Framing Complexity In Formative Mesoamerica

Author : Lisa Delance,Gary M Feinman
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2022-09-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781646422883

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Framing Complexity in Formative Mesoamerica by Lisa Delance,Gary M Feinman Pdf

A fresh examination of variable social and economic processes, Framing Complexity in Formative Mesoamerica explores nascent social complexity during the Preclassic/Formative period in Mesoamerica and addresses broader social questions about egalitarian and transegalitarian prehispanic Mesoamerican cultural groups. Contributors present multiple lines of evidence demonstrating the process of social complexity and reconsider a number of traditionally accepted models and presumed tenets as a result of the wealth of empirical data that has been gathered over the past four decades. Their chapters approach complexity as a process rather than a state of being by exploring social aggregation, the emergence of ethnic affiliations, and aspects of regional and macroregional variability. Framing Complexity in Formative Mesoamerica presents some of the most recent data—and the implications of that data—for understanding the development of complex societies as human beings moved into urban environments. The book is an especially important volume for researchers and students working in Mesoamerica, as well as archaeologists taking a comparative approach to questions of complexity. Contributors: Jaime J. Awe, Sarah B. Barber, Jeffrey S. Brezezinski, M. Kathryn Brown, Ryan H. Collins, Kaitlin Crow, Lisa DeLance, Gary M. Feinman, Sara Dzul Gongora, Guy David Hepp, Arthur A. Joyce, Rodrigo Martin Morales, George Micheletti, Deborah L. Nichols, Terry G. Powis, Zoe J. Rawski, Prudence M. Rice, Michael P. Smyth, Katherine E. South, Jon Spenard, Travis W. Stanton, Wesley D. Stoner, Teresa Tremblay Wagner

Author : Catharina E. Santasilia,Guy David Hepp,Richard A. Diehl
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 349 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2022-05-03
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813070148

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Identities, Experience, and Change in Early Mexican Villages by Catharina E. Santasilia,Guy David Hepp,Richard A. Diehl Pdf

New perspectives on an important era in Mesoamerican history This volume examines shifting social identities, lived experiences, and networks of interaction in Mexico during the Mesoamerican Formative period (2000 BCE–250 CE), an era that helped produce some of the world’s most renowned complex civilizations. The chapters offer significant data, innovative methodologies, and novel perspectives on Mexican archaeology. Using diverse and non-traditional theoretical approaches, contributors discuss interregional relationships and the exchange of ideas in contexts ranging from the Gulf Coast Olmec region to the site of Tlatilco in Central Mexico to the often-overlooked cultures of the far western states. Their essays explore identity formation, cosmological perspectives, the first hints of social complexity, the underpinnings of Formative period economies, and the sensorial implications of sociocultural change. Identities, Experience, and Change in Early Mexican Villages is one of the first volumes to address the entirety of this rich and complex era and region, offering a new and holistic view. Through a wealth of exciting interpretations from international senior and emerging scholars, this volume shows the strong influence of cultural exchange as well as the compelling individuality of local and regional contexts over two thousand years of history. Contributors: Catharina E. Santasilia | Guy D. Hepp | Richard A. Diehl | Jeffrey P. Blomster | Philip (Flip) J. Arnold III | Patricia Ochoa Castillo | Christopher Beekman | Tatsuya Murakami | Jeffrey S. Brzezinski | Vanessa Monson | Arthur A. Joyce | Sarah B. Barber | Henri Noel Bernard| Sara Ladrón de Guevara| Mayra Manrique| José Luis Ruvalcaba

Author : Debra S. Walker
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 671 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2023-04-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781646423200

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Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya by Debra S. Walker Pdf

Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya summarizes archaeological researchers’ current views on the adoption and first use of pottery across the Maya lowlands. Covering the early Middle Preclassic period, when communities began using and producing pottery for the first time (roughly 1000–600 BC), through to the establishment of a recognizably Maya tradition, termed the Mamom ceramic sphere (about 600–300 BC), the book demonstrates that the adoption was broadly contemporary, with variation in how the new technology was adapted locally. Analyzing ceramics found at sites in Belize, Petén (Guatemala), and Mexico, the contributors provide evidence that the pre-Mamom expansion of pottery resulted from increased dependence on maize agriculture, exploitation of limestone caprock, and greater reliance on a preexisting system of long-distance exchange. The chapters describe the individual experiences of new potting communities at various sites across the region. They are supplemented by appendixes presenting key chronological data as well as the principal types and varieties of pre-Mamom ceramic complexes across the various spheres: Xe, Eb, Swasey, Cunil, and Ek. A significant amount of new material has been excavated in the last decade, changing what is known about the early Middle Preclassic period and making Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya a first read of the early ceramic prehistory of the Maya lowlands. It will be a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in the archaeology of the Maya lowlands, Mesoamerican social complexity, and ceramic technology. Contributors: E. Wyllys Andrews V, Jaime Awe, George J. Bey III, Ronald L. Bishop, Michael G. Callaghan, Ryan H. Collins, Kaitlin Crow, Sara Dzul Góngora, Jerald Ek, Tomás Gallareta Negrón, Bernard Hermes, Takeshi Inomata, Betsy M. Kohut, Laura J. Kosakowsky, Wieslaw Koszkul, Jon Lohse, Michael Love, Nina Neivens, Terry Powis, Duncan C. Pring, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, Prudence M. Rice, Robert M. Rosenswig, Kerry L. Sagebiel, Donald A. Slater, Katherine E. South, Lauren A. Sullivan, Travis Stanton, Juan Luis Velásquez Muñoz, Debra S. Walker, Michal Wasilewski, Jaroslaw Źrałka

Author : Jeffrey R. Parsons
Publisher : Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Page : 334 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015063179942

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Settlement, Subsistence, and Social Complexity by Jeffrey R. Parsons Pdf

This volume brings together the work of some of the most prominent archaeologists to document the impact of Jeffrey R. Parsons on contemporary archaeological method and theory. Parsons is a central figure in the development of settlement pattern archaeology, in which the goal is the study of whole social systems at the scale of regions. In recent decades, regional archaeology has revolutionized how we understand the past, contributing new data and theoretical insights on topics such as early urbanism, social interactions among cities, towns and villages, and long-term population and agricultural change, among many other topics relevant to the study of early civilizations and the evolution of social complexity. Over the past 40 years, the application of these methods by Parsons and others has profoundly changed how we understand the evolution of pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican civilization, and now similar methods are being applied in other world areas. The book's emphasis is on the contribution of settlement pattern archaeology to research in pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, but its authors also point to the value of regional research in South America, South Asia, and China. Topics addressed include early urbanism, household and gender, agricultural and craft production, migration, ethnogenesis, the evolution of early chiefdoms, and the emergence of pre-modern world-systems.

Author : Robert M. Rosenswig
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 397 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2009-12-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781139483728

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The Beginnings of Mesoamerican Civilization by Robert M. Rosenswig Pdf

Mesoamerica is one of several cradles of civilization in the world. In this book, Robert M. Rosenswig proposes that we understand Early Formative Mesoamerica as an archipelago of complex societies that interacted with one another over long distances and that were separated by less sedentary peoples. These early 'islands' of culture shared an Olmec artistic aesthetic, beginning approximately 1250 BCE (uncalibrated), that first defined Mesoamerica as a culture area. Rosenswig frames the Olmec world from the perspective of the Soconusco area on Pacifica Chiapas and Guatemala. The disagreements about Early Formative society that have raged over the past thirty years focus on the nature of inter-regional interaction between San Lorenzo and other Early Formative regions. He evaluates these debates from a fresh theoretical perspective and integrates new data into an assessment of Soconusco society before, during, and after the apogee of the San Lorenzo polity.

Author : Terry G. Powis
Publisher : BAR International Series
Page : 240 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2005
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015060992842

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New Perspectives on Formative Mesoamerican Cultures by Terry G. Powis Pdf

These seventeen `perspectives' on Mesoamerican cultures were originally presented at a symposia at the 66th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology held in New Orleans in 2001. Supported by illustrations of sites and finds, the contributions discuss the cultures that were responsible for some of the most significant social, economic and technological leaps forward across Mesoamerica. Such cultural revolutions are discussed in northern Belize, the Gulf, the Maya highlands and lowlands, Guatemala and the Pacific coast, Honduras, Mexico and Oaxaca. Subjects include: the development of architecture, the influence of interaction with the Olmec, external relationships and exchange, water management technology, the domestication of plants, cave utilisation, institutions and the transformation of the landscape. English throughout.

Author : Lane F. Fargher,Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2016-12-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781607325338

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Alternative Pathways to Complexity by Lane F. Fargher,Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza Pdf

Alternative Pathways to Complexity focuses on the themes of architecture, economics, and power in the evolution of complex societies. Case studies from Mesoamerica, Asia, Africa, and Europe examine the relationship between political structures and economic configurations of ancient chiefdoms and states through a framework of comparative archaeology. A group of highly distinguished scholars takes up important issues, theories, and methods stemming from the nascent body of research on comparative archaeology to showcase and apply important theories of households, power, and how the development of complex societies can be extended and refined. Drawing on the archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic records, the chapters in this volume contain critical investigations on the role of collective action, economics, and corporate cognitive codes in structuring complex societies. Alternative Pathways to Complexity is an important addition to theoretical development and empirical research on Mesoamerica, the Old World, and cross-cultural studies. The theoretical implications addressed in the chapters will have broad appeal for scholars grappling with alternative pathways to complexity in other regions as well as those addressing diverse cross-cultural research. Contributors: Sarah B. Barber, Cynthia L. Bedell, Christopher S. Beekman, Frances F. Berdan, Tim Earle, Carol R. Ember, Gary M. Feinman, Arthur A. Joyce, Stephen A. Kowalewski, Lisa J. LeCount, Linda M. Nicholas, Peter N. Peregrine, Peter Robertshaw, Barbara L. Stark, T. L. Thurston, Deborah Winslow, Rita Wright

Author : Robert M. Rosenswig
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 397 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : History
ISBN : 9780521111027

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The Beginnings of Mesoamerican Civilization by Robert M. Rosenswig Pdf

Rosenswig proposes that we understand Early Formative Mesoamerica as an archipelago of complex societies.

Author : Richard G. Lesure
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2011-10-04
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780520950566

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Early Mesoamerican Social Transformations by Richard G. Lesure Pdf

Between 3500 and 500 bc, the social landscape of ancient Mesoamerica was completely transformed. At the beginning of this period, the mobile lifeways of a sparse population were oriented toward hunting and gathering. Three millennia later, protourban communities teemed with people. These essays by leading Mesoamerican archaeologists examine developments of the era as they unfolded in the Soconusco region along the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, a region that has emerged as crucial for understanding the rise of ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica. The contributors explore topics including the gendered division of labor, changes in subsistence, the character of ceremonialism, the emergence of social inequality, and large-scale patterns of population distribution and social change. Together, they demonstrate the contribution of Soconusco to cultural evolution in Mesoamerica and challenge what we thought we knew about the path toward social complexity.

Author : Joshua Englehardt,Michael D. Carrasco
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 427 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2019-05-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781607328353

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Interregional Interaction in Ancient Mesoamerica by Joshua Englehardt,Michael D. Carrasco Pdf

Interregional Interaction in Ancient Mesoamerica explores the role of interregional interaction in the dynamic sociocultural processes that shaped the pre-Columbian societies of Mesoamerica. Interdisciplinary contributions from leading scholars investigate linguistic exchange and borrowing, scribal practices, settlement patterns, ceramics, iconography, and trade systems, presenting a variety of case studies drawn from multiple spatial, temporal, and cultural contexts within Mesoamerica. Archaeologists have long recognized the crucial role of interregional interaction in the development and cultural dynamics of ancient societies, particularly in terms of the evolution of sociocultural complexity and economic systems. Recent research has further expanded the archaeological, art historical, ethnographic, and epigraphic records in Mesoamerica, permitting a critical reassessment of the complex relationship between interaction and cultural dynamics. This volume builds on and amplifies earlier research to examine sociocultural phenomena—including movement, migration, symbolic exchange, and material interaction—in their role as catalysts for variability in cultural systems. Interregional cultural exchange in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica played a key role in the creation of systems of shared ideologies, the production of regional or “international” artistic and architectural styles, shifting sociopolitical patterns, and changes in cultural practices and meanings. Interregional Interaction in Ancient Mesoamerica highlights, engages with, and provokes questions pertinent to understanding the complex relationship between interaction, sociocultural processes, and cultural innovation and change in the ancient societies and cultural histories of Mesoamerica and will be of interest to archaeologists, linguists, and art historians. Contributors: Philip J. Arnold III, Lourdes Budar, José Luis Punzo Diaz, Gary Feinman, David Freidel, Elizabeth Jiménez Garcia, Guy David Hepp, Kerry M. Hull, Timothy J. Knab, Charles L. F. Knight, Blanca E. Maldonado, Joyce Marcus, Jesper Nielsen, John M. D. Pohl, Iván Rivera, D. Bryan Schaeffer, Niklas Schulze

Author : Karl A. Taube,Dumbarton Oaks
Publisher : Dumbarton Oaks
Page : 260 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Art
ISBN : 0884022757

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Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks by Karl A. Taube,Dumbarton Oaks Pdf

Olmec Art at Dumbarton Oaks presents the Olmec portion of the Robert Woods Bliss Collection of Pre-Columbian Art. It illustrates all thirty-nine Olmec art objects in color plates and includes many complementary and comparative black-and-white illustrations and drawings. The body of Pre-Columbian art that Robert Bliss carefully assembled over a half-century between 1912 and 1963, amplified only slightly since his death, is a remarkably significant collection. In addition to their aesthetic quality and artistic significance, the objects hold much information regarding the social worlds and religious and symbolic views of the people who made and used them before the arrival of Europeans in the New World. This volume is the second in a series of catalogues that will treat objects in the Bliss Pre-Columbian Collection. The majority of the Olmec objects in the collection are made of jade, the most precious material for the peoples of ancient Mesoamerica from early times through the sixteenth century. Various items such as masks, statuettes, jewelry, and replicas of weapons and tools were used for ceremonial purposes and served as offerings. Karl Taube brings his expertise on the lifeways and beliefs of ancient Mesoamerican peoples to his study of the Olmec objects in teh Bliss collection. His understanding of jade covers a broad range of knowledge from chemical compositions to geological sources to craft technology to the symbolic power of the green stone. Throughout the book the author emphasizes the role of jade as a powerful symbol of water, fertility, and particularly, of the maize plant which was the fundamental source of life and sustenance for the Olmec. The shiny green of the stone was analogous to the green growth of maize. This fundamental concept was elaborated in specific religious beliefs, many of which were continued and elaborated by later Mesoamerican peoples, such as the Maya. Karl Taube employs his substantial knowledge of Pre-Columbian cultures to explore and explicate Olmec symbolism in this catalogue.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 710 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 1997
Category : Anthropology
ISBN : 0824319265

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Annual Review of Anthropology by Anonim Pdf

Author : Jeffrey P. Blomster,David Cheetham
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 359 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2017-03-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9781107107670

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The Early Olmec and Mesoamerica by Jeffrey P. Blomster,David Cheetham Pdf

Breaking new ground in Olmec studies, this book reveals the complexity and diversity of 'America's first civilization'.

Author : Charles Stanish
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 351 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2017-08-03
Category : Mathematics
ISBN : 9781107180550

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The Evolution of Human Co-operation by Charles Stanish Pdf

This book explains the evolution of human cooperation in tribal societies using insights from game theory, ethnography and archaeology.

Author : Julia Guernsey
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2020-02-27
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781108478991

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Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica by Julia Guernsey Pdf

Explores the social significance of representation of the human body in Preclassic Mesoamerica.