Author: David Webster Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd ISBN: 1784918466 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 162
Book Description
A demographic evaluation of an ancient Mayan citadel which helps to resolve debates about how the Maya made a living, the nature of their socio-political systems, how they created an impressive built environment, and places them in plausible comparative context with what is known about other ancient complex societies.
Author: Peter D. Harrison Publisher: Thames & Hudson ISBN: 9780500050941 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 208
Book Description
The Maya metropolis of Tikal was once one of the greatest cities in the world, its skyline dominated by huge temple-pyramids. In ad 750 over 100,000 people lived here, in the heart of the Guatemalan rainforest. Today Tikal is a popular site on the Maya tourist itinerary. But why did the city flourish? What does its history reveal about Maya civilization? And why did Tikal collapse? Drawing upon over 30 years of excavation and research, some of it his own, Peter D. Harrison gives a vivid account of the turbulent story of Tikal from 800 bc to the late 9th century ad. Strategically located, the city was a trade centre, an architectural pioneer and a focal point of warfare. The apogee of power and wealth was achieved during the reign of the Jaguar Claw clan, who built the Great Temples, some with tombs of treasures that hint at the richness of life of the lords of Tikal. Illustrated with photographs of artefacts and objects found at the site, remaining structures and a reconstruction of a Tikal king in full regalia, Peter D. Harrison offers a summary of what is known to date of this romantic, mysterious city and its rulers.
Author: Peter A. Young Publisher: Red Brick Press ISBN: 9781578261239 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 203
Book Description
Unlock the mysteries of the Mayan world. Deep in the rain forests of South and Central America, the Mayan culture thrived for almost 4,000 years. From the earliest Mayan farmer in 2,600 BC through the thirteenth century AD, the Maya developed an elaborate society, built great cities and temples, and created the only real system of writing native to the Americas. Although many of the intricacies of the Mayan culture remain shrouded in mystery, hundreds of new discoveries have come to light in recent years, and our body of knowledge about the Maya has grown by leaps and bounds. Now, the most fascinating new discoveries have been compiled into one volume: Secrets of the Maya, a book from the editors of Archaeology Magazine. From the discovery of ancient caves used for religious rituals—including human sacrifice—to the search for the long-lost "White City," Secrets of the Maya will take readers on an exciting and surprising archaeological journey. Featuring articles on the latest research, a comprehensive time line, and a special section on Mayan hieroglyphs, Secrets of the Maya will appeal to experts and amateurs alike.
Author: Andrea Cucina Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3319108581 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 168
Book Description
Archaeological evidence - i.e. presence of exogenous, foreign material objects (pottery, obsidian and so on) - is used to make inferences on ancient trade, while population movement can only be assessed when the biological component of an ancient community is analyzed (i.e. the human skeletal remains). But the exchange of goods or the presence of foreign architectural patterns does not necessarily imply genetic admixture between groups, while at the same time humans can migrate for reasons that may not be related only to trading. The Prehispanic Maya were a complex, highly stratified society. During the Classic period, city-states governed over large regions, establishing complex ties of alliance and commerce with the region’s minor centers and their allies, against other city-states within and outside the Maya realm. The fall of the political system during the Classic period (the Maya collapse) led to hypothetical invasions of leading groups from the Gulf of Mexico into the northern Maya lowland at the onset of the Postclassic. However, it is still unclear whether this collapse was already underway when this movement of people started. The whole picture of population dynamics in Maya Prehispanic times, during the Classic and the Postclassic, can slowly emerge only when all the pieces of the puzzle are put together in a holistic and multidisciplinary fashion. The contributions of this volume bring together contributions from archaeology, archaeometry, paleodemography and bioarchaeology. They provide an initial account of the dynamic qualities behind large–scale ancient population dynamics, and at the same time represent novel multidisciplinary points of departure towards an integrated reconstruction and understanding of Prehispanic population dynamics in the Maya region.
Author: Diane Z. Chase Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press ISBN: 9780806135427 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 394
Book Description
In Mesoamerican Elites, Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase present a wide variety of essays, all of which evaluate current archaeological knowledge of the privileged ruling classes, or elites, in Mesoamerica. Some experts argue that Mesoamerican societies consisted only of elites and peasants, while others argue that considerable intermediate social levels also existed. In light of such diverse opinions, this volume addresses problems in the interpretation of archaeological evidence regarding ancient Mesoamerican social structure.
Author: Dennis E. Puleston Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN: 1934536350 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 141
Book Description
This volume is an essential reference in the study of Classic Maya settlement patterns. Maps of four cardinally oriented strips, each extending 12 km from central Tikal, document the survey area. In addition to these major overall maps (at 1:5000), a number of 1:2000 maps cover the many relatively smaller sites. The accompanying text explains the strategy, procedures, and theoretical considerations of mapping systems.
Author: Peter N. Peregrine Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 1461505259 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 486
Book Description
The Encyclopedia of Prehistory represents temporal dimension. Major traditions are an attempt to provide basic information also defined by a somewhat different set of on all archaeologically known cultures, sociocultural characteristics than are eth covering the entire globe and the entire nological cultures. Major traditions are prehistory of humankind. It is designed as defined based on common subsistence a tool to assist in doing comparative practices, sociopolitical organization, and research on the peoples of the past. Most material industries, but language, ideology, of the entries are written by the world's and kinship ties play little or no part in foremost experts on the particular areas their definition because they are virtually and time periods. unrecoverable from archaeological con The Encyclopedia is organized accord texts. In contrast, language, ideology, and ing to major traditions. A major tradition kinship ties are central to defining ethno is defined as a group of populations sharing logical cultures. similar subsistence practices, technology, There are three types of entries in the and forms of sociopolitical organization, Encyclopedia: the major tradition entry, which are spatially contiguous over a rela the regional subtradition entry, and the tively large area and which endure tempo site entry. Each contains different types of rally for a relatively long period. Minimal information, and each is intended to be areal coverage for a major tradition can used in a different way.
Author: David E. Stannard Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0199838984 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 408
Book Description
For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world. Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness and diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico and Central and South America, then north to Florida, Virginia, and New England, and finally out across the Great Plains and Southwest to California and the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went, the native people were caught between imported plagues and barbarous atrocities, typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people, he asks, do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians. Digging deeply into ancient European and Christian attitudes toward sex, race, and war, he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans and their descendants launched--and in places continue to wage--against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create much controversy, Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today, he adds, and one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. At once sweeping in scope and meticulously detailed, American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical and moral debate.
Author: John S. Henderson Publisher: Cornell University Press ISBN: 9780801482847 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 362
Book Description
Theirs was one of the few complex societies to emerge in and to adapt successfully to a tropical-forest environment. Their architecture, sculpture, and painting were sophisticated and compellingly beautiful.
Author: David Webster
Author: Peter D. Harrison
Author: Peter A. Young
Author: Andrea Cucina
Author: Diane Z. Chase
Author: Dennis E. Puleston
Author: Peter N. Peregrine
Author: Mary W. Helms
Author: David E. Stannard
Author: John S. Henderson