Download or read book Megalithism written by Alberto Pozzi and published by Universal-Publishers. This book was released on 2014-09-23 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Megalithism, or the art of using huge boulders to create sacred, pagan monuments and sites, still fascinates us today. How did Prehistoric man cut, transport, and place such enormous stones, some weighing up to 200 metric tons, without bulldozers, drills, and cranes? Yet primitive man, without the written word or wheel, created structures which still stupefy us in the 21st century, both due to their components and the precision used in positioning them. This book takes us back in time to the 5th-2nd millennia B.C. and helps us visualise the Stone Age world and its constructions - menhirs, dolmens, rows and circles of standing stones. Undoubtedly they were sacred places, used for pagan rituals and funerary purposes, but the author also gives us details of their astronomic and physical alignment, which clearly demonstrates the knowledge of the heavens these ancestors had and how they applied it without slide-rules, set squares, and theodolites. The high priests of ancient times could calculate when the solstices and equinoxes would occur and thus regulate the seasons for sowing and reaping. The author's careful and updated identification of all such structures leads us through 'Ancient European Megalithism' complete with the religious and social aspects of it and its pagan legacies. He does not neglect forms of 'sub-actual' megalithism either - the use of massive stones by peoples described as primitive but with a relatively advanced culture who lived in times closer to our own in Africa, Asia, and South America. The myths and legends arising from the megalithic structures are recounted here in detail; the author also describes megalithic art in the form of statue-stele and menhir statues, as well as the often intricate decoration carved on single stones and in construction such as dolmens, funerary mounds, astronomic observatories, and temples. He also describes studies and experiments on the methods of transport and construction used by Prehistoric peoples, together with conflicting opinions and theories. Amply illustrated with photographs and drawings, Megalithism guides the reader through every part of the megalithic world with smooth-flowing text that will be accessible to specialists and interested general public alike.
Download or read book Megaliths of the World written by Luc Laporte and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2022-08-22 with total page 1436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bringing together the latest research on megalithic monuments throughout the world, 150 researchers offer 72 articles, providing a region-by region account in their specialist areas, and a summary of the current state of knowledge. Highlighting salient themes, the book is vital to anyone interested in the phenomenon of megalithic monumentality.
Download or read book Archaeology and Language IV written by Roger Blench and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archaeology and Language IV examines a variety of pressing issues regarding linguistic and cultural change. It provides a challenging variety of case-studies which demonstrate how global patterns of language distribution and change can be interwoven to produce a rich historical narrative, and fuel a radical rethinking of the conventional discourse of linguistics within archaeology.
Download or read book New Trends in Database and Information Systems written by Silvia Chiusano and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-08-29 with total page 675 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book constitutes the proceedings of the 26th European Conference on Advances in Databases and Information Systems, ADBIS 2022, held in Turin, Italy, in September 2022. The 29 short papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 90 submissions. The selected short papers are organized in the following sections: data understanding, modeling and visualization; fairness in data processing; data management pipeline, information and process retrieval; data access optimization; data pre-processing and cleaning; data science and machine learning. Further, papers from the following workshops and satellite events are provided in the volume: DOING: 3rd Workshop on Intelligent Data – From Data to Knowledge; K-GALS: 1st Workshop on Knowledge Graphs Analysis on a Large Scale; MADEISD: 4th Workshop on Modern Approaches in Data Engineering and Information System Design; MegaData: 2nd Workshop on Advanced Data Systems Management, Engineering, and Analytics; SWODCH: 2nd Workshop on Semantic Web and Ontology Design for Cultural Heritage; Doctoral Consortium.
Download or read book The Power of the Line written by Aleksander Dzbyński and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-07-18 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Extensive research in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and cognitive science clearly suggests that the development of a material culture in prehistory was a serious contribution to the mathematization of the human mind. An underestimated interface in this process, as cognitive and philosophical studies suggest, was the capability to perceive the external world in a metaphorical way. This book uses several examples to tell this story. It does not claim the right to present a universal story, applicable for the whole human species, although it also questions that universality. The cornerstone of the story is structured by the relationship between body, language, and material culture. The examples presented in this book, however, also allow us to contemplate a less universal phenomenon; the similarities and differences between Near Eastern and European culture in the period of the development of farming. As such, this book also investigates whether clay tokens – an invention originated from Near Eastern societies – were also responsible for the development of mathematical abilities in prehistoric societies in Europe. In Europe, however, the lack of material representations of numbers in the form of small objects was replaced by linear concepts. Linearity, from its simple manifestations in the monumental form to its complex use in later megalithic structures, requires more thought because it served not only as an ephemeral symbol and a metaphor, but also as a practical tool in building anthropogenic spaces. Only when we see a metaphor in the omnipresent linearity can we understand it properly in combination with the cosmologic aspects of architecture, the role of the human body, and the concept of numbers. As such, the book distinguishes between two dichotomous development paths of mathematization and numerosity in Europe and the Near East – the birthplace of farming: the measuring stick metaphor and the object collection metaphor. The book also discusses further transformations of the measuring stick metaphor into more rational concepts throughout the course of technological developments in Europe.
Download or read book The Prehistory of Iberia written by María Cruz Berrocal and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume advances the archaeological study of social organisation in Prehistory, and more specifically the rise of social complexity in European Prehistory. Within the wider context of world Prehistory, in the last 30 years the subject of early social stratification and state formation has been a key subject on interest in Iberian Prehistory. This book illustrates the differing forms of resistances, the interplay between change and continuity, the multiple paths to and from social complexity, and the 'failures' of states to form in Prehistory. Focusing on Iberia, but with a permanent connection to the wider geographical framework, this book presents, for the first time, a chronologically comprehensive, up-to-date approach to the issue of state formation in prehistoric Europe.
Download or read book AUSTRONESIAN DIASPORA written by Bagyo Prasetyo and published by UGM PRESS. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a proceeding from a number of papers presented in The International Symposium on Austronesian Diaspora on 18th to 23rd July 2016 at Nusa Dua, Bali, which was held by The National Research Centre of Archaeology in cooperation with The Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums. The symposium is the second event with regard to the Austronesian studies since the first symposium held eleven years ago by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences in cooperation with the International Centre for Prehistoric and Austronesia Study (ICPAS) in Solo on 28th June to 1st July 2005 with a theme of “the Dispersal of the Austronesian and the Ethno-geneses of People in the Indonesia Archipelago’’ that was attended by experts from eleven countries. The studies on Austronesia are very interesting to discuss because Austronesia is a language family, which covers about 1200 languages spoken by populations that inhabit more than half the globe, from Madagascar in the west to Easter Island (Pacific Area) in the east and from Taiwan-Micronesia in the north to New Zealand in the south. Austronesia is a language family, which dispersed before the Western colonization in many places in the world. The Austronesian dispersal in very vast islands area is a huge phenomenon in the history of humankind. Groups of Austronesian-speaking people had emerged in ca. 7000- 6000 BP in Taiwan before they migrated in 5000 BP to many places in the world, bringing with them the Neolithic Culture, characterized by sedentary, agricultural societies with animal domestication. The Austronesian-speaking people are distinguished by Southern Mongoloid Race, which had the ability to adapt to various types of natural environment that enabled them to develop through space and time. The varied geographic environment where they lived, as well as intensive interactions with the outside world, had created cultural diversities. The population of the Austronesian speakers is more than 380 million people and the Indonesian Archipelago is where most of them develop. Indonesia also holds a key position in understanding the Austronesians. For this reason, the Austronesian studies are crucial in the attempt to understand the Indonesian societies in relation to their current cultural roots, history, and ethno-genesis. This book discusses six sessions in the symposium. The first session is the prologue; the second is the keynote paper, which is Austronesia: an overview; the third is Diaspora and Inter-regional Connection; the fourth is Regional highlight; the fifth is Harimau Cave: Research Progress; while the sixth session is the epilogue, which is a synthesis of 37 papers. We hope that this book will inspire more researchers to study Austronesia, a field of never ending research in Indonesia.
Download or read book Public Images Private Readings Multi Perspective Approaches to the Post Palaeolithic Rock Art written by Ramón Fábregas Valcarce and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2016-04-30 with total page 79 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A significant number of Holocene societies throughout the world have resorted at one time or another to the making of paints or carvings on different places. The aim of the session A11e, held within the XVII World UISPP Congress, was to put together the experiences of specialists from different areas of the Iberian Peninsula and the World.
Download or read book Rock Art Studies News of the World written by Natalie R. Franklin and published by Oxbow Books. This book was released on 2008-08-05 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the third in the five-yearly series of surveys of what is happening in rock art studies around the world. As always, the texts reflect something of the great differences in approach and emphasis that exist in different regions. The volume presents examples from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World. During the period in question, 1999 to 2004, there have been few major events, although in the field of Pleistocene art many new discoveries have been made, and a new country added to the select list of those with Ice Age cave art. Some regions such as North Africa and the former USSR have seen a tremendous amount of activity, focusing not only on recording but also on chronology, and the conservation of sites. With the global increase of tourism, the management of rock art sites that are accessible to the public is a theme of ever-growing importance.
Download or read book The Light The Stones and The Sacred written by Andrea Orlando and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-05-27 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses a variety of topics within the growing discipline of Archaeoastronomy, focusing especially on Archaeoastronomy in Sicily and the Mediterranean and Cultural Astronomy. A further priority is discussion of the astronomical and statistical methods used today to ascertain the degree of reliability of the chronological and cultural definition of sites and artifacts of archaeoastronomical interest. The contributions were all delivered at the XVth Congress of the Italian Society of Archaeoastronomy (SIA), held under the rubric "The Light, the Stones and the Sacred" – a theme inspired by the International Year of Light 2015, organized by UNESCO. The full meaning of many ancient monuments can only be understood by examining their relation to light, given the effects that light radiation produces in “interacting” with lithic structures. Moreover, in addition to manifestations of the sacred through the medium of light (hierophanies), there are many ties between temples, tombs, megalithic structures, and the architecture of almost all ages and cultures and our star, the Sun. Readers will find the book to be a source of fascinating insights based on synergies between the disciplines of archaeology and astronomy.
Download or read book Recent Advances in Indo Pacific Prehistory written by Misra and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-07-17 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Megaliths and Geology Meg litos e Geologia written by Rui Boaventura and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2020-06-18 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents contributions from MegaTalks 2, (Portugal, 2015), part of the MegaGeo project which aimed to analyse the raw material economy in the construction of megalithic tombs in multiple territories, showing the representation of several prehistoric communities that raised them and their relationship with the surrounding areas.
Download or read book Dolmens in the Levant written by James A. Fraser and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-01-17 with total page 557 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Western explorers first encountered dolmens in the Levant, they thought they had discovered the origins of a megalithic phenomenon that spread as far as the Atlantic coast. Although European dolmens are now considered an unrelated tradition, many researchers continue to approach dolmens in the Levant as part of a trans-regional phenomenon that spanned the Taurus mountains to the Arabian peninsula. By tightly defining the term 'dolmen' itself, this book brings these mysterious monuments into sharper focus. Drawing on historical, archaeological and geological sources, it is shown that dolmens in the Levant mostly concentrate in the eastern escarpment of the Jordan Rift Valley, and in the Galilean hills. They cluster near proto-urban settlements of the Early Bronze I period (3700–3000 BCE) in particular geological zones suitable for the extraction of megalithic slabs. Rather than approaching dolmens as a regional phenomenon, this book considers dolmens as part of a local burial tradition whose tomb forms varied depending on geological constraints. Dolmens in the Levant is essential for anyone interested in the rise of civilisations in the ancient Middle East, and particularly those who have wondered at the origins of these enigmatic burial monuments that dominate the landscape.
Download or read book Megalithic Monuments and Social Structures written by Maria Wunderlich and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Megalith building constitutes not only a past, but also a recent phenomenon, which is still practised today. The documentation and interpretation of recent megalith building traditions is offering potential aid in the interpretation of prehistoric monuments. Fieldwork in Sumba and Nagaland set up a frame to answer questions such as: Who is buried in the megalithic tombs and what kind of commemoration is connected to megalithic monuments? How are socioeconomic characteristics of the associated households and societies reflected in the megaliths?0'Megalithic monuments and social structures' includes various archaeological and ethnoarchaeological case studies on social implications of megalith building activities from a comparative perspective. The case studies presented include recent megalith building traditions in Sumba, Indonesia, Nagaland, North-East India, as well as Neolithic Funnel Beaker communities in today's Northern Germany and Southern Sweden.0This book presents a rich body of new data. By taking into account recent examples of megalithic construction, knowledge on important and influential ways of acting within societal contexts was expanded, whereby above all decentralised and communally-designed mechanisms are important. The case studies presented here clearly demonstrate the importance of cooperative and competitive structures and their effect on feasting activities and megalith building. Additionally, megalithic monuments represent a way of expressing and materialising economic inequality and social prestige. These mechanism and aspects also represent interpretations regarding Funnel Beaker societies, which can supplement the existing ideas of megalithic construction in Neolithic Northern Europe.0.
Download or read book The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age Roman and Medieval Europe written by Marta Díaz-Guardamino and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the pervasive influence exerted by some prehistoric monuments on European social life over thousands of years, and reveals how they can act as a node linking people through time, possessing huge ideological and political significance. Through the advancement of theoretical approaches and scientific methodologies, archaeologists have been able to investigate how some of these monuments provide resources to negotiate memories, identities, and power and social relations throughout European history. The essays in this collection examine the life-histories of carefully chosen megalithic monuments, stelae and statue-menhirs, and rock art sites of various European and Mediterranean regions during the Iron Age and Roman and Medieval times. By focusing on the concrete interaction between people, monuments, and places, the volume offers an innovative outlook on a variety of debated issues. Prominent among these is the role of ancient remains in the creation, institutionalization, contestation, and negotiation of social identities and memories, as well as their relationship with political economy in early historic European societies. By contributing to current theoretical debates on materiality, landscape, and place-making, The Lives of Prehistoric Monuments in Iron Age, Roman, and Medieval Europe seeks to overcome disciplinary boundaries between prehistory and history, and highlight the long-term, genealogical nature of our engagement with the world.
Download or read book Graphical Markers and Megalith Builders in the International Tagus Iberian Peninsula written by Primitiva Bueno Ramírez and published by BAR International Series. This book was released on 2008 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains chapters in English and chapters in Portuguese
Download or read book Archaeology on the Threshold written by Joseph D. Wardle and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2022-12-30 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New perspectives on transitions in human history This book is about transitional periods of cultural and environmental change as seen through the lenses of archaeology and ethnography. Incorporating data from across six continents and tracing the human experience from the Late Pleistocene to the present, these chapters offer a global comparative perspective on transitional states. Questions of causality are considered, as are hypotheses about the processes of cultural change. Archaeology on the Threshold focuses on major transitions such as the shift from foraging to agriculture, the adoption of new technologies, the emergence of large-scale societies, the transition from egalitarian to inegalitarian leadership, and changes that occur in socioeconomic and ideological systems as a result of climate change and disease. Theoretical approaches range from processual to postprocessual, humanistic, and interpretive. Methodologies include ethnoarchaeology, the use of ethnographic analogy, cross-cultural comparisons and large-scale data approaches, oral history, the historical record, participant observation, and focus group discussions. Challenging archaeologists to query long-held assumptions and theoretical positions, this volume aims to refocus inquiry into change-causing and larger evolutionary processes to problematize notions of revolutionary, irrevocable change. These case studies examine and shed light on assumptions regarding the linearity and oscillations of adaptations, with intriguing implications for archaeological inferences.
