Download or read book The Transition to Statehood in the New World written by Robert R. Kautz and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1981 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This 1982 collection of eight original anthropological essays provides an exciting synthesis of theory and practice in one of the key issues of contemporary cultural evolutionary thought. The contributors ask why complex, highly stratified societies emerged at several locations in the New World at the same point in prehistory. Focusing primarily on the initial centers of civilization in Mesoamerica and the Andean region, they consider the sociopolitical, environmental and ideological factors in state formation. The essays discuss the prehistoric conditions and processes that simulated the development of the first state-level societies in Mesoamerica and Peru, and explore the difficulties archaeologists must face in their direct analysis of physical remains. In general, the contributors recognize a growing need for better archaeological solutions to the question of state origin and for more sensitivity to the problems as well as to the possibilities of ethnographic analogy.
Download or read book Early New World Monumentality written by Richard L. Burger and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2012-05-20 with total page 502 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In studies of ancient civilizations, the focus is often on the temples, palaces, and buildings created and then left behind, both because they survive and because of the awe they still inspire today. From the Mississippian mounds in the United States to the early pyramids of Peru, these monuments have been well-documented, but less attention has been paid to analyzing the logistical complexity involved in their creation. In this collection, prominent archaeologists explore the sophisticated political and logistical organizations that were required to plan and complete these architectural marvels. They discuss the long-term political, social, and military impacts these projects had on their respective civilizations, and illuminate the significance of monumentality among early complex societies in the Americas. Early New World Monumentality is ultimately a study of labor and its mobilization, as well as the long-term spiritual awe and political organization that motivated and were enhanced by such undertakings. Mounds and other impressive monuments left behind by earlier civilizations continue to reveal their secrets, offering profound insights into the development of complex societies throughout the New World.
Download or read book Ix Chel Maya Queen of Heaven in the New World written by Douglas T. Peck and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-02-28 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: And in this book Colonel Peck reveals the current view of Maya religion is also appallingly inaccurate. The sophisticated Maya religion, which closely followed the pattern of contemporary Eurasian religions, originated in ancient times with a matriarchal “Goddess of Creation” and evolved into a patriarchal “First Father” concept in the Classic period preceding Spanish conquest. Current historians have failed to recognize that fact because of the naïve belief that the writings of colonial period folklore, which picture Maya religious concepts as crude, primitive, and often grotesque fables, represented Maya religion rather than the true, sophisticated, and realistic religious concepts expressed in their prehistoric writing and art as documented in this book.
Download or read book Factional Competition and Political Development in the New World written by Elizabeth M. Brumfiel and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-12-04 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines how factional competition in ancient New World societies led to the development of chiefdoms, states and empires.
Download or read book Political Strategies in Pre Columbian Mesoamerica written by Sarah Kurnick and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2016-03-21 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Political authority contains an inherent contradiction. Rulers must reinforce social inequality and bolster their own unique position at the top of the sociopolitical hierarchy, yet simultaneously emphasize social similarities and the commonalities shared by all. Political Strategies in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica explores the different and complex ways that those who exercised authority in the region confronted this contradiction. New data from a variety of well-known scholars in Mesoamerican archaeology reveal the creation, perpetuation, and contestation of politically authoritative relationships between rulers and subjects and between nobles and commoners. The contributions span the geographic breadth and temporal extent of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica—from Preclassic Oaxaca to the Classic Petén region of Guatemala to the Postclassic Michoacán—and the contributors weave together archaeological, epigraphic, and ethnohistoric data. Grappling with the questions of how those exercising authority convince others to follow and why individuals often choose to recognize and comply with authority, Political Strategies in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica discusses why the study of political authority is both timely and significant, reviews how scholars have historically understood the operation of political authority, and proposes a new analytical framework to understand how rulers rule. Contributors include Sarah B. Barber, Joanne Baron, Christopher S. Beekman, Jeffrey Brzezinski, Bryce Davenport, Charles Golden, Takeshi Inomata, Arthur A. Joyce, Sarah Kurnick, Carlo J. Lucido, Simon Martin, Tatsuya Murakami, Helen Perlstein Pollard, and Víctor Salazar Chávez.
Download or read book Imagined Worlds and Constructed Differences in the Hebrew Bible written by Jeremiah W. Cataldo and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-08-22 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of this volume is twofold: to introduce readers to the study of cultural memory and identity in relation to the Hebrew Bible, and to set up strategies for connecting studies of the historical contexts and literature of the Bible to parallel issues in the present day. The volume questions how we can better understand the divide between insider and outsider and the powerful impact of prejudice as a basis for preserving differences between "us" and "them"? In turn the contributors question how such frameworks shape a community's self-perception, its economics and politics. Guided by the general framework of Anderson's theory of nationalism and the outsider, such issues are explored in related ways throughout each of the contributions. Each contribution focuses on social, economic, or political issues that have significantly shaped or influenced dominant elements of cultural memory and the construction of identity in the biblical texts. Together the contributions present a larger proposal: the broad contours of memory and identity in the Bible are the products of a collective desire to reshape the social-political world.
Download or read book Tarascan Pottery Production in Michoac n Mexico written by Eduardo Williams and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2017-08-31 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines a contemporary pottery tradition in Mesoamerica, but also looks back to the earliest examples of cultural development in this area. By means of ethnographic analogy and ceramic ecology, this study seeks to shed light on a modern indigenous community and on the theory, method and practice of ethnoarchaeology.
Download or read book The Three Ages of Government written by Jos C.N. Raadschelders and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is only in the last 250 years that ordinary people (in some parts of the world) have become citizens rather than subjects. This change happened in a very short period, between 1780 and 1820, a result of the foundations of democracy laid in the age of revolutions. A century later local governments embraced this shift due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and population growth. During the twentieth century, all democratic governments began to perform a range of tasks, functions, and services that had no historical precedent. In the thirty years following the Second World War, Western democracies created welfare states that, for the first time in history, significantly reduced the gap between the wealthy and everyone else. Many of the reforms of that postwar period have been since rolled back because of the belief that government should be more like a business. Jos C.N. Raadschelders provides the information that all citizens should have about their connections to government, why there is a government, what it does, how it does it, and why we can no longer do without it. The Three Ages of Government rises above stereotypical thinking to show the centrality of government in human life.
Download or read book The Journey of Humanity written by Oded Galor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-03-22 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landmark, radically uplifting account of our species’ progress, from one of the world's preeminent thinkers. “Unparalleled in its scope and ambition…All readers will learn something, and many will find the book fascinating.’—The Washington Post “Breathtaking. A new Sapiens!” —L'Express “Completely brilliant and utterly original ... a book for our epoch.”—Jon Snow, former presenter, Channel 4 News (UK) “A wildly ambitious attempt to do for economics what Newton, Darwin or Einstein did for their fields: develop a theory that explains almost everything.” —The New Statesman “An inspiring, readable, jargon-free and almost impossibly erudite masterwork.” —The New Statesman “[A] sweeping overview of cultural, technological and educational forces... Its breadth and ambition are reminiscent of Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel and Harari’s Sapiens.”—Financial Times “Astounding in scope and insight...provides the keys to the betterment of our species.”—Nouriel Roubini, author of Crisis Economics “A masterful sweep through the human odyssey.... If you liked Sapiens, you'll love this.” —Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins “Oded Galor's attempt to unify economic theory is impressive and insightful.” —Will Hutton, The Guardian “A great historical fresco.” —Le Monde “It's a page-turner, a suspense-filled thriller full of surprises, mind-bending puzzles and profound insights!”—Glenn C. Loury, author of The Anatomy of Racial Inequality “Brilliantly weaves the threads of global economic history. A tour de force!”—Dani Rodrik, author of Straight Talk on Trade In a captivating journey from the dawn of human existence to the present, world-renowned economist and thinker Oded Galor offers an intriguing solution to two of humanity’s great mysteries. Why are humans the only species to have escaped—only very recently—the subsistence trap, allowing us to enjoy a standard of living that vastly exceeds all others? And why have we progressed so unequally around the world, resulting in the great disparities between nations that exist today? Galor’s gripping narrative explains how technology, population size, and adaptation led to a stunning “phase change” in the human story a mere two hundred years ago. But by tracing that same journey back in time and peeling away the layers of influence—colonialism, political institutions, societal structure, culture—he arrives also at an explanation of inequality’s ultimate causes: those ancestral populations that enjoyed fruitful geographical characteristics and rich diversity were set on the path to prosperity, while those that lacked it were disadvantaged in ways still echo today. As we face ecological crisis across the globe, The Journey of Humanity is a book of urgent truths and enduring relevance, with lessons that are both hopeful and profound: gender equality, investment in education, and balancing diversity with social cohesion are the keys not only to our species’ thriving but to its survival.
Download or read book Empires to be remembered written by Michael Gehler and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-03-10 with total page 571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By applying a comparative approach the volume focuses on a select group of „empires“ which are generally not in the focus of empires studies. They are studied in detail and analyzed due to a strict concept that takes into account real history and reception history as well. Reception history becomes more and more an important element in empire studies although this topic is still often more or less underdeveloped. The volume singles out a series of such “forgotten empires”. It aims to provide a methodologically clearly structured as well as a uniform and consistent approach. It develops a general set of questions that help to compare and distinguish these entities. This way the volume intends to examine and to illuminate empires that are generally ignored by modern scholarship.
Download or read book The Oxford Handbook of the State in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean written by Peter Fibiger Bang and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-01-31 with total page 568 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracing the evolution of the state from its beginnings to the early Middle Ages, this comprehensive handbook focuses on key institutions and dynamics while providing accessible accounts of states and empires in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean.
Download or read book Pathways to Complexity written by M. Kathryn Brown and published by University Press of Florida. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 451 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pathways to Complexity synthesizes a wealth of new archaeological data to illuminate the origins of Maya civilization and the rise of Classic Maya culture. In this volume, prominent Maya scholars argue that the development of social, religious, and economic complexity began during the Middle Preclassic period (1000–300 B.C.), hundreds of years earlier than previously thought. Contributors reveal that villages were present in parts of the lowlands by 1000 B.C., challenging the prevailing models estimating when civilization took root in the area. Combining recent discoveries from the northern lowlands—an area often neglected in other volumes—and the southern lowlands, the collection then traces the emergence of sociopolitical inequality and complexity in all parts of the Yucatan peninsula over the course of the Middle Preclassic period. They show that communities evolved in different ways due to influences such as geographical location, ceramic exchange, shell ornament production, agricultural strategy, religious ritual, ideology, and social rankings. These varied pathways to complexity developed over half a millennium and culminated in the institution of kingship by the Late Preclassic period. Presenting exciting work on a dynamic and poorly understood time period, Pathways to Complexity demonstrates the importance of a broad, comparative approach to understanding Preclassic Maya civilization and will serve as a foundation for future research and interpretation. Contributors: M. Kathryn Brown | Dr. George Bey III | Tara Bond-Freeman | Fernando Robles Castellanos | Tomas Gallareta Negron | E. Wyllys Andrews V | Anthony Andrews | David S. Anderson | Lauren Sullivan | Jaime J. Awe | James F. Garber | Mary Jane Acuña | William Saturno | Bobbi Hohmann | Terry Powis | Paul Healy | Richard Hansen | Donald W. Forsyth | David Freidel | Barbara Arroyo | Richard E. W. Adams A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase
Download or read book Graphing Culture Change in North American Archaeology written by R. Lee Lyman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Documentation, analysis, and explanation of culture change have long been goals of archaeology. Scientific graphs facilitate the visual thinking that allow archaeologists to determine the relationship between variables, and, if well designed, comprehend the processes implied by the relationship. Different graph types suggest different ontologies and theories of change, and particular techniques of parsing temporally continuous morphological variation of artefacts into types influence graph form. North American archaeologists have grappled with finding a graph that effectively and efficiently displays culture change over time. Line graphs, bar graphs, and numerous one-off graph types were used between 1910 and 1950, after which spindle graphs displaying temporal frequency distributions of specimens within each of multiple artefact types emerged as the most readily deciphered diagram. The variety of graph types used over the twentieth century indicate archaeologists often mixed elements of both Darwinian variational evolutionary change and Midas-touch like transformational change. Today, there is minimal discussion of graph theory or graph grammar in introductory archaeology textbooks or advanced texts, and elements of the two theories of evolution are still mixed. Culture has changed, and archaeology provides unique access to the totality of humankind's cultural past. It is therefore crucial that graph theory, construction, and decipherment are revived in archaeological discussion.
Download or read book Feast Famine or Fighting written by Richard J. Chacon and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-01-20 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The advent of social complexity has been a longstanding debate among social scientists. Existing theories and approaches involving the origins of social complexity include environmental circumscription, population growth, technology transfers, prestige-based and interpersonal-group competition, organized conflict, perennial wartime leadership, wealth finance, opportunistic leadership, climatological change, transport and trade monopolies, resource circumscription, surplus and redistribution, ideological imperialism, and the consideration of individual agency. However, recent approaches such as the inclusion of bioarchaeological perspectives, prospection methods, systematically-investigated archaeological sites along with emerging technologies are necessarily transforming our understanding of socio-cultural evolutionary processes. In short, many pre-existing ways of explaining the origins and development of social complexity are being reassessed. Ultimately, the contributors to this edited volume challenge the status quo regarding how and why social complexity arose by providing revolutionary new understandings of social inequality and socio-political evolution.
Download or read book Archaeology at the Millennium written by Gary M. Feinman and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-09-27 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, internationally distinguished contributors consider hot topics in turn-of-the-millennium archaeology and chart an ambitious agenda for the future.
Download or read book Native American Interactions written by Michael S. Nassaney and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While the early cultural clashes between Native Americans and Europeans have long engaged scholars, far less attention has been paid to interactions among indigenous peoples themselves prior to the contact period. The essays in this volume, derived largely from the 1992 meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, mark a major step in correcting that imbalance. Long before Europeans sailed west in search of the East, Native Americans of various ethnic groups were encountering each other and interacting socially, both amicably and otherwise. Over the course of ten thousand years - from Paleoindian to Mississippian times - these interactions had a profound effect on the historical development of these societies and their material culture, social relations, and institutions of integration. In probing such encounters, the contributors reject reductive models and instead combine a variety of theoretical orientations - including world systems theory, Marxist analysis, and ecosystems approaches - with empirical evidence from the archaeological record.
