Reinterpreting Prehistory Of Central America

Author : Mark Miller Graham
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 1993
Category : History
ISBN : UTEXAS:059173006249061

Get Book

Reinterpreting Prehistory of Central America by Mark Miller Graham Pdf

Reinterpreting Prehistory of Central America provides reassessments of the paradigms that have guided - sometimes unconsciously and uncritically - interpretations of ancient Central American society, culture, and art. This volume challenges prevailing notions of Mesoamerica and other intellectual constructs of Central American prehistory, drawing on deconstruction, structuralism, diffusionism, and postprocessual archaeology. Nine chapters by distinguished art historians, anthropologists, and archaeologists from the United States, Costa Rica, and Panama illuminate diverse perspectives on common themes in Central American prehistory, such as the definition of center and periphery, the relation between ethnicity and polychrome ceramic traditions, the cultural meanings of color, and the social reality in mortuary art. A common focus among the authors is the relationship between the so-called high cultures, especially the Maya and their supposedly less-developed neighbors in southern Central America. This volume has more than 150 illustrations. The contributors include Mark Miller Graham, Terence Grieder, Rosemary Joyce, Oscar Fonseca Zamora, Peter S. Briggs, Mary W. Helms, Richard Cooke, Whitney Davis, and Frederick W. Lange.

Author : Frederick W. Lange
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : History
ISBN : UOM:39015037319608

Get Book

Paths to Central American Prehistory by Frederick W. Lange Pdf

This landmark volume brings together contributions by some of the most distinguished pioneers of Central American archaeology as well as those of younger scholars from North America, Europe, and Central America. This ambitious work demonstrates the parallel ongoing needs to pursue theoretical and methodological advances while dedicating equal efforts to filling in the blank spaces in the archaeological map of Central America, where even the most basic surveys and chronological sequences are lacking. The contributions represent a range in specialties that include archaeology, precolumbian art history, new analytical techniques, and exploration of unknown geographical areas. Paths to Central American Prehistory covers El Salvador and Honduras through Panama, from the Paleoindian period to the time of the Spanish invasion. It will have wide appeal to Mesoamerican and Central American archaeologists as well as to general readers with a serious interest in the archaeology of the area.

Author : Martin I. Townsend
Publisher : Good Press
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2019-12-20
Category : Fiction
ISBN : EAN:4064066145583

Get Book

Prehistoric Structures of Central America: Who Erected Them? by Martin I. Townsend Pdf

The historical novel "Prehistoric Structures of Central America: Who Erected Them?" seeks to answer a question that has long fascinated many. "It was not a long period after 1492, when the great Italian navigator with his Spanish crew made their first discoveries upon the central portion of America, that the Europeans, who had followed the footsteps of Christopher Columbus, began to fall in with structures of great magnitude and architectural beauty scattered widely throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Yucatan, &c.; and when the conquest of Peru was achieved, artificial highways and water courses were found there, such as could have owed their existence to no people but one with advanced knowledge of science as well as of the arts of civilized life. No people existed then upon this continent capable of doing the work which so astonished the world. Thinking men and dreaming men have, from the earliest of these discoveries, been busying themselves to find out when, and by what people, these early monuments to human efforts were constructed. The author seeks to show the history of these structures which long pre-dated the Christian era.

Author : Lynn V. Foster
Publisher : Infobase Publishing
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2007-01-01
Category : Music
ISBN : 9781438108230

Get Book

A Brief History of Central America by Lynn V. Foster Pdf

Presents a comprehensive history of Central America, including the early pre-Columbian cultures and economic challenges currently being faced.

Author : Hector Perez-Brignoli
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 1989-11-06
Category : History
ISBN : 0520909763

Get Book

A Brief History of Central America by Hector Perez-Brignoli Pdf

This is the first interpretive history of Central America by a Central American historian to be published in English. Anyone with an interest in current events in the region will find here an insightful and well-written guide to the history of its five national states—Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. Traces of a common past invite us to make generalizations about the region, even to posit the idea of a Central American nation. But, as Hector Perez-Brignoli shows us, we can learn more from a comparative approach that establishes both the points of convergence and the separate paths taken by the five different countries of Central America. The author offers a concise overview of the region's history from the sixteenth century to the present, beginning with human and cultural geography in the first chapter and ending with the present crisis in the last. He deals with the fundamental themes and problems of the area: the characteristics of the colonial heritage, independence and the crisis of the Federal Republic, the formation of nation-states during the nineteenth century, and the development of export agriculture based on coffee and bananas. The narrative moves finally into the twentieth century to look at the growing impoverishment that multiplies inequalities and leads to the shipwreck of liberal democracy. The case of Costa Rica, exceptional in more ways than one, receives special attention.

Author : Frederick W. Lange,Doris Stone
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 504 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : History
ISBN : UVA:X000789201

Get Book

The Archaeology of Lower Central America by Frederick W. Lange,Doris Stone Pdf

Author : Jeffrey Quilter,John W. Hoopes
Publisher : Dumbarton Oaks
Page : 448 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
ISBN : 0884022943

Get Book

Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia by Jeffrey Quilter,John W. Hoopes Pdf

The lands between Mesoamerica and the Central Andes are famed for the rich diversity of ancient cultures that inhabited them. Throughout this vast region, from about AD 700 until the sixteenth-century Spanish invasion, a rich and varied tradition of goldworking was practiced. The amount of gold produced and worn by native inhabitants was so great that Columbus dubbed the last New World shores he sailed as Costa Rica—the "Rich Coast." Despite the long-recognized importance of the region in its contribution to Pre-Columbian culture, very few books are readily available, especially in English, on these lands of gold. Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia now fills that gap with eleven articles by leading scholars in the field. Issues of culture change, the nature of chiefdom societies, long-distance trade and transport, ideologies of value, and the technologies of goldworking are covered in these essays as are the role of metals as expressions and materializations of spiritual, political, and economic power. These topics are accompanied by new information on the role of stone statuary and lapidary work, craft and trade specialization, and many more topics, including a reevaluation of the concept of the "Intermediate Area." Collectively, the volume provides a new perspective on the prehistory of these lands and includes articles by Latin American scholars whose writings have rarely been published in English.

Author : Geoffrey E Braswell
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 459 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2014-04-16
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781317756088

Get Book

The Maya and Their Central American Neighbors by Geoffrey E Braswell Pdf

The ancient Maya created one of the most studied and best-known civilizations of the Americas. Nevertheless, Maya civilization is often considered either within a vacuum, by sub-region and according to modern political borders, or with reference to the most important urban civilizations of central Mexico. Seldom if ever are the Maya and their Central American neighbors of El Salvador and Honduras considered together, despite the fact that they engaged in mutually beneficial trade, intermarried, and sometimes made war on each other. The Maya and Their Central American Neighbors seeks to fill this lacuna by presenting original research on the archaeology of the whole of the Maya area (from Yucatan to the Maya highlands of Guatemala), western Honduras, and El Salvador. With a focus on settlement pattern analyses, architectural studies, and ceramic analyses, this ground breaking book provides a broad view of this important relationship allowing readers to understand ancient perceptions about the natural and built environment, the role of power, the construction of historical narrative, trade and exchange, multiethnic interaction in pluralistic frontier zones, the origins of settled agricultural life, and the nature of systemic collapse.

Author : Susan Toby Evans,David L. Webster
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 1322 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : Archaeology
ISBN : 0815308876

Get Book

Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America by Susan Toby Evans,David L. Webster Pdf

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.

Author : Heather Orr,Matthew Looper
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 544 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2013-03-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781607322825

Get Book

Wearing Culture by Heather Orr,Matthew Looper Pdf

Wearing Culture connects scholars of divergent geographical areas and academic fields—from archaeologists and anthropologists to art historians—to show the significance of articles of regalia and of dressing and ornamenting people and objects among the Formative period cultures of ancient Mesoamerica and Central America. Documenting the elaborate practices of costume, adornment, and body modification in Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Oaxaca, the Soconusco region of southern Mesoamerica, the Gulf Coast Olmec region (Olman), and the Maya lowlands, this book demonstrates that adornment was used as a tool for communicating status, social relationships, power, gender, sexuality, behavior, and political, ritual, and religious identities. Despite considerable formal and technological variation in clothing and ornamentation, the early indigenous cultures of these regions shared numerous practices, attitudes, and aesthetic interests. Contributors address technological development, manufacturing materials and methods, nonfabric ornamentation, symbolic dimensions, representational strategies, and clothing as evidence of interregional sociopolitical exchange. Focusing on an important period of cultural and artistic development through the lens of costuming and adornment, Wearing Culture will be of interest to scholars of pre-Hispanic and pre-Columbian studies.

Author : Mark Miller Graham
Publisher : Metropolitan Museum of Art
Page : 129 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Costa Rica
ISBN : 9780870998782

Get Book

Jade in Ancient Costa Rica by Mark Miller Graham Pdf

Published in conjunction with its namesake Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition (September 16, 1998-February 28, 1999), this finely illustrated catalogue providing context to pre-Columbian works of jade tempts one to see the originals from Costa Rica's Museo del Jade Marco Fidel Tristan Castro and elsewhere. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Monica A. Rankin
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2012-05-03
Category : History
ISBN : 9780313379451

Get Book

The History of Costa Rica by Monica A. Rankin Pdf

Concise yet thorough, this engaging book provides an overview of the unique history of an increasingly important Central American nation. The History of Costa Rica provides a thorough, straightforward narrative of a Central American country that has become increasingly more visible since the end of the 20th century. Written for students and the general reader, this book covers the nation from its pre-Colombian origins to the present day. This chronologically organized volume documents the area's earliest inhabitants, then moves on through the colonial period, the process of nation-state formation in the 19th century, the volatile period of liberal reform, and the era of civil war and its aftermath. More recent times are also explored, including the role of Costa Rica in the Cold War, the peace process of the 1980s, and the development of the strong tourism industry that flourishes today. Among the prominent themes running through the book are the unique historical development of the country, the importance of its democratic tradition, and Costa Rica's role in a global context.

Author : Dolores Moyano Martin,P. Sue Mundell
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 956 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 1997-12-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0292752113

Get Book

Handbook of Latin American Studies by Dolores Moyano Martin,P. Sue Mundell Pdf

Beginning with volume 41 (1979), the University of Texas Press became the publisher of the Handbook of Latin American Stuides, the most comprehensive annual bibliography in the field. Compiled by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress and annotated by a corps of more than 130 specialists in various disciplines, the Handbook alternates from year to year between social sciences and humanities. The Handbook annotates works on Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and the Guianas, Spanish South America, and Brazil, as well as materials covering Latin America as a whole. Most of the subsections are preceded by introductory essays that serve as biannual evaluations of the literature and research underway in specialized areas. The Handbook of Latin American Studies is the oldest continuing reference work in the field. Dolores Moyano Martin, of the Library of Congress Hispanic Division, has been the editor since 1977, and P. Sue Mundell has been assistant editor since 1994. The subject categories for Volume 55 are as follows: Anthropology (including Archaeology and Ethnology) Economics Electronic Resources for the Social Sciences Geography Government and Politics International Relations Sociology

Author : Cara G. Tremain,Donna Yates
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 231 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2019-07-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813057200

Get Book

The Market for Mesoamerica by Cara G. Tremain,Donna Yates Pdf

Pre-Columbian artifacts are among the most popular items on the international antiquities market, yet it is becoming increasingly difficult to monitor these items as public, private, and digital sales proliferate. This timely volume explores past, current, and future policies and trends concerning the sales and illicit movement of artifacts from Mesoamerica to museums and private collections. Informed by the fields of anthropology, economics, law, and criminology, contributors critically analyze practices of research and collecting in Central American countries. They assess the circulation of looted and forged artifacts on the art market and in museums and examine government and institutional policies aimed at fighting trafficking. They also ask if and how scholars can use materials removed from their context to interpret the past. The theft of cultural heritage items from their places of origin is a topic of intense contemporary discussion, and The Market for Mesoamerica updates our knowledge of this issue by presenting undocumented and illicit antiquities within a regional and global context. Through discussion of transparency, accountability, and ethical practice, this volume ultimately considers how antiquities can be protected and studied through effective policy and professional practice. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Meg Tyler Mitchell Ph.D.,Scott Pentzer Ph.D.
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 390 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2008-02-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781851099931

Get Book

Costa Rica by Meg Tyler Mitchell Ph.D.,Scott Pentzer Ph.D. Pdf

This work is a fascinating guide to one of Latin America's most stable and progressive nations, examining the country's development, unique features, and the challenges Costa Ricans face in the 21st century. Costa Rica: A Global Studies Handbook offers readers an authoritative tour of a remarkable country, tracing its historical development from pre-Colombian inhabitants and Spanish colonization through rising prosperity in the mid-19th century to current struggles to define itself economically and politically. Costa Rica combines narrative chapters on the nation's history and the current state of its political, social, and cultural institutions with alphabetically organized entries covering important people, places, and events in its development. Throughout, the authors, drawing on extensive research and their own experiences, highlight the many ways Costa Rica is different from its neighbors, as well as the challenges the country faces in the 21st century's globalized world.