known ancient cultures. The Maya World explores their renowned writing system, towering stone pyramids, exquisitely painted murals, and elaborate funerary tombs as well as their creative agricultural strategies, complex social, economic, and political relationships, widespread interactions with other societies, and remarkable cultural resilience in the face of historical ruptures. This is an invaluable reference volume for scholars of the ancient Maya, including archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists.

Author : David M. Carballo
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 160732301X
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Obsidian Reflections written by David M. Carballo and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2014-09-15 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Departing from the political economy perspective taken by the vast majority of volumes devoted to Mesoamerican obsidian, Obsidian Reflections is an examination of obsidian's sociocultural dimensions—particularly in regard to Mesoamerican world view, religion, and belief systems. Exploring the materiality of this volcanic glass rather than only its functionality, this book considers the interplay among people, obsidian, and meaning and how these relationships shaped patterns of procurement, exchange, and use. An international group of scholars hailing from Belize, France, Japan, Mexico, and the United States provides a variety of case studies from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. The authors draw on archaeological, iconographic, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric data to examine obsidian as a touchstone for cultural meaning, including references to sacrificial precepts, powerful deities, landscape, warfare, social relations, and fertility. Obsidian Reflections underscores the necessity of understanding obsidian from within its cultural context—the perspective of the indigenous people of Mesoamerica. It will be of great interest to Mesoamericanists as well as students and scholars of lithic studies and material culture.

Author : Holley Moyes
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 1607321785
Total Pages : 520 pages
Book Rating : 4.81/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Sacred Darkness written by Holley Moyes and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2012-04-15 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Caves have been used in various ways across human society, but despite the persistence within popular culture of the iconic caveman, deep caves were never used primarily as habitation sites for early humans. Rather, in both ancient and contemporary contexts, caves have served primarily as ritual spaces. In Sacred Darkness, contributors use archaeological evidence as well as ethnographic studies of modern ritual practices to envision the cave as place of spiritual and ideological power that emerges as a potent venue for ritual practice. Covering the ritual use of caves in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, Mesoamerica, and the US Southwest and Eastern woodlands, this book brings together case studies by prominent scholars whose research spans from the Paleolithic period to the present day. These contributions demonstrate that cave sites are as fruitful as surface contexts in promoting the understanding of both ancient and modern religious beliefs and practices. This state-of-the-art survey of ritual cave use will be one of the most valuable resources for understanding the role of caves in studies of religion, sacred landscape, or cosmology and a must-read for any archaeologist interested in caves.

Author : Matthew A. Boxt
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
ISBN 13 : 1607321610
Total Pages : 592 pages
Book Rating : 4.13/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Fanning the Sacred Flame written by Matthew A. Boxt and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fanning the Sacred Flame: Mesoamerican Studies in Honor of H. B. Nicholson contains twenty-two original papers in tribute to H. B. "Nick" Nicholson, a pioneer of Mesoamerican research. His intellectual legacy is recognized by Mesoamerican archaeologists, art historians, ethnohistorians, and ethnographers--students, colleagues, and friends who derived inspiration and encouragement from him throughout their own careers. Each chapter, which presents original research inspired by Nicholson, pays tribute to the teacher, writer, lecturer, friend, and mentor who became a legend within his own lifetime. Covering all of Mesoamerica across all time periods, contributors include Patricia R. Anawalt, Alfredo López Austin, Anthony Aveni, Robert M. Carmack, David C. Grove, Richard D. Hansen, Leonardo López Luján, Kevin Terraciano, and more. Eloise Quiñones Keber provides a thorough biographical sketch, detailing Nicholson's academic and professional journey. Publication supported, in part, by The Patterson Foundation and several private donors.

Author : Gabriel D. Wrobel
Publisher : Springer Science & Business
ISBN 13 : 1493904795
Total Pages : 299 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place written by Gabriel D. Wrobel and published by Springer Science & Business. This book was released on 2014-04-16 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place investigates variations in social identity among the ancient Maya by focusing on individuals and small groups identified archaeologically by their inclusion in specific, discrete mortuary contexts or by unusual mortuary treatments. Utilizing archaeological, biological and taphonomic data from these contexts, the studies employ a variety of methodological approaches to reconstruct aspects of individuals’ life-course and mortuary pathways. Following this, specific mortuary behaviors are discussed in relation to their local or regional cultural setting using relevant archaeological, ethnohistoric, and/or ethnographic data in an effort to interpret their meaning within the broader social, political and economic contexts in which they were carried out. This volume covers a number of topics that are currently being debated in Maya archaeology, including identification and discussion of the role and extent of human sacrifice in Maya culture, the use of ancestors for maintaining political power, the mortuary use of caves by both elites and non-elites, ethnic distinctions within urban areas and the extent of movement of people between communities. Importantly, the papers in this volume attempt to test and move beyond static, dichotic categories that are often employed in mortuary studies in an effort to better understand the complex ways in which the Maya conceptualized and manipulated social identity. This type of nuanced case-study approach that incorporates historical, archaeological and theoretical contextualization is becoming increasingly important in the field of bioarchaeology, providing valuable sources of data where small, diverse samples impede populational approaches.

Author : Yorke M. Rowan
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1134949642
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book New Approaches to Old Stones written by Yorke M. Rowan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ground stone artefacts were widely used in food production in prehistory. However, the archaeological community has widely neglected the dataset of ground stone artefacts until now. 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a theoretical and methodological analysis of the archaeological data pertaining to ground stone tools. The essays draw on a range of case studies - from the Levant, Egypt, Crete, Anatolia, Mexico and North America - to examine ground stone technologies. From medieval Islamic stone cooking vessels and late Minoan stone vases, to the use of stone in ritual and as a symbol of luxury, 'New Approaches to Old Stones' offers a radical reassessment of the impact of ground-stone artefacts on technological change, production and exchange.

Author : Vera Tiesler
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 0387488715
Total Pages : 327 pages
Book Rating : 4.14/5 ( download)

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Download or read book New Perspectives on Human Sacrifice and Ritual Body Treatments in Ancient Maya Society written by Vera Tiesler and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-02-15 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines Maya sacrifice and related posthumous body manipulation. The editors bring together an international group of contributors from the area studied: archaeologists as well as anthropologists, forensic anthropologists, art historians and bioarchaeologists. This interdisciplinary approach provides a comprehensive perspective on these sites as well as the material culture and biological evidence found there

Author : Ignacio López-Calvo
Publisher : Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1527512150
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Humanities in a World Upside-Down written by Ignacio López-Calvo and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2018-06-11 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the metaphor of “the world upside-down,” this essay collection highlights the importance of the humanities in addressing, along with the sciences, pressing challenges in today’s rapidly changing world. Crossing across a variety of disciplines, historical periods, and regions in the world, this volume represents a useful tool for humanities scholars and students exploring the key role of our disciplines in public debates about pressing issues, such as the refugee crisis, climate change denialism, environmental justice, racism, and the current worldwide crisis of democracy. It provides practical examples of how societies throughout the world have historically coped with unexpected and distressing changes in government, core values, axiomatic systems, assumptions, beliefs, ideology, or cultural constructions. The feeling of topsy-turvy consternation as a result of sudden, harrowing change, as is shown here, is not new; rather, it has simply evolved throughout time and space.

Author : Traci Ardren
Publisher : University of Texas Press
ISBN 13 : 1477321640
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Her Cup for Sweet Cacao written by Traci Ardren and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2020-12-08 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the ancient Maya, food was both sustenance and a tool for building a complex society. This collection, the first to focus exclusively on the social uses of food in Classic Maya culture, deploys a variety of theoretical approaches to examine the meaning of food beyond diet—ritual offerings and restrictions, medicinal preparations, and the role of nostalgia around food, among other topics. For instance, how did Maya feasts build community while also reinforcing social hierarchy? What psychoactive substances were the elite Maya drinking in their caves, and why? Which dogs were good for eating, and which breeds became companions? Why did even some non-elite Maya enjoy cacao, but rarely meat? Why was meat more available for urban Maya than for those closer to hunting grounds on the fringes of cities? How did the molcajete become a vital tool and symbol in Maya gastronomy? These chapters, written by some of the leading scholars in the field, showcase a variety of approaches and present new evidence from faunal remains, hieroglyphic texts, chemical analyses, and art. Thoughtful and revealing, Her Cup for Sweet Cacao unlocks a more comprehensive understanding of how food was instrumental to the development of ancient Maya culture.