Download or read book Community Heterogeneity and Integration written by Markus Eberl and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Gifted Passage written by Stephen Houston and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2018-02-27 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this thought-provoking book, preeminent scholar Stephen Houston turns his attention to the crucial role of young males in Classic Maya society, drawing on evidence from art, writing, and material culture. The Gifted Passage establishes that adolescent men in Maya art were the subjects and makers of hieroglyphics, painted ceramics, and murals, in works that helped to shape and reflect masculinity in Maya civilization. The political volatility of the Classic Maya period gave male adolescents valuable status as potential heirs, and many of the most precious surviving ceramics likely celebrated their coming-of-age rituals. The ardent hope was that youths would grow into effective kings and noblemen, capable of leadership in battle and service in royal courts. Aiming to shift mainstream conceptions of the Maya, Houston argues that adolescent men were not simply present in images and texts, but central to both.
Download or read book The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context written by Gyles Iannone and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2014-03-15 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context, contributors reject the popularized link between societal collapse and drought in Maya civilization, arguing that a series of periodic “collapses,” including the infamous Terminal Classic collapse (AD 750–1050), were not caused solely by climate change–related droughts but by a combination of other social, political, and environmental factors. New and senior scholars of archaeology and environmental science explore the timing and intensity of droughts and provide a nuanced understanding of socio-ecological dynamics, with specific reference to what makes communities resilient or vulnerable when faced with environmental change.Contributors recognize the existence of four droughts that correlate with periods of demographic and political decline and identify a variety of concurrent political and social issues. They argue that these primary underlying factors were exacerbated by drought conditions and ultimately led to societal transitions that were by no means uniform across various sites and subregions. They also deconstruct the concept of “collapse” itself—although the line of Maya kings ended with the Terminal Classic collapse, the Maya people and their civilization survived. The Great Maya Droughts in Cultural Context offers new insights into the complicated series of events that impacted the decline of Maya civilization. This significant contribution to our increasingly comprehensive understanding of ancient Maya culture will be of interest to students and scholars of archaeology, anthropology, geography, and environmental studies.
Download or read book Ritual Violence and the Fall of the Classic Maya Kings written by Gyles Iannone and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2018-11-05 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maya kings who failed to ensure the prosperity of their kingdoms were subject to various forms of termination, including the ritual defacing and destruction of monuments and even violent death. This is the first comprehensive volume to focus on the varied responses to the failure of Classic period dynasties in the southern lowlands. The contributors offer new insights into the Maya "collapse," evaluating the trope of the scapegoat king and the demise of the traditional institution of kingship in the early ninth century AD--a time of intense environmental, economic, social, political, and even ideological change. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase
Download or read book The Technology of Maya Civilization written by Zachary X. Hruby and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The ancient Maya shaped their world with stone tools. Lithic artifacts helped create the cityscape and were central to warfare and hunting, craft activities, cooking, and ritual performance. 'The Technology of Maya Civilization' examines Maya lithic artefacts made of chert, obsidian, silicified limestone, and jade to explore the relationship between ancient civilizations and natural resources. The volume presents case studies of archaeological sites in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras. The analysis draws on innovative anthropological theory to argue that stone artefacts were not merely cultural products but tools that reproduced, modified, and created the fabric of society.
Download or read book Motul de San Jos written by Antonia E Foias and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2012-09-23 with total page 553 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars have long debated the nature of Maya political organization during the Classic period (AD 250-950). Complex questions regarding political centralization, economic change, and the role of politics and economics in the rise and collapse of the civilization have been examined and reexamined from a variety of perspectives. Antonia Foias and Kitty Emery have assembled a broad collection of essays all focused on a single polity, that of Motul de San José. By presenting a coherent interdisciplinary body of archaeological and environmental data, the volume offers an intensely deep, focused investigation of the various models of the ancient Maya political and economic systems. Research conducted over six seasons of fieldwork reveals a more centralized political system than expected and uncovers the workings of the ancient economic structure. The contributors offer new details concerning how involved royals and nonroyal elites were in the politics of nearby states, as well as an extensive tribute system.
Download or read book Maya Kingship written by Tsubasa Okoshi and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining changes to the institution of divine kingship from 750 to 950 CE in the Maya lowland cities, Maya Kingship presents a new way of studying the collapse of that civilization and the transformation of political systems between the Terminal Classic and Postclassic Periods. Leading experts in Maya studies offer insights into the breakdown of kingship regimes, as well as the gradual urban collapse and settlement relocations that followed. The volume illuminates historical factors and actions that led to the end of the institution across kingdoms and the mechanisms that enabled societies to eventually recover with new political structures. Contributors provide archaeological, iconographic, epigraphic, and ethnohistorical perspectives, exploring datasets in the spheres of warfare, social dynamics, economics, and architecture. Unfolding with precision the chains of processes and events that occurred during the ninth and tenth centuries in the southern lowlands, and slightly later in the north, this volume displays an original and ambitious historical approach central to understanding one of the most radical political shifts to occur in the pre-Columbian Americas. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase Contributors: Chloé Andrieu | Kazuo Aoyama | M. Charlotte Arnauld | Jaime J. Awe | Tomás José Barrientos Quezada |George J. Bey III | Ignacio Cases | Arlen F. Chase | Diane Z. Chase | Rafael Cobos | Arthur Demarest | Octavio Q. Esparza| Tomás Gallareta Negrón | Nikolai Grube | Christophe Helmke | Bernard Hermes | Julien Hiquet | Julie A. Hoggarth | Takeshi Inomata | Ana Luisa Izquierdo | Alfonso Lacadena | Simon Martin | Philippe Nondédéo | Tsubasa Okoshi | William M. Ringle | Julien Sion | Shintaro Suzuki | Paola Torres | Kenichiro Tsukamoto | Bart Victor | Jarosław Źrałka
Download or read book Maya Gods of War written by Karen Bassie-Sweet and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Numerous archaeological projects have found substantial evidence of the military nature of Maya society, and warfare is a frequent theme of Maya art. Maya Gods of War investigates the Classic period Maya gods who were associated with weapons of war and the flint and obsidian from which those weapons were made. Author Karen Bassie-Sweet traces the semantic markers used to distinguish flint from other types of stone, surveys various types of Chahk thunderbolt deities and their relationship to flint weapons, and explores the connection between lightning and the ruling elite. Additional chapters review these fire and solar deities and their roles in Maya warfare and examine the nature and manifestations of the Central Mexican thunderbolt god Tlaloc, his incorporation into the Maya pantheon, and his identification with meteors and obsidian weapons. Finally, Bassie-Sweet addresses the characteristics of the deity God L, his role as an obsidian merchant god, and his close association with the ancient land route between the highland Guatemalan obsidian sources and the lowlands. Through analysis of the nature of the Teotihuacán deities and exploration of the ways in which these gods were introduced into the Maya region and incorporated into the Maya worldview, Maya Gods of War offers new insights into the relationship between warfare and religious beliefs in Mesoamerica. This significant work will be of interest to scholars of Maya religion and iconography.
Download or read book War Owl Falling written by Markus Eberl and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Offers a unique and important perspective on Classic Maya society through the lens of innovation. Eberl’s work is richly grounded in a multidisciplinary approach that weaves archaeological data with epigraphy, iconography, and comparative social theory."--Andrew K. Scherer, author of Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul "The first sustained account of innovation and creativity among the ancient Maya. A welcome addition."--Scott Hutson, author of The Ancient Urban Maya: Neighborhoods, Inequality, and Built Form Drawing on archaeological findings from the Maya lowlands, War Owl Falling shows how innovation and creativity led to social change in ancient societies. Markus Eberl discusses the ways eighth-century Maya (and Maya commoners in particular) reinvented objects and signs that were associated with nobility, including scepters, ceramic vessels, ballgame equipment, and the symbol of the owl. These inventions, he argues, reflect assertions of independence and a redistribution of power that contributed to the Maya collapse in the Late Classic period. Eberl emphasizes that individual decision-making--the ability to imagine alternate worlds and to act on that vision--plays a large role in changing social structure over time. Pinpointing where and when these Maya inventions emerged, how individuals adopted them and why, War Owl Falling connects technological and social change in a novel way.
Download or read book The Rough Guide to Guatemala written by Iain Stewart and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-02-16 with total page 917 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Rough Guide to Guatemala is the essential companion to this astonishing country with detailed coverage of all the main attractions – from the volcanoes and crater lakes to the culturally-rich capital of Guatemala City. The introduction highlights the spectacular natural beauty of the beaches and wild-life reserves with stunning photography and the essential list of ‘what not to miss’. There are informative accounts of all the Mayan ruins, with detailed historical backgrounds, and how to get the most from each sight, as well as thorough explorations of those hidden gems, including the breathtaking Lake Atilán region and the jungle of Verapaz. You’ll find new colour sections about Indigenous Costumes and Mayan Architecture, dozens of easy-to-use maps, as well as countless accommodation and restaurant reviews and tips to find the best fiestas and highland markets. The guide has all the practical information you need to get there, travel around with ease and ensure you don’t miss the unmissable. Make the most of your time with The Rough Guide to Guatemala.
Download or read book Maya Figurines written by Christina T. Halperin and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2014-05-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rather than view the contours of Late Classic Maya social life solely from towering temple pyramids or elite sculptural forms, this book considers a suite of small anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and supernatural figurative remains excavated from household refuse deposits. Maya Figurines examines these often neglected objects and uses them to draw out relationships between the Maya state and its subjects. These figurines provide a unique perspective for understanding Maya social and political relations; Christina T. Halperin argues that state politics work on the microscale of everyday routines, localized rituals, and small-scale representations. Her comprehensive study brings together archeology, anthropology, and art history with theories of material culture, performance, political economy, ritual humor, and mimesis to make a fascinating case for the role politics plays in daily life. What she finds is that, by comparing small-scale figurines with state-sponsored, often large-scale iconography and elite material culture, one can understand how different social realms relate to and represent one another. In Maya Figurines, Halperin compares objects from diverse households, archeological sites, and regions, focusing especially on figurines from Petén, Guatemala, and comparing them to material culture from Belize, the northern highlands of Guatemala, the Usumacinta River, the Campeche coastal area, and Mesoamerican sites outside the Maya zone. Ultimately, she argues, ordinary objects are not simply passive backdrops for important social and political phenomena. Instead, they function as significant mechanisms through which power and social life are intertwined.
Download or read book Ancient Mesoamerican Population History written by Adrian S.Z. Chase and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2024-05-07 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Establishing ancient population numbers and determining how they were distributed across a landscape over time constitute two of the most pressing problems in archaeology. Accurate population data is crucial for modeling, interpreting, and understanding the past. Now, advances in both archaeology and technology have changed the way that such approximations can be achieved. Including research from both highland central Mexico and the tropical lowlands of the Maya and Olmec areas, this book reexamines the demography in ancient Mesoamerica. Contributors present methods for determining population estimates, field methods for settlement pattern studies to obtain demographic data, and new technologies such as LiDAR (light detecting and ranging) that have expanded views of the ground in forested areas. Contributions to this book provide a view of ancient landscape use and modification that was not possible in the twentieth century. This important new work provides new understandings of Mesoamerican urbanism, development, and changes over time. Contributors Traci Ardren M. Charlotte Arnauld Bárbara Arroyo Luke Auld-Thomas Marcello A. Canuto Adrian S. Z. Chase Arlen F. Chase Diane Z. Chase Elyse D. Z. Chase Javier Estrada Gary M. Feinman L. J. Gorenflo Julien Hiquet Scott R. Hutson Gerardo Jiménez Delgado Eva Lemonnier Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo José Lobo Javier López Mejía Michael L. Loughlin Deborah L. Nichols Christopher A. Pool Ian G. Robertson Jeremy A. Sabloff Travis W. Stanton
Download or read book proyecto mejoramiento genetico forestal written by and published by Bib. Orton IICA / CATIE. This book was released on with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Nature Culture and Big Old Trees written by Kit Anderson and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-06-04 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Big old trees inspire our respect and even affection. The poet Walt Whitman celebrated a Louisiana live oak that was solitary "in a wide flat space, / Uttering joyous leaves all its life without a friend a lover near." Groves and alleys of live oaks remain as distinctive landscape features on Louisiana's antebellum plantations, while massive individuals still cast their shade over churches, graveyards, parks, and roads. Cajuns have adopted the "Evangeline Oak" as one of their symbols. And the attachment that Louisianians feel for live oaks is equaled by that of Guatemalans for ceibas, the national tree of Guatemala. Long before Europeans came to the Americas, the ceiba, tallest of all native species, was the Mayan world tree, the center of the universe. Today, many ceibas remain as centers of Guatemalan towns, spreading their branches over the central plaza and marketplace. In this compelling book, Kit Anderson creates a vibrant portrait of the relationship between people and trees in Louisiana and Guatemala. Traveling in both regions, she examined and photographed many old live oaks and ceibas and collected the stories and symbolism that have grown up around them. She describes who planted the trees and why, how the trees have survived through many human generations, and the rich meanings they hold for people today. Anderson also recounts the natural history of live oaks and ceibas to show what human use of the landscape has meant for the trees. This broad perspective, blending cultural geography and natural history, adds a new dimension to our understanding of how big old trees and the places they help create become deeply meaningful, even sacred, for human beings.
Download or read book Tres D as de Una Revuelta written by Hector Gallardo and published by Palibrio. This book was released on 2012-02 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Southern Maya in the Late Preclassic written by Michael Love and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 400 BC to AD 250, the southern Maya region was one of the most remarkable civilizations of the ancient Americas. Filled with great cities linked by flourishing long-distance trade, shared elite ideologies, and a vibrant material culture, this region was pivotal not only for the Maya but for Mesoamerica as a whole. Although it has been of great interest to scholars, gaps in the knowledge have led to debate on the most vital questions about the southern region. Recent research has provided a wealth of broadly based new data that have expanded the understanding of this region and its influence on greater Mesoamerica. In The Southern Maya in the Late Preclassic, prominent contributors debate whether the southern region was indeed "Maya" or instead a region of intense multiethnic interaction, with speakers of many languages and many sources of identity. The chapters address a host of advanced developments to which this area can lay claim--urbanism and city-states, the earliest Maya writing, and the origin of the Maya calendar--as well as additional issues including the construction of social and cultural identities, economic networks of early complex societies, relationships between the Maya and the Olmec, and a comprehensive discussion of the ancient city of Kaminaljuyu and its relationship to other cities in the region.
