Download or read book Stone Tool Use at Cerros written by Suzanne M. Lewenstein and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2012-10-10 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For centuries scholars have pondered and speculated over the uses of the chipped stone implements uncovered at archaeological sites. Recently a number of researchers have attempted to determine prehistoric tool function through experimentation and through observation of the few remaining human groups who still retain this knowledge. Learning how stone tools were made and used in the past can tell us a great deal about ancient economic systems, exchange networks, and the social and political structure of prehistoric societies. Suzanne M. Lewenstein used the artifacts from Cerros, an important Late Preclassic (200 BC–AD 200) Mayan site in northern Belize, to study stone tool function. Through a comprehensive program of experimentation with stone tool replicas, she was able not only to infer the tasks performed by individual tool specimens but also to recognize a wide variety of past activities for which stone tools were used. Unlike previous works that focused on hunter-gatherer groups, Stone Tool Use at Cerros is the first comprehensive experimental study of tool use in an agricultural society. The lithic data are used in an economic interpretation of a lowland Mayan community within a hierarchically complex society. Apart from its significance to Mayan studies, this innovative work offers the beginnings of a reference collection of identifiable tool functions that may be documented for sedentary, complex society. It will be of major interest to all archaeologists and anthropologists, as well as those interested in economic specialization and artisanry in complex societies.
Download or read book Stone Tools written by George H. Odell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lithic analysts have been criticized for being atheoretical in their approach, or at least for not contributing to building archaeological theory. This volume redresses that balance. In Stone Tools, renowned lithic analysts employ explicitly theoretical constructs to explore the archaeological record and use the lithic database to establish its points. Chapters discuss curation, design theory, replacement of stone with metal, piece refitting, and projectile point style.
Download or read book Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America written by Susan Toby Evans and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2001 with total page 1322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This reference is devoted to the pre-Columbian archaeology of the Mesoamerican culture area, one of the six cradles of early civilization. It features in-depth articles on the major cultural areas of ancient Mexico and Central America; coverage of important sites, including the world-renowned discoveries as well as many lesser-known locations; articles on day-to-day life of ancient peoples in these regions; and several bandw regional and site maps and photographs. Entries are arranged alphabetically and cover introductory archaeological facts (flora, fauna, human growth and development, nonorganic resources), chronologies of various periods (Paleoindian, Archaic, Formative, Classic and Postclassic, and Colonial), cultural features, Maya, regional summaries, research methods and resources, ethnohistorical methods and sources, and scholars and research history. Edited by archaeologists Evans and Webster, both of whom are associated with Pennsylvania State University. c. Book News Inc.
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 223 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 Chipped Stone Tool Use in the Maya Coastal Economies of Marco Gonzalez and San Pedro Ambergris Caye Belize written by William James Stemp and published by BAR International Series. This book was released on 2001 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A highly detailed analysis of stone tools recovered from excavations at two sites on the coral island of Ambergris Caye, off the coast of Belize, which revealed evidence of continued occupation on the island from c.100 BC until well into the Historic period. The study of the wear of tools provides a clear picture of the ways in which the Maya exploited the island's natural resources, notably fish, shell, coral and salt, while comparison of the sites shows the level of interaction between communities. Sections present a tool typology and discuss lithic technology, raw materials and the archaeological context and distribution of the assemblages.
Download or read book The Artifacts of Tikal Utilitarian Artifacts and Unworked Material written by Hattula Moholy-Nagy and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tikal Report 27 presents artifacts and associated unworked materials recovered by the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Tikal Project of 1956-1969.
Download or read book Lithic Analysis written by George H. Odell and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This practical volume does not intend to replace a mentor, but acts as a readily accessible guide to the basic tools of lithic analysis. The book was awarded the 2005 SAA Award for Excellence in Archaeological Analysis. Some focuses of the manual include: history of stone tool research; procurement, manufacture and function; assemblage variability. It is an incomparable source for academic archaeologists, cultural resource and heritage management archaeologists, government heritage agencies, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of archaeology focused on the prehistoric period.
Download or read book Continuities and Changes in Maya Archaeology written by Charles Golden and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-03-01 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the current state of Maya archaeology by focusing on the history of the field for the last 100 years, present day research, and forward looking prescription for the direction of the field.
Download or read book Flintknapping written by John C. Whittaker and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flintknapping is an ancient craft enjoying a resurgence of interest among both amateur and professional students of prehistoric cultures. In this new guide, John C. Whittaker offers the most detailed handbook on flintknapping currently available and the only one written from the archaeological perspective of interpreting stone tools as well as making them. Flintknapping contains detailed, practical information on making stone tools. Whittaker starts at the beginner level and progresses to discussion of a wide range of techniques. He includes information on necessary tools and materials, as well as step-by-step instructions for making several basic stone tool types. Numerous diagrams allow the reader to visualize the flintknapping process, and drawings of many stone tools illustrate the discussions and serve as models for beginning knappers. Written for a wide amateur and professional audience, Flintknapping will be essential for practicing knappers as well as for teachers of the history of technology, experimental archaeology, and stone tool analysis.
Download or read book Classic Period Mixtequilla Veracruz Mexico written by Barbara L. Stark and published by Institute for Mesoamerican Studies. This book was released on 2001 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This archaeological site report presents new in sights on an important but poorly-studied Mesoamerican culture-the Classic period of the Mexican Gulf Coast. Stark discusses her excavations at several sites in the Mixtequilla region, describes the deposits and artifacts encountered, and provides interpretations of the sites and their significance within a wider context. Her analysis of the ephemeral remains of perishable houses is innovative and contains one of the most sophisticated treatments of site formation processes yet carried out in Latin America. Particularly important is the identification of some of the earliest spindle whorls in Mesoamerica, leading to new views of the importance of cotton textiles in the changing economies of the Late Preclassic and Classic periods. Superb artifact illustrations, detailed descriptions, and an ample use of data tables, make this a valuable reference work. Mesoamericanists will find much of interest in this book, as will readers interested in tropical lowland settlement patterns, household archaeology, and site formation processes.
Download or read book Handbook of Archaeological Methods written by Herbert D. G. Maschner and published by Rowman Altamira. This book was released on 2005 with total page 1502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook of Archaeological Methods comprises 37 articles by leading archaeologists on the key methods used by archaeologists in the field, in analysis, in theory building, and in managing cultural resources. The book is destined to become the key reference work for archaeologists and their advanced students on contemporary archaeological methods.
Download or read book Lithics written by William Andrefsky (Jr.) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-10-08 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first comprehensive manual on stone artifact analysis, with detailed examples of how to measure, record and analyse stone tools and stone tool production debris. Logically ordered, clearly written and well illustrated, it is designed for students and professional archaeologists. The first section provides the necessary background information, introducing the reader to lithic raw materials, and the classification of stone artifacts, basic terminology and concepts. It goes on to discuss various methods and techniques of analysis. The final section presents detailed case studies of lithic analysis from different parts of the world, illustrating the actual application of the techniques and methods discussed earlier.
Download or read book Obsidian written by M. Steven Shackley and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2005-09 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Obsidian was long valued by ancient peoples as a raw material for producing stone tools, and archaeologists have increasingly come to view obsidian studies as a crucial aid in understanding the past. Steven Shackley now shows how the geochemical and contextual analyses of archaeological obsidian can be applied to the interpretation of social and economic organization in the ancient Southwest. This book, the capstone of decades of investigation, integrates a wealth of obsidian research in one volume. It covers advances in analytical chemistry and field petrology that have enhanced our understanding of obsidian source heterogeneity, presents the most recent data on and interpretations of archaeological obsidian sources in the Southwest, and explores the ethnohistorical and contemporary background for obsidian use in indigenous societies. Shackley provides a thorough examination of the geological origin of obsidian in the region and the methods used to collect raw material and determine its chemical composition, and descriptions of obsidian sources throughout the Southwest. He then describes the occurrence of obsidian artifacts and shows how their geochemical fingerprints allow archaeologists to make conclusions regarding the procurement of obsidian. The book presents three groundbreaking applications of obsidian source studies. It first discusses an application to early Preceramic groups, showing how obsidian sources can reflect the range they inhabited over time as well as their social relationships during the Archaic period. It then offers an examination of the Late Classic Salado in Arizona's Tonto Basin, where obsidian data, along with ceramic and architectural evidence, suggest that Mogollon migrants lived in economic and social harmony with the Hohokam, all the while maintaining relationships with their homeland. Finally, it provides an intensive look at social identity and gender differences in the Preclassic Hohokam of central Arizona, where obsidian source provenance and projectile point styles suggest that male Hohokam sought to create a stylistically defined identity in at least three areas of the Hohokam core area. These male "sodalities" were organized quite differently from female ceramic production groups. Today, obsidian research in the American Southwest enjoys an equal standing with ceramic, faunal, and floral studies as a method of revealing social process and change in prehistory. Shackley's book discusses the ways in which archaeologists should approach obsidian research, no matter what the region, offering a thorough survey of archaeological obsidian studies that will have methodological and theoretical applications worldwide. The volume includes an extensive glossary created specifically for archaeologists.
Download or read book Ancient Maya State Urbanism Exchange and Craft Specialization written by Kazuo Aoyama and published by Center for Comparative Arch. This book was released on 1999 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exhaustive analysis of political and economic change right through the sequence of Maya civilization, based on the direct evidence of chipped stone assemblages from a wide variety of contexts in two regions. The acquisition of raw materials, the production of tools, and the use of tools are all fully considered for what they can tell us about long-distance political and economic relations and local economic organization. An unexpected bonus of the study was information on the use of chipped stone in warfare. The full dataset is provided electronically. Complete text in English and Spanish.
Download or read book Cultural Evolution written by Gary M. Feinman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on Kent Flannery's forty years of cross-cultural research in the area, the contributors to this collection reflect the current diversity of contemporary approaches to the study of cultural evolutionary processes. Collectively the volume expresses the richness of the issues being investigated by comparative theorists interested in long-term change, as well as the wide variety of data, approaches, and ideas that researchers are employing to examine these questions.
Download or read book Northwest Anthropological Research Notes written by Roderick Sprague and published by Northwest Anthropology. This book was released on with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the Pow Wow Circuit in the Interior Northwest - Kathleen A. Dahl The Southeastern Idaho Prehistoric Sequence - Ernest S. Lohse Towards an Early Social History of Chinook Jargon - Christopher F. Roth Notes on Indian .Houses of the Wappato Valley - Yvonne Hajda Changes in Subsistence Stategies at the Tsawwassen Site, a Southwestern British Columbia Shell Midden - Karla D. Kusmer A Bibliography of Plateau Ethnobotany - Debra Welch & Michael Striker
Download or read book Archaeology at Cerros Belize Central America written by David A. Freidel and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
