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Books > Humanities > Archaeology
This book examines from an archaeological perspective the social and economic changes that took place in Yucatan, Mexico beginning in the 18th century, as the region became increasingly articulated within global networks of exchange. Of particular interest is the formation and ultimate supremacy of the hacienda system in Yucatan and the effect that new forms of capitalist organized production had on native Maya social organization. Household archaeology and spatial analysis conducted on the grounds of the former Hacienda San Juan Bautista Tabi provides the data for analyzing the results of this change on the daily lives and existence of those individuals incorporated within the hacienda system. The use of archaeological excavation to place the lives of local individuals within the context of larger global processes makes this book a worthy contribution to the study of archaeology.
Belief in magic and particularly the power of witchcraft was once a deep and enduring presence in popular culture. "Diving into Brian Hoggard's Magical House Protection is a remarkable experience... [It] provides an immersive and fascinating read."-Fortean Times People created and concealed many objects to protect themselves from harmful magic. Detailed are the principal forms of magical house protection in Britain and beyond from the fourteenth century to the present day. Witch-bottles, dried cats, horse skulls, written charms, protection marks and concealed shoes were all used widely as methods of repelling, diverting or trapping negative energies. Many of these practices and symbols can be found around the globe, demonstrating the universal nature of efforts by people to protect themselves from witchcraft. From the introduction: The most popular locations to conceal objects within buildings are usually at portals such as the hearth, the threshold and also voids or dead spaces. This suggests that people believed it was possible for dark forces to travel through the landscape and attack them in their homes. Whether these forces were emanations from a witch in the form of a spell, a witch's familiar pestering their property, an actual witch flying in spirit or a combination of all of those is difficult to tell. Additional sources of danger could be ghosts, fairies and demons. People went to great lengths to ensure their homes and property were protected, highlighting the fact that these beliefs and fears were visceral and, as far as they were concerned, literally terrifying.
The Neolithic period is noted primarily for the change from hunter-gatherer societies to agriculture, domestication and sedentism. This change has been studied in the past by archaeologists observing the movements of plants, animals and people. But has not been examined by looking at the domestic architecture of the time. Along with tracking the movement of sedentism, Neolithic houses are also able to show researchers the beginnings of cultural identity, group representation through the construction and decoration of these structures. Additionally as agriculture moved west and north in this era, the architecture and material culture shows this change and its significance. Chapters are arranged chronologically so that authors can address differences and similarities of their region to neighboring ones. To ensure continuity, authors have framed the chapters around the following considerations: construction materials and architectural characteristics; how houses facilitated or perpetua
This book addresses questions about theories of heritage, its methodologies of research, and where its boundaries lie with tourism, urban development, post-disaster recovery, collective identities, memory, or conflict. This book is a collection of heritage studies from a critical perspective as a product of the 2018 ACHS (Association of Critical Heritage Studies) Conference in Hangzhou, the largest conference of its kind in Asia. The contributors cover a wide spectrum of issues in heritage studies, such as heritage management, accessibility to heritage, heritage conservation and heritage policy, and heritage representation. It also examines the various contexts within which heritage emerges and how heritage is constructed within that context. Analyses are based on not only representations of heritage but also on the performativity. Explorations touch upon community involvement, landscape history, children's literature, endangered food, architecture, advertisement, allotment garden, and gender and visual art. As heritage has always been a locus of contested verities, the book offers a variegated approach to heritage studies. It provides students and scholars new perspectives on heritage study.
A detailed and riveting account of the U.S. Navy's greatest mutiny and its wide-ranging cultural and historical impact The greatest controversy in the history of the U.S. Navy of the early American Republic was the revelation that the son of the Secretary of War had seemingly plotted a bloody mutiny that would have turned the U.S. brig Somers into a pirate ship. The plot discovered, he and his co-conspirators were hastily condemned and hanged at sea. The repercussions of those acts brought headlines, scandal, a fistfight at a cabinet meeting, a court martial, ruined lives, lost reputations, and tales of a haunted ship "bound for the devil" and lost tragically at sea with many of its crew. The "Somers affair" led to the founding of the U.S. Naval Academy and it remains the Navy's only acknowledged mutiny in its history. The story also inspired Herman Melville's White-Jacket and Billy Budd. Others connected to the Somers included Commodore Perry, a relation and defender of the Somers' captain Mackenzie; James Fenimore Cooper, whose feud with the captain, dating back to the War of 1812, resurfaced in his reportage of the affair; and Raphael Semmes, the Somers' last caption who later served in the Confederate Navy. The Curse of the Somers is a thorough recreation of this classic tale, told with the help of recently uncovered evidence. Written by a maritime historian and archaeologist who helped identify the long-lost wreck and subsequently studied its sunken remains, this is a timeless tale of life and death at sea. James P. Delgado re-examines the circumstances, drawing from a rich historical record and from the investigation of the ship's sunken remains. What surfaces is an all-too-human tale that resonates and chills across the centuries.
An Introduction to Native North America provides a basic introduction to the Native peoples of North America, covering what are now the United States, northern Mexico, and Canada. In this updated and revised new edition, Mark Q. Sutton has expanded and improved the existing text, adding to the case studies, updating the text with the latest research, increasing the number of images, providing more coverage of the Arctic regions, and including new perspectives, particularly those of Native peoples. The book addresses the history of research, the European invasion, and the impact of Europeans on Native societies. A final chapter introduces contemporary Native Americans, discussing issues that affect them, including religion, health, and politics. The book retains a wealth of pedological features to aid and reinforce learning. Featuring case studies of many Native American groups, as well as some eighty-four maps and images, An Introduction to Native North America is an indispensable tool to those studying the history of North America and its Native peoples.
An Introduction to Native North America provides a basic introduction to the Native peoples of North America, covering what are now the United States, northern Mexico, and Canada. In this updated and revised new edition, Mark Q. Sutton has expanded and improved the existing text, adding to the case studies, updating the text with the latest research, increasing the number of images, providing more coverage of the Arctic regions, and including new perspectives, particularly those of Native peoples. The book addresses the history of research, the European invasion, and the impact of Europeans on Native societies. A final chapter introduces contemporary Native Americans, discussing issues that affect them, including religion, health, and politics. The book retains a wealth of pedological features to aid and reinforce learning. Featuring case studies of many Native American groups, as well as some eighty-four maps and images, An Introduction to Native North America is an indispensable tool to those studying the history of North America and its Native peoples.
This well-illustrated book offers an up-to-date synthesis of the field of historic preservation, cast as a social campaign concerned with the condition, treatment and use of the legacy of existing properties in the United States. Drawing on a wide range of research, experience and scholarship over the last fifty years, it allows us to re-think past and current ideas in preservation, challenging readers to explore how their own interests lie within the cognitive framework of the activities taking place with people who care. Who is involved is explored first, in such a way as to explore why, before examining what is deemed important. After that the questions of when and how to proceed are given attention. The major topics are introduced in an historical review through the mid-1980s, after which the broad intellectual basis and fundamental legal framework is provided. The economic shifts associated with major demographic changes are explored, in tandem with responses of the preservation community. A chapter is dedicated to the financial challenges and sources of revenue available in typical preservation projects, and another chapter focuses on the manner in which seeing, recording, and interpreting information provides the context for an appropriate vision for the future. In this regard, it is made clear that not all green design alternatives are preservation-sensitive. The advocacy battles during the last few decades provide a number of short stories of the ethical battles regarding below-ground and above ground historic resources, and the eighth chapter attempts to explain why religion has been long held at arm s length in publicly-supported preservation efforts, when in fact, it holds more potential to regenerate existing sites than any governmental program. "
The Bioarchaeology of Space and Place investigates variations in social identity among the ancient Maya by focusing on individuals and small groups identified archaeologically by their inclusion in specific, discrete mortuary contexts or by unusual mortuary treatments. Utilizing archaeological, biological and taphonomic data from these contexts, the studies employ a variety of methodological approaches to reconstruct aspects of individuals' life-course and mortuary pathways. Following this, specific mortuary behaviors are discussed in relation to their local or regional cultural setting using relevant archaeological, ethnohistoric, and/or ethnographic data in an effort to interpret their meaning within the broader social, political and economic contexts in which they were carried out. This volume covers a number of topics that are currently being debated in Maya archaeology, including identification and discussion of the role and extent of human sacrifice in Maya culture, the use of ancestors for maintaining political power, the mortuary use of caves by both elites and non-elites, ethnic distinctions within urban areas and the extent of movement of people between communities. Importantly, the papers in this volume attempt to test and move beyond static, dichotic categories that are often employed in mortuary studies in an effort to better understand the complex ways in which the Maya conceptualized and manipulated social identity. This type of nuanced case-study approach that incorporates historical, archaeological and theoretical contextualization is becoming increasingly important in the field of bioarchaeology, providing valuable sources of data where small, diverse samples impede populational approaches.
First runner-up for the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize in Middle Eastern Studies 2015. In ancient Egypt, wrapping sacred objects, including mummified bodies, in layers of cloth was a ritual that lay at the core of Egyptian society. Yet in the modern world, attention has focused instead on unwrapping all the careful arrangements of linen textiles the Egyptians had put in place. This book breaks new ground by looking at the significance of textile wrappings in ancient Egypt, and at how their unwrapping has shaped the way we think about the Egyptian past. Wrapping mummified bodies and divine statues in linen reflected the cultural values attached to this textile, with implications for understanding gender, materiality and hierarchy in Egyptian society. Unwrapping mummies and statues similarly reflects the values attached to Egyptian antiquities in the West, where the colonial legacies of archaeology, Egyptology and racial science still influence how Egypt appears in museums and the press. From the tomb of Tutankhamun to the Arab Spring, Unwrapping Ancient Egypt raises critical questions about the deep-seated fascination with this culture - and what that fascination says about our own.
This book uses the terminology and best practices recommended by the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology (SWGANTH). The sixth edition has been fully updated in light of recent developments, incorporating new and improved methods as well as global data. This accessible and engaging text offers an array of features to support teaching and learning, including: boxed case studies extensive figures and photographs chapter summaries and student exercises a glossary of terms further resources via a companion website.
This innovative book takes the concept of translation beyond its traditional boundaries, adding to the growing body of literature which challenges the idea of translation as a primarily linguistic transfer. To gain a fresh perspective on the work of translation in the complex processes of meaning-making across physical, social and cultural domains (conceptualized as translationality), Piotr Blumczynski revisits one of the earliest and most fundamental senses of translation: corporeal transfer. His study of translated religious officials and translated relics reframes our understanding of translation as a process creating a sense of connection with another time, place, object or person. He argues that a promise of translationality animates a broad spectrum of cultural, artistic and commercial endeavours: it is invoked, for example, in museum exhibitions, art galleries, celebrity endorsements, and the manufacturing of musical instruments. Translationality offers a way to reimagine the dynamic entanglements of matter and meaning, space and time, past and present. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in translation studies as well as related disciplines such as the history of religion, anthropology of art, and material culture.
Over 3,000 years ago, in what would be northern North America, there was a cultural fluorescence. Native Americans were exchanging materials and ideas over long distances, and their shamans were overseeing treatment of the dead and conducting ceremonies to insure entry into the spirit world. The author details how archaeologists discovered their story. The discovery, excavation, and interpretation of data on one of the most significant ancient Native American archaeological sites in the Northeast is chronicled. Research team leader Alan Leveillee outlines the regional, environmental, and cultural contexts, details the archaeological methodology, and synthesizes the results of analyses of lithics, metals, flora, fauna, and soils, and presents the on-site observations and interpretations of the Native American representative of the team. Focusing on the discovery and subsequent archaeological approach to the first professionally excavated secondary burial complex in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Leveillee demonstrates that anthropological models enable consideration of how artifacts and features reveal 3,500-year-old ideologies, ceremonies, and social systems--the archaeology of ideas.
Discover the history, legends and folklore of Britain’s most intriguing landmarks This beautifully illustrated book reveals the secrets and stories of fifty icons of Britain’s landscape. Some are natural wonders, such as Cheddar Gorge, Sherwood Forest and the white cliffs of Dover. Others were made by our distant ancestors: the standing stones of Avebury and Calanais, the Uffington White Horse, the burial mounds of Sutton Hoo. Discover how they came to be, the legends and traditions that surround them, and how they have inspired famous writers and poets. Reconnect with our ancient landscape with this fascinating and surprising guide. .
"The Archaeology of Capitalism in Colonial Contexts: Postcolonial Historical Archaeologies" explores the complex interplay of colonial and capital formations throughout the modern world. The authors present a critical approach to this topic, trying to shift discourses in the theoretical framework of historical archaeology of capitalism and colonialism through the use of postcolonial theory. This work does not suggest a new theoretical framework as such, but rather suggests the importance of revising key theoretical terms employed within historical archaeology, arguing for new engagements with postcolonial theory of relevance to all historical archaeologists as the field de-centers from its traditional locations. Examining case studies from North America, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe, the chapters offer an unusually broad ranging geography of historical archaeology, with each focused on the interplay between the particularisms of colonial structures and the development of capitalism and wider theoretical discussions. Every author also draws attention to the ramifications of their case studies in the contemporary world. With its cohesive theoretical framework this volume is a key resource for those interested in decolonizing historical archaeology in theory and praxis, and for those interested in the development of modern global dynamics. "
This unique text/reference reviews the key principles and techniques in conceptual modelling which are of relevance to specialists in the field of cultural heritage. Information modelling tasks are a vital aspect of work and study in such disciplines as archaeology, anthropology, history, and architecture. Yet the concepts and methods behind information modelling are rarely covered by the training in cultural heritage-related fields. With the increasing popularity of the digital humanities, and the rapidly growing need to manage large and complex datasets, the importance of information modelling in cultural heritage is greater than ever before. To address this need, this book serves in the place of a course on software engineering, assuming no previous knowledge of the field. Topics and features: Presents a general philosophical introduction to conceptual modelling Introduces the basics of conceptual modelling, using the ConML language as an infrastructure Reviews advanced modelling techniques relating to issues of vagueness, temporality and subjectivity, in addition to such topics as metainformation and feature redefinition Proposes an ontology for cultural heritage supported by the Cultural Heritage Abstract Reference Model (CHARM), to enable the easy construction of conceptual models Describes various usage scenarios and applications of cultural heritage modelling, offering practical tips on how to use different techniques to solve real-world problems This interdisciplinary work is an essential primer for tutors and students (at both undergraduate and graduate level) in any area related to cultural heritage, including archaeology, anthropology, art, history, architecture, or literature. Cultural heritage managers, researchers, and professionals will also find this to be a valuable reference, as will anyone involved in database design, data management, or the conceptualization of cultural heritage in general. Dr. Cesar Gonzalez-Perez is a Staff Scientist at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit), within the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
The finances of the country were in a state of the utmost disorder. A profuse and corrupt monarch, whose profuseness and corruption were imitated by almost every functionary, from the highest to the lowest grade, had brought France to the verge of ruin. The national debt amounted to 3000 millions of livres, the revenue to 145 millions, and the expenses of government to 142 millions per annum: leaving only three millions to pay the interest upon 3000 millions. -from "The Mississippi Scheme" The savings-and-loan scandals of the 1980s. The dotcom craze of the 1990s. The housing bubble of the 2000s. It may seem as if mass financial insanity is a result of complex global economies and modern high finance, but it's been with us for centuries, as this classic expose of the madness of humanity-particularly as it relates to money-demonstrates in a way that's both disturbing and highly illuminating for those wishing to avoid getting lost in such madness again. This abridged edition of the 1841 classic focuses exclusively on the infamous financial mania that have become bywords when discussing the economic collapses of today: the Mississippi Scheme, in which an 18th-century Scottish financier created a stock bubble in France for land in the New World the South Sea bubble, the 18th-century stock swindle sometimes called "the Enron of England" the infamous tulip mania that seized Holland in the 1600s These powerful studies of the human relationship to money remain startlingly relevant today... as they are sure to still be centuries from now. Scottish journalist CHARLES MACKAY (1814-1889) held an honorary law degree from Glasgow University, as well as a doctorate in literature. A renowned poet and songwriter, he also authored a Dictionary of Lowland Scotch.
This book analyses the instruments and approaches offered by public international law to resolve cultural heritage related disputes and facilitate the return of illicitly transferred objects to their countries of origin. In addition to assessing the instruments themselves, their origins, and their advantages and disadvantages, it also examines the roles and interests of the actors involved. Lastly, the book explores the interaction between hard and soft law approaches, the reasons for and importance of this interaction, as well as its consequences.
The Tel Dan inscription was found in three fragments on Tel Dan in northern Israel in 1993 and 1994. It is one of the most controversial textual archaeological finds since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Most scholars agree that the text, which is written in Old Aramaic, is to be dated to the late ninth century BCE. It refers to a war between the Aramaeans and the northern kingdom of Israel. The text is apparently represented as authored by King Hazael of Damascus, and many scholars have discerned the names of the kings Jehoram and Ahaziah of Israel and Judah in the fragmented text. There has been an extremely lively, and even heated, debate over both its language and its content, and it is time that a full survey of the debate should be undertaken. In his previous book, The Tel Dan Inscription: A Critical Investigation of Recent Research on its Palaeography and Philology (2006)--now distributed by Sheffield Phoenix Press--Hallvard Hagelia has examined those more technical aspects of the debate. In the present corollary volume, The Dan Debate: The Tel Dan Inscription in Recent Research, Hagelia analyses the debate on all the other more general aspects of the inscription. His own view is to support the joining of the fragments as it is done by the editors, Biran and Naveh, and to translate the controversial term bytdwd as 'House of David'. The debate on the Tel Dan is interesting and significant in itself, but it can also be viewed as a case study of the wider debate between the so-called 'minimalists' and 'maximalists' in Hebrew Bible scholarship. In particular Hagelia's two books offer an notable exchange of views with George Athas's The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation (2003).
Cultural resource management (CRM) involves research, legislation, and education related to the conservation, protection, and interpretation of historic and prehistoric archaeological resources. Kerber's work is divided into four major categories of discussion: theoretical and interpretive frameworks, research methodology, legislation and compliance, and creative protection strategies. The only volume on CRM in Northeastern America since Spiess's Conservation Archaeology in 1978, its contributors are all major participants in archaeology in the Northeast, which includes the six New England states and New York. Because the volume presents successful models and practical advice concerning CRM, it is relevant to regions other than the Northeast and can be helpful in providing a comparative framework for evaluating programs elsewhere in the United States.
Theatre and Dictatorship in the Luso-Hispanic World explores the discourses that have linked theatrical performance and prevailing dictatorial regimes across Spain, Portugal and their former colonies. These are divided into three different approaches to theatre itself - as cultural practice, as performance, and as textual artifact - addressing topics including obedience, resistance, authoritarian policies, theatre business, exile, violence, memory, trauma, nationalism, and postcolonialism. This book draws together a diverse range of methodological approaches to foreground the effects and constraints of dictatorship on theatrical expression and how theatre responds to these impositions.
Although many archaeologists have a good understanding of the basics in computer science, statistics, geostatistics, modeling, and data mining, more literature is needed about the advanced analysis in these areas. This book aids archaeologists in learning more advanced tools and methods while also helping mathematicians, statisticians, and computer scientists with no previous knowledge of the field realize the potential of the methods in archaeological experiments. |
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