War Owl Falling

Author : Markus Eberl
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2017-11-21
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813052090

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War Owl Falling by Markus Eberl Pdf

"Offers a unique and important perspective on Classic Maya society through the lens of innovation. Eberl’s work is richly grounded in a multidisciplinary approach that weaves archaeological data with epigraphy, iconography, and comparative social theory."--Andrew K. Scherer, author of Mortuary Landscapes of the Classic Maya: Rituals of Body and Soul "The first sustained account of innovation and creativity among the ancient Maya. A welcome addition."--Scott Hutson, author of The Ancient Urban Maya: Neighborhoods, Inequality, and Built Form Drawing on archaeological findings from the Maya lowlands, War Owl Falling shows how innovation and creativity led to social change in ancient societies. Markus Eberl discusses the ways eighth-century Maya (and Maya commoners in particular) reinvented objects and signs that were associated with nobility, including scepters, ceramic vessels, ballgame equipment, and the symbol of the owl. These inventions, he argues, reflect assertions of independence and a redistribution of power that contributed to the Maya collapse in the Late Classic period. Eberl emphasizes that individual decision-making--the ability to imagine alternate worlds and to act on that vision--plays a large role in changing social structure over time. Pinpointing where and when these Maya inventions emerged, how individuals adopted them and why, War Owl Falling connects technological and social change in a novel way.

Author : MARKUS. EBERL
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 128 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 2024-07-04
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 081305348X

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WAR OWL FALLING. by MARKUS. EBERL Pdf

Author : MARKUS. EBERL
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2025
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0813080800

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WAR OWL FALLING by MARKUS. EBERL Pdf

Author : Markus Eberl,Arlen Frank Chase,Diane Z. Chase
Publisher : Maya Studies
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2017
Category : History
ISBN : 0813056551

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War Owl Falling by Markus Eberl,Arlen Frank Chase,Diane Z. Chase Pdf

Drawing on archaeological findings from the Maya lowlands, War Owl Falling shows how innovation and creativity led to social change in ancient societies. Markus Eberl discusses the ways eighth-century Maya (and Maya commoners in particular) reinvented objects and signs that were associated with nobility, including scepters, ceramic vessels, ballgame equipment, and the symbol of the owl. These innovations, he argues, reflect assertions of independence and a redistribution of power that contributed to the Maya collapse in the Late Classic period. Eberl emphasizes that decision-making--the ability to imagine alternate worlds and to act on that vision--plays a large role in changing social structure over time. Contextualizing these decisions in his "Garden of Forking Paths" model, Eberl shows how innovators were those individuals who imagined an array of possible futures and negotiated power to reach desirable outcomes. He dissects the social underpinning of Maya creativity by illustrating their situated method of learning via observation and imitation, stressing that societal constraints or opportunities dictated whether members' ideas were realized. Pinpointing where and when Maya inventions emerged, how individuals adopted them and why, War Owl Falling connects technological and social change in a novel way. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Tsubasa Okoshi,Arlen F. Chase,Philippe Nondédéo,M. Charlotte Arnauld
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 473 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2021-03-30
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813057699

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Maya Kingship by Tsubasa Okoshi,Arlen F. Chase,Philippe Nondédéo,M. Charlotte Arnauld Pdf

Examining changes to the institution of divine kingship from 750 to 950 CE in the Maya lowland cities, Maya Kingship presents a new way of studying the collapse of that civilization and the transformation of political systems between the Terminal Classic and Postclassic Periods. Leading experts in Maya studies offer insights into the breakdown of kingship regimes, as well as the gradual urban collapse and settlement relocations that followed. The volume illuminates historical factors and actions that led to the end of the institution across kingdoms and the mechanisms that enabled societies to eventually recover with new political structures. Contributors provide archaeological, iconographic, epigraphic, and ethnohistorical perspectives, exploring datasets in the spheres of warfare, social dynamics, economics, and architecture. Unfolding with precision the chains of processes and events that occurred during the ninth and tenth centuries in the southern lowlands, and slightly later in the north, this volume displays an original and ambitious historical approach central to understanding one of the most radical political shifts to occur in the pre-Columbian Americas. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase Contributors: Chloé Andrieu | Kazuo Aoyama | M. Charlotte Arnauld | Jaime J. Awe | Tomás José Barrientos Quezada |George J. Bey III | Ignacio Cases | Arlen F. Chase | Diane Z. Chase | Rafael Cobos | Arthur Demarest | Octavio Q. Esparza| Tomás Gallareta Negrón | Nikolai Grube | Christophe Helmke | Bernard Hermes | Julien Hiquet | Julie A. Hoggarth | Takeshi Inomata | Ana Luisa Izquierdo | Alfonso Lacadena | Simon Martin | Philippe Nondédéo | Tsubasa Okoshi | William M. Ringle | Julien Sion | Shintaro Suzuki | Paola Torres | Kenichiro Tsukamoto | Bart Victor | Jarosław Źrałka

Author : Marilyn A. Masson,David A. Freidel,Arthur A. Demarest
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 655 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2020-08-25
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813057408

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The Real Business of Ancient Maya Economies by Marilyn A. Masson,David A. Freidel,Arthur A. Demarest Pdf

A timely synthesis of the latest research and perspectives on ancient Maya economics, this volume illuminates the sophistication and intricacy of economic systems in the Preclassic, Classic, and Postclassic periods. Contributors from a wide range of disciplines move beyond paradigms of elite control and centralized exchange to focus on individual agency, highlighting production and exchange that took place at all levels of society. Case studies draw on new archaeological evidence from rural households and urban marketplaces to reconstruct the trade networks for tools, ceramics, obsidian, salt, and agricultural goods throughout the empire. They also describe the ways household production integrated with community, regional, and interregional markets. Redirecting the field of ancient Maya economic studies away from simplistic characterizations of the past by fully representing the range of current views on the subject, this volume delves deeply into multiple facets of a complex, interdependent material world. Contributors: Anthony P. Andrews | Chloé Andrieu | Beatriz Balcárcel | Adolfo Iván Batún | George Bey | Ronald L. Bishop | Geoffrey E. Braswell | Marcello Canuto | Bernadette Cap | Arlen F. Chase | Diane Z. Chase | Rubén Chuc Aguilar | Maia Dedrick | Pedro Delgado Kú, | Arthur A. Demarest | Keith Eppich | Bárbara Escamilla Ojeda | Scott L. Fedick | Luis Flores Cobá | Lynda Florey Folan | William J. Folan | David A. Freidel | Tomás Gallareta Negrón | Charles Golden | Stanley P. Guenter | Joel D. Gunn | Richard D. Hansen | Timothy S. Hare | Enrique Hernández | Rachel A. Horowitz | Scott R. Hutson | Takeshi Inomata | Eleanor M. King | Marilyn A. Masson | Patricia A. McAnany | Carlos Morales-Aguilar | Carlos Peraza Lope | Dorie Reents-Budet | Prudence M. Rice | William Ringle | Fernando Robles Castellanos | Alejandra Roche Recinos| Bradley W. Russell | Andrew Scherer | Whittaker Schroder | Payson Sheets | Edgar Suyuc | Alexandre Tokovinine | Paola Torres | Daniela Triadan | Kenichiro Tsukamoto | Clive Vella | Bart Victor | Beniamino Volta | Brent K. S. Woodfill | Andrew R. Wyatt | Norman Yoffee A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Jonathan Kaplan,Federico Paredes Umaña
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 525 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2018-05-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813052205

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Water, Cacao, and the Early Maya of Chocolá by Jonathan Kaplan,Federico Paredes Umaña Pdf

Water, Cacao, and the Early Maya of Chocolá explores the often-overlooked Southern Maya Region of Guatemala, closely examining the near-legendary ancient city of Chocolá. Jonathan Kaplan and Federico Paredes Umaña marshal extensive fieldwork to demonstrate why Chocolá must now be added to the ranks of major Maya polities and theorize how it likely was innovative and influential early in the development of Maya civilization. In their research at the site, Kaplan and Paredes Umaña discovered a large and extraordinarily sophisticated underground water-control system. They also found evidence to support their theory that surplus cacao cultivation for trade underlay the city's burgeoning complexity. They contend that the city's wealth and power were built on its abundant supply of water and its arboriculture of cacao, a food which was significant not just in cuisine and trade but also was central in Classic Maya ideology and cosmology. In addition, Kaplan and Paredes Umaña provide the first description and chronology of the ancient city's ceramics and add over thirty stone sculptures to the site's inventory. Because the Southern Maya Region was likely the place of origin of Maya hieroglyphic writing as well as the extraordinary Maya Long Count calendar, scholars have long suspected the area to be critically important in ancient Maya history and process. Beyond confirming Chocolá to be one of the major early Maya polities, this pioneering work also helps explain how and why the region in which it developed may have played an essential role in the rise of the Maya civilization. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : M. Kathryn Brown,George J. Bey III
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 451 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2021-04-27
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813072135

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Pathways to Complexity by M. Kathryn Brown,George J. Bey III Pdf

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

Author : James D. Nations
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2023-09-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813072937

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Lacandón Maya in the Twenty-First Century by James D. Nations Pdf

From the ancient traditions of the Lacandón Maya comes an Indigenous model for a sustainable future Having lived for centuries isolated within Mexico’s largest remaining tropical rainforest, the Indigenous Lacandón Maya now live at the nexus of two worlds—ancient and modern. While previous research has focused on documenting Lacandón oral traditions and religious practices in order to preserve them, this book tells the story of how Lacandón families have adapted to the contemporary world while applying their ancestral knowledge to create an ecologically sustainable future. Drawing on his 49 years of studying and learning from the Lacandón Maya, James Nations discusses how in the midst of external pressures such as technological changes, missionary influences, and logging ventures, Lacandón communities are building an economic system of agroforestry and ecotourism that produces income for their families while protecting biodiversity and cultural resources. Nations describes methods they use to plant and harvest without harming the forest, illustrating that despite drastic changes in lifestyle, respect for the environment continues to connect Lacandón families across generations. By helping with these tasks and inheriting the fables and myths that reinforce this worldview, Lacandón children continue to learn about the plants, animals, and spiritual deities that coexist in their land. Indigenous peoples such as the Lacandón Maya control one-third of the intact forest landscapes left on Earth, and Indigenous knowledge and practices are increasingly recognized as key elements in the survival of the planet’s biological diversity. The story of the Lacandón Maya serves as a model for Indigenous-controlled environmental conservation, and it will inform anyone interested in supporting sustainable Indigenous futures. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Elizabeth Graham
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 465 pages
File Size : 50,6 Mb
Release : 2020-03-17
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813065519

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Maya Christians and Their Churches in Sixteenth-Century Belize by Elizabeth Graham Pdf

It is widely held that Christianity came to Belize as an extension of the conquest of Yucatan and that adherence to Christian belief and practice was abandoned in the absence of enduring Spanish authority. An alternative view comes from the excavations of Maya churches at Tipu and Lamanai, which show that the dead were buried in Christian churchyards long after the churches themselves fell into disuse, and pre-Columbian ritual objects were cached in Christian sacred spaces both during and after Spanish occupation. Excavations also reveal that the architectural style of these early churches is Franciscan in inspiration but nonetheless the product of continuing community efforts at construction and repair. A conclusion difficult to ignore is that the Maya of Tipu and Lamanai considered themselves Christians with or without Spanish presence. Viewing historical and archaeological data through the lens of her personal experience of Roman Catholicism, and informed by feminist approaches, Elizabeth Graham assesses the concept of religion, the significance of doctrine, the empowerment of the individual, and the process of conversion by examining the meanings attributed to ideas, objects and images by the Maya, by Iberian Christians, and by archaeologists. Graham’s provocative study also makes the case that the impact of Christianity in Belize was a phenomenon that uniquely shaped the development of the modern nation. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Brett A. Houk,Barbara Arroyo,Terry G. Powis
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 497 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2019-12-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813057347

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Approaches to Monumental Landscapes of the Ancient Maya by Brett A. Houk,Barbara Arroyo,Terry G. Powis Pdf

This volume brings together a wide spectrum of new approaches to ancient Maya studies in an innovative exploration of how the Preclassic and Classic Maya shaped their world. Moving beyond the towering temples and palaces typically associated with the Maya civilization, contributors present unconventional examples of monumental Maya landscapes. Featuring studies from across the central Maya lowlands, Belize, and the northern and central Maya highlands and spanning over 10,000 years of human occupation in the region, these chapters show how the word “monumental” can be used to describe natural and constructed landscapes, political and economic landscapes, and ritual and sacred landscapes. Examples include a massive system of aqueducts and canals at the Kaminaljuyu site, a vast arena designed for public spectacle at Chan Chich, and even the complex realms of Maya cosmology as represented by the ritual cave at Las Cuevas. By including physical, conceptual, and symbolic ways monumentality pervaded ancient Maya culture, this volume broadens traditional understandings of how the Maya interacted with their environment and provides exciting analytical perspectives to guide future study. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Christopher S. Beekman
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 401 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2019-10-14
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813057231

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Migrations in Late Mesoamerica by Christopher S. Beekman Pdf

Bringing the often-neglected topic of migration to the forefront of ancient Mesoamerican studies, this volume uses an illuminating multidisciplinary approach to address the role of population movements in Mexico and Central America from AD 500 to 1500, the tumultuous centuries before European contact. Clarifying what has to date been chiefly speculation, researchers from the fields of archaeology, biological anthropology, linguistics, ethnohistory, and art history delve deeply into the causes and impacts of prehistoric migration in the region. They draw on evidence including records of the Nahuatl language, murals painted at the Cacaxtla polity, ceramics in the style known as Coyotlatelco, skeletal samples from multiple sites, and conquest-era accounts of the origins of the Chichén Itzá Maya from both Native and Spanish scribes. The diverse datasets in this volume help reveal the choices and priorities of migrants during times of political, economic, and social changes that unmoored populations from ancestral lands. Migrations in Late Mesoamerica shows how migration patterns are vitally important to study due to their connection to environmental and political disruption in both ancient societies and today’s world. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Heather McKillop
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 255 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2019-05-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780813057118

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Maya Salt Works by Heather McKillop Pdf

In Maya Salt Works, Heather McKillop details her archaeological team’s groundbreaking discovery of a unique and massive salt production complex submerged in a lagoon in southern Belize. Exploring the organization of production and trade at the Paynes Creek Salt Works, McKillop offers a fascinating new look at the role of salt in the ancient Maya economy. McKillop maps over 4,000 wooden posts and wedges, the first known wooden structures preserved underwater from the Classic period, describing new methods of underwater archaeology developed specifically for this shallow maritime setting. She explains the technology of salt production, examining fragments of briquetage—the pots that boiled brine over fires in the kitchens—and provides evidence that salt workers relied on specific types of wood for building construction. McKillop theorizes that different households operated salt kitchens and distributed their goods via canoe to sell at inland marketplaces for use as dietary salt, a flavor enhancer, and preservative. Complex distribution networks reveal expertise in water transportation and knowledge of the sea by Maya mariners, skills that allowed them to control the transport of commodities like salt. By evaluating the scale, concentration, intensity, and context of the Paynes Creek Salt Works, McKillop provides a model for interpreting existing salt works sites as well as future discoveries along the Yucatán Peninsula. A volume in the series Maya Studies, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase

Author : Caitlin C. Earley
Publisher : University of Texas Press
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2023-07-13
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781477327142

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The Comitán Valley by Caitlin C. Earley Pdf

A thousand years ago, the Comitán Valley, in the Mexican state of Chiapas, was the western edge of the Maya world. Far from the famous power centers of the Classic period, the valley has been neglected even by specialists. Here, Caitlin C. Earley offers the first comprehensive study of sculpture excavated from the area, showcasing the sophistication and cultural vigor of a region that has largely been ignored. Supported by the rulers of the valley’s cities, local artists created inventive works that served to construct civic identities. In their depictions of warrior kings, ballgames, rituals, and ancestors, the artists of Comitán made choices that reflected political and religious goals and distinguished the artistic production of the Comitán Valley from that of other Maya locales. After the Maya abandoned their powerful lowland centers, those in Comitán were maintained, a distinction from which Earley draws new insights concerning the Maya collapse. Richly illustrated with never-before-published photographs of sculptures unearthed from key archaeological sites, The Comitán Valley is an illuminating work of art historical recovery and interpretation.

Author : Jonathan C. Slaght
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2020-08-04
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780374718091

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Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C. Slaght Pdf

A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 Longlisted for the National Book Award Winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Minnesota Book Award for General Nonfiction A Finalist for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award Winner of the Peace Corps Worldwide Special Book Award A Best Book of the Year: NPR, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, The Globe and Mail, The BirdBooker Report, Geographical, Open Letter Review Best Nature Book of the Year: The Times (London) "A terrifically exciting account of [Slaght's] time in the Russian Far East studying Blakiston’s fish owls, huge, shaggy-feathered, yellow-eyed, and elusive birds that hunt fish by wading in icy water . . . Even on the hottest summer days this book will transport you.” —Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk, in Kirkus I saw my first Blakiston’s fish owl in the Russian province of Primorye, a coastal talon of land hooking south into the belly of Northeast Asia . . . No scientist had seen a Blakiston’s fish owl so far south in a hundred years . . . When he was just a fledgling birdwatcher, Jonathan C. Slaght had a chance encounter with one of the most mysterious birds on Earth. Bigger than any owl he knew, it looked like a small bear with decorative feathers. He snapped a quick photo and shared it with experts. Soon he was on a five-year journey, searching for this enormous, enigmatic creature in the lush, remote forests of eastern Russia. That first sighting set his calling as a scientist. Despite a wingspan of six feet and a height of over two feet, the Blakiston’s fish owl is highly elusive. They are easiest to find in winter, when their tracks mark the snowy banks of the rivers where they feed. They are also endangered. And so, as Slaght and his devoted team set out to locate the owls, they aim to craft a conservation plan that helps ensure the species’ survival. This quest sends them on all-night monitoring missions in freezing tents, mad dashes across thawing rivers, and free-climbs up rotting trees to check nests for precious eggs. They use cutting-edge tracking technology and improvise ingenious traps. And all along, they must keep watch against a run-in with a bear or an Amur tiger. At the heart of Slaght’s story are the fish owls themselves: cunning hunters, devoted parents, singers of eerie duets, and survivors in a harsh and shrinking habitat. Through this rare glimpse into the everyday life of a field scientist and conservationist, Owls of the Eastern Ice testifies to the determination and creativity essential to scientific advancement and serves as a powerful reminder of the beauty, strength, and vulnerability of the natural world.