Ralph Waldo Emerson once said that , ll history becomes subjective,
that, in fact, properly there is no history, only biography.?
Today, Emerson's observation is hardly revolutionary for
archaeologists; it has become conventional wisdom that the present
is a battleground where interpretations of the events and meanings
of the past are constantly being disputed. What were the major
events? Whose lives did these events impact, and how? Who were the
key players? What was their legacy? We know all too well that the
answers to these questions can vary considerably depending on what
political, social, or personal agenda is driving the
response.Despite our keen eye for discerning historical spin
doctors operating today, it has been only in recent years that
archaeologists have begun exploring in detail how the past was used
in the past itself. This volume of ten original works brings
critical insight to this frequently overlooked dimension of earlier
societies. Drawing on the concepts of identity, memory, and
landscape, the contributors show how these points of entry can lead
to substantially new accounts of how people understood their lives
and why things changed as they did. Chapters include the
archaeologies of the eastern Mediterranean, including Mesopotamia,
Iran, Greece, and Rome; prehistoric Greece; Achaemenid and
Hellenistic Armenia; Athens in the Roman period; Nubia and Egypt;
medieval South India; and northern Maya Quintana Roo. The
contributors show how and why, in each society, certain versions of
the past were promoted while others were aggressively forgotten for
the purpose of promoting innovation, gaining political advantage,
or creating a new group identity.Commentaries by leading scholars
Lynn Meskell and Jack Davis blend with newer voices to create a
unique set of essays that is diverse but interrelated,
exceptionally researched, and novel in its perspectives. CONTENTS
1. Peering into the Palimpsest: An Introduction to the Volume
Norman Yoffee 2. Collecting, Defacing, Reinscribing (and Otherwise
Performing) Memory in the Ancient World Catherine Lyon Crawford 3.
Unforgettable Landscapes: Attachments to the Past in Hellenistic
Armenia Lori Khatchadourian 4. Mortuary Studies, Memory, and the
Mycenaean Polity Seth Button 5. Identity under Construction in
Roman Athens Sanjaya Thakur 6. Inscribing the Napatan Landscape:
Architecture and Royal Identity Lindsay Ambridge 7. Negotiated
Pasts and the Memorialized Present in Ancient India: Chalukyas of
Vatapi Hemanth Kadambi 8. Creating, Transforming, Rejecting, and
Reinterpreting Ancient Maya Urban Landscapes: Insights from
Lagartera and Margarita Laura P. Villamil 9. Back to the Future:
From the Past in the Present to the Past in the Past Lynn Meskell
10. Memory Groups and the State: Erasing the Past and Inscribing
the Present in the Landscapes of the Mediterranean and Near East
Jack L. Davis About the Editor About the Contributors Index
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!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
