Writing and recording are key cultural activities that allow
humans to communicate across time and space. Whereas Old World
writing evolved into the alphabetic system that is now employed
around the world, the indigenous peoples in the Americas
autonomously developed alternative systems that conveyed knowledge
in a tangible medium. New World systems range from the hieroglyphic
script of the Maya, to the figural and iconic pictographies of the
Aztecs, Mixtecs, and Zapotecs in Mexico and the Moche in Peru, to
the abstract knotted khipus of the Andes. Like Old World writing,
these systems represented a cultural category that was fundamental
to the workings of their societies, one that was heavily
impregnated with cultural value.
The fifteen contributors to "Their Way of Writing: Scripts,
Signs, and Pictographies in Pre-Columbian America" consider
substantive and theoretical issues concerning writing and signing
systems in the ancient Americas. They present the latest thinking
about these graphic and tactile systems of communication. Their
variety of perspectives and their advances in decipherment and
understanding constitute a major contribution not only to our
understanding of Pre-Columbian and indigenous American cultures but
also to our comparative and global understanding of writing and
literacy.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!