Download or read book Mesoamerican Lithic Technology written by Kenn Hirth and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Any overview of prehispanic society in the Americas would identify its obsidian core-blade production as a unique and highly inventive technology. Normally termed prismatic blades, these long, parallel-sided flakes are among the sharpest cutting tools ever produced by humans. Their standardized form permitted interchangeable use, and such blades became the cutting tool of choice throughout Mesoamerica between 600-800 B.C. Because considerable production skill is required, increased demand may have stimulated the appearance of craft specialists who played an integral role in Mesoamerican society. Some investigators have argued that control over obsidian also had a significant effect on the development and organization of chiefdom and state-level societies. While researchers have long recognized the potential of obsidian studies, recent work has focused primarily on compositional analysis to reconstruct trade and distribution networks. Study of blade production has received much less attention, and many aspects of this highly evolved craft are still lost. This volume seeks to identify current research questions in Mesoamerican lithic technology and to demonstrate that replication studies coupled with experimental research design are valuable analytical approaches to such questions.
Download or read book Lithic Technology in the Basin of Mexico During the Early and Middle Preclassic written by Martin William Boksenbaum and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 736 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Manufactured Light written by Emiliano Gallaga and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2016-05-01 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Complex and time-consuming to produce, iron-ore mirrors stand out among Prehispanic artifacts for their aesthetic beauty, their symbolic implications, and the complexity and skill of their assembly. Manufactured Light presents the latest archaeological research on these items, focusing on the intersection of their significance and use and on the technological aspects of the manufacturing processes that created them. The volume covers the production, meaning, and utilization of iron-ore mirrors in various Mesoamerican communities. Chapters focus on topics such as experimental archaeology projects and discussions of workshops in archaeological contexts in the Maya, Central Mexico, and northwest Mexico regions. Other chapters concentrate on the employment and ideological associations of these mirrors in Prehispanic times, especially as both sacred and luxury items. The final chapters address continuities in the use of mirrors from Prehispanic to modern times, especially in contemporary indigenous communities, with an emphasis on examining the relationship between ethnographic realities and archaeological interpretations. While the symbolism of these artifacts and the intricacy of their construction have long been recognized in archaeological discussions, Manufactured Light is the first synthesis of this important yet under-studied class of material culture. It is a must-read for students and scholars of Mesoamerican archaeology, ethnography, religion, replicative experimentation, and lithic technology. Contirbutors include: Marc G. Blainey, Thomas Calligaro, Carrie L. Dennett, Emiliano Gallaga, Julie Gazzola, Sergio Gómez Chávez, Olivia Kindl, Brigitte Kovacevich, Achim Lelgemann, José J. Lunazzi, John J. McGraw, Emiliano Melgar, Joseph Mountjoy, Reyna Solis, and Karl Taube.
Download or read book Pathways to Prismatic Blades written by Bradford Andrews and published by Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. This book was released on 2002-12-01 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the social and economic processes involved in the manufacture of obsidian prismatic blades, one of the sharpest cutting instruments ever produced in the prehistoric world. Focusing on ancient Mesoamerica, contributors examine the variation in the way the blades were manufactured and the causes behind their variation.
Download or read book Lithic Technologies in Sedentary Societies written by Rachel A. Horowitz and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2019-06-21 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lithic Technologies in SedentarySocieties examines lithic technology from ancient societies in Mesoamerica, the Near East, South Asia, and North America, showcasing the important contributions in-depth lithic analysis can make to the study of sedentary societies around the world. Using cutting-edge analytical techniques these case studies address difficult anthropological questions concerning economic, social, and political issues, as well as global trends in lithic production. Lithic analysis focused on sedentary societies, especially in places like Mesoamerica, has previously been neglected mostly because of the high frequency of informal tools, but such bias limits the ways in which both lithic production and economic organization are investigated. Bringing the importance of studying such technologies to the fore and emphasizing the vital anthropological questions that lithics can answer, Lithic Technologies in Sedentary Societies is a valuable resource for scholars and students of lithic technology and sedentary, complex societies. Contributors: Fumi Arakawa, Mary A. Davis, James Enloe, Dan Healan, Francesca Manclossi, Theodore Marks, Jayur Madhusudan Mehta, Jason S. R. Paling, Steve Rosen, John Whittaker
Download or read book Lithic Technology written by and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Olmec Lithic Economy at San Lorenzo written by Kenneth Hirth and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2020-08-15 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Olmec Lithic Economy at San Lorenzo examines the specialized craft production, manufacturing, adoption, and spread of obsidian cutting tools at San Lorenzo, Mexico, the first major Olmec center to develop in the southern Gulf Coast region of Mesoamerica. Through the systematic analysis of this single commodity, Kenneth Hirth and Ann Cyphers reconstruct the importation of raw material and the on-site production and distribution of finished goods from a specialized workshop engaged in the manufacture of obsidian blades. The obsidian blade was the cutting tool of choice across Mesoamerica and used in a wide range of activities, from domestic food preparation to institutional ritual activities. Hirth and Cyphers conducted a three-decade investigation of obsidian artifacts recovered at Puerto Malpica, the earliest known workshop, and seventy-six other sites on San Lorenzo Island, where these tools were manufactured for local and regional distribution. Evidence recovered from these excavations provides some of the first information on how early craft specialists operated and how the specialized technology used to manufacture obsidian blades spread across Mesoamerica. The authors use geochemical analyses to identify thirteen different sources for obsidian during San Lorenzo’s occupation. This volcanic glass, not locally available, was transported over great distances, arriving in nodular and finished blade form. Olmec Lithic Economy at San Lorenzo offers a new way to analyze the Preclassic lithic economy—the procurement, production, distribution, and consumption of flaked stone tools—and shows how the study of lithics aids in developing a comprehensive picture of the internal structure and operation of Olmec economy. The book will be significant for Mesoamericanists as well as students and scholars interested in economy, lithic technology, and early complex societies.
Download or read book Lithic Technology written by William Andrefsky, Jr and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life history of stone tools is intimately liked to tool production, use, and maintenance. These are important processes in the organization of lithic technology or the manner in which lithic technology is embedded within human organizational strategies of land use and subsistence practices. This volume brings together essays that measure the life history of stone tools relative to retouch values, raw material constraints, and evolutionary processes. Collectively, they explore the association of technological organization with facets of tool form such as reduction sequences, tool production effort, artifact curation processes, and retouch measurement. Data sets cover a broad geographic and temporal span, including examples from France during the Paleolithic, the Near East during the Neolithic, and other regions such as Mongolia, Australia, and Italy. North American examples are derived from Paleoindian times to historic period aboriginal populations throughout the United States and Canada.
Download or read book Lithic technology written by Earl Herbert Swanson and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-06-03 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Emergence of Pressure Blade Making written by Pierre M. Desrosiers and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-13 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human development is a long and steady process that began with stone tool making. Because of this skill, humans were able to adapt to climate changes, discover new territories, and invent new technologies. "Pressure knapping" is the common term for one method of creating stone tools, where a larger device or blade specifically made for this purpose is use to press out the stone tool. Pressure knapping was invented in different locations and at different points in time, representing the adoption of the Neolithic way of life in the Old world. Recent research on pressure knapping has led for the first time to a global thesis on this technique. The contributors to this seminal work combine research findings on pressure knapping from different cultures around the globe to develope a cohesive theory. This contributions to this volume represents a significant development to research on pressure knapping, as well as the field of lithic studies in general. This work will be an important reference for anyone studying the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods, lithic studies, technologies, and more generally, cultural transmission.
Download or read book Archaeological Concepts Techniques and Terminology for American Prehistoric Lithic Technology written by Wm Jack Hranicky and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2013-06-03 with total page 586 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Archaeological Concepts, Techniques, and Terminology for American Prehistory Lithic Technology by Wm Jack Hranicky is a 600-page comprehensive publication that encompasses the study of American prehistoric stone tools and implements. It is a look-up volume for studying the material culture of prehistoric people and using its concepts and methods for researching this aspect of archaeology. There are over 3000 entries which are defined and illustrated. It also has an extensive set of references and an overview for the study of stone tools.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica written by Walter Robert Thurmond Witschey and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mesoamerica is one of six major areas of the world where humans independently changed their culture from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle into settled communities, cities, and civilization. In addition to China (twice), the Indus Valley, the Fertile Crescent of southwest Asia, Egypt, and Peru, Mesoamerica was home to exciting and irreversible changes in human culture called the "Neolithic Revolution." The changes included domestication of plants and animals, leading to agriculture, husbandry, and eventually sedentary village life. These developments set the stage for the growth of cities, social stratification, craft specialization, warfare, writing, mathematics, and astronomy, or what we call the rise of civilization. These changes forever transformed humankind. The Historical Dictionary of Mesoamerica covers the history of Mesoamerica through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 900 cross-referenced dictionary entries covering the major peoples, places, ideas, and events related to Mesoamerica. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Mesoamerica.
Download or read book Obsidian Reflections written by David M. Carballo and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2014-05-15 with total page 350 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.
Download or read book Technology and Tradition in Mesoamerica After the Spanish Invasion written by Rani T. Alexander and published by University of New Mexico Press. This book was released on 2019 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This impressive collection features the work of archaeologists who systematically explore the material and social consequences of new technological systems introduced after the sixteenth-century Spanish invasion in Mesoamerica. It is the first collection to present case studies that show how both commonplace and capital-intensive technologies were intertwined with indigenous knowledge systems to reshape local, regional, and transoceanic ecologies, commodity chains, and political, social, and religious institutions across Mexico and Central America.
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 The Emergence of Pressure Blade Making written by Pierre M. Desrosiers and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-03-13 with total page 534 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human development is a long and steady process that began with stone tool making. Because of this skill, humans were able to adapt to climate changes, discover new territories, and invent new technologies. "Pressure knapping" is the common term for one method of creating stone tools, where a larger device or blade specifically made for this purpose is use to press out the stone tool. Pressure knapping was invented in different locations and at different points in time, representing the adoption of the Neolithic way of life in the Old world. Recent research on pressure knapping has led for the first time to a global thesis on this technique. The contributors to this seminal work combine research findings on pressure knapping from different cultures around the globe to develope a cohesive theory. This contributions to this volume represents a significant development to research on pressure knapping, as well as the field of lithic studies in general. This work will be an important reference for anyone studying the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods, lithic studies, technologies, and more generally, cultural transmission.
Download or read book A Method for the Analysis of Mesoamerican Lithic Industries written by John E. Clark and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 760 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
