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Ancient Maya Commerce: Multidisciplinary Research at Chunchucmil
by Scott HutsonAncient Maya Commerce presents nearly two decades of multidisciplinary research at Chunchucmil, Yucatan, Mexico—a thriving Classic period Maya center organized around commercial exchange rather than agriculture. An urban center without a king and unable to sustain agrarian independence, Chunchucmil is a rare example of a Maya city in which economics, not political rituals, served as the engine of growth. Trade was the raison d’être of the city itself. Using a variety of evidence—archaeological, botanical, geomorphological, and soil-based—contributors show how the city was a major center for both short- and long-distance trade, integrating the Guatemalan highlands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the interior of the northern Maya lowlands. By placing Chunchucmil into the broader context of emerging research at other Maya cities, the book reorients the understanding of ancient Maya economies. The book is accompanied by a highly detailed digital map that reveals the dense population of the city and the hundreds of streets its inhabitants constructed to make the city navigable, shifting the knowledge of urbanism among the ancient Maya. Ancient Maya Commerce is a pioneering, thoroughly documented case study of a premodern market center and makes a strong case for the importance of early market economies in the Maya region. It will be a valuable addition to the literature for Mayanists, Mesoamericanists, economic anthropologists, and environmental archaeologists. Contributors: Anthony P. Andrews, Traci Ardren, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Timothy Beach, Chelsea Blackmore, Tara Bond-Freeman, Bruce H. Dahlin, Patrice Farrell, David Hixson, Socorro Jimenez, Justin Lowry, Aline Magnoni, Eugenia Mansell, Daniel E. Mazeau, Travis Stanton, Ryan V. Sweetwood, Richard E. Terry
Ancient Maya Commoners
by Jon Lohse Fred ValdezMuch of what we currently know about the ancient Maya concerns the activities of the elites who ruled the societies and left records of their deeds carved on the monumental buildings and sculptures that remain as silent testimony to their power and status. But what do we know of the common folk who labored to build the temple complexes and palaces and grew the food that fed all of Maya society? This pathfinding book marshals a wide array of archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic evidence to offer the fullest understanding to date of the lifeways of ancient Maya commoners. Senior and emerging scholars contribute case studies that examine such aspects of commoner life as settlement patterns, household organization, and subsistence practices. Their reports cover most of the Maya area and the entire time span from Preclassic to Postclassic. This broad range of data helps resolve Maya commoners from a faceless mass into individual actors who successfully adapted to their social environment and who also held primary responsibility for producing the food and many other goods on which the whole Maya society depended.
Ancient Maya Culture (Spotlight on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations)
by Christine HondersFor hundreds of years, archaeologists have unearthed clues about the amazing culture of the ancient Maya. This book brings the culture of this ancient civilization to life. Readers will learn about the ancient Maya economy, technology, rituals and traditions, family systems, politics, and daily life. Primary sources such as artifacts and ruins allow readers to connect with the past on a deep level. Amazing artwork and photographs allow readers to visualize the backdrop of ancient Maya culture as it exists today and as it’s imagined to have existed hundreds of years ago at its peak. Readers are in for a thrilling adventure with this firsthand look into the wonders of Maya culture.
Ancient Maya Daily Life (Spotlight on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations Series)
by Heather Moore NiverWhat was life like in the days of the ancient Maya civilization? Where did people live and what did they do each day? These questions and more are answered in this fact-filled book about the daily life of the ancient Maya. Engaging text and primary sources shed light on the many mysteries of the Maya people. Color photographs of existing architecture and artifacts, as well as artwork, will transport readers back to the days when the Maya civilization was thriving. <p><p>This exciting book is rich with information about Maya culture, and it's sure to stoke readers' imaginations while giving them a deep understanding of the history of this ancient civilization.
Ancient Maya Economies (Elements in Ancient and Pre-modern Economies)
by Scott R. HutsonAncient Maya Economies synthesizes the state of the art across seven components: geographical and historical background, ritual economy, households, specialization, exchange, political economies, and future directions. Other Elements case studies use many of the same components, making it easy to compare and contrast ancient Maya economies with systems of production and consumption in other parts of the world. The time is right for this Elements case because knowledge of ancient Maya economies has undergone a revolution in the last few decades, resulting in a complex panorama of new economic information. Aerial laser scanning has revealed higher amounts of intensive agriculture and research on the ground has turned up better evidence for marketplaces. Maya economies feature specialized production, trade of both bulk goods and luxury goods, close integration with ritual and religion, and a carnival parade of political economies.
Ancient Maya Geography (Spotlight On The Maya, Aztec, And Inca Civilizations Ser.)
by Amy HayesThe geography of the area in which the ancient Mayan civilization thrived is described in this book.
Ancient Maya Political Dynamics (Maya Studies)
by Antonia E. Foias"An impressive overview of recent scholarship coupled with the results of a long-term research project at the site and region of Motul de San José. It contributes significantly to the anthropological literature on politics and power."—Daniela Triadan, coeditor of Burned Palaces and Elite Residences of Aguateca"A long overdue and particularly welcome piece of scholarly work. It synthesizes, digests, and makes available the results of the tremendous boom in political studies in the Maya area that has occurred in the last twenty years as a consequence of rapid glyph decipherment, increased archaeological data, and more sophisticated theoretical modeling."—Eleanor M. King, Howard UniversityThe study of politics, a dominating force throughout history, can provide great insight into the lives of ancient people. Because of the richness and complexity of Maya society, archaeologists and anthropologists have spent decades attempting to reconstruct its political systems. In Ancient Maya Political Dynamics, Antonia Foias argues that there is no single Maya political history but multiple histories, no single Maya state but multiple polities that need to be understood at the level of the lived, individual experience. She explores the ways in which the dynamics of political power shaped the lives and landscape of the Maya and how this information can be used to look at other complex societies.
Ancient Maya Politics: A Political Anthropology of the Classic Period 150–900 CE
by Simon MartinThe Classic Maya have long presented scholars with vexing problems. One of the longest running and most contested of these, and the source of deeply polarized interpretations, has been their political organization. Using recently deciphered inscriptions and fresh archaeological finds, Simon Martin argues that this particular debate can be laid to rest. He offers a comprehensive re-analysis of the issue in an effort to answer a simple question: how did a multitude of small kingdoms survive for some six hundred years without being subsumed within larger states or empires? Using previously unexploited comparative and theoretical approaches, Martin suggests mechanisms that maintained a 'dynamic equilibrium' within a system best understood not as an array of individual polities but an interactive whole. With its rebirth as text-backed historical archaeology, Maya studies has entered a new phase, one capable of building a political anthropology as robust as any other we have for the ancient world.
Ancient Maya Technology (Spotlight on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations Series)
by Charles C. HoferAt their peak, the ancient Maya lived in one of the most advanced civilizations in the world. Their calendar system, celestial observations, and architecture give us clues to the greatness of their technology. <p><p>This book introduces readers to the many unique technological devices and breakthroughs created by the ancient Maya. Readers will learn about the historical context of Maya technology through primary sources, such as artifacts and architectural ruins, and accessible, fact-filled text. Photographs of what the Maya left behind will give readers an in-depth look into the amazing creations of this ancient civilization.
Ancient Maya Wetland Agriculture: Excavations On Albion Island, Northern Belize
by Mary Deland PohlChanges in the orientation of archaeological research in the post-World War n period affected Maya studies. The cultural ecological perspective, which was rising to prominence, put an old debate in bold relief: How had this prehistoric civilization adapted to the tropical forest environment? How could swidden cultivation have sustained the unexpectedly high population densities that settlement pattern studies appeared to be revealing? Had the ancient Maya practiced some from of intensive agriculture? Archaeologist Dennis E. Puleston went to the Maya Lowlands to investigate geographer Alfred H. Siemens's reports of possible intensive agriculture ("ridged fields") seen from the air and to study prehistoric Maya cultivation and civilization from a cultural ecological perspective. This volume presents the results of the Rio Hondo Project field research on Albion Island in northern Belize from 1973 to 1980 with the addition of selected results from Pohl's continuing work in northern Belize.
Ancient Medicine (Sciences of Antiquity)
by Vivian NuttonThe first edition of Ancient Medicine was the most complete examination of the medicine of the ancient world for a hundred years. The new edition includes the key discoveries made since the first edition, especially from important texts discovered in recent finds of papyri and manuscripts, making it the most comprehensive and up-to-date survey available. Vivian Nutton pays particular attention to the life and work of doctors in communities, links between medicine and magic, and examines the different approaches to medicine across the ancient world. The new edition includes more on Rufus and Galen as well as augmented information on Babylonia, Hellenistic medicine and Late Antiquity. With recently discovered texts made accessible for the first time, and providing new evidence, this broad exploration challenges currently held perspectives, and proves an invaluable resource for students of both classics and the history of medicine.
Ancient Medicine (Sciences of Antiquity)
by Vivian NuttonThe third edition of this magisterial account of medicine in the Greek and Roman worlds, written by the foremost expert on the subject, has been updated to incorporate the many new discoveries made in the field over the past decade. This revised volume includes discussions of several new or forgotten works by Galen and his contemporaries, as well as of new archaeological material. RNA analysis has expanded our understanding of disease in the ancient world; the book explores the consequences of this for sufferers, for example in creating disability. Nutton also expands upon the treatment of pre-Galenic medicine in Greece and Rome. In addition, subtitles and a chronology will make for easier student consultation, and the bibliography is substantially revised and updated, providing avenues for future student research. This third edition of Ancient Medicine will remain the definitive textbook on the subject for students of medicine in the classical world, and the history of medicine and science more broadly, with much to interest scholars in the field as well.
Ancient Medicine: From Mesopotamia to Rome
by Laura M. ZucconiThis book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi&’s Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen.Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome but also the Levant, the Anatolian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau. Devoting special attention to the fundamental relationship between medicine and theology, Zucconi&’s one-volume introduction brings the physicians, patients, procedures, medicines, and ideas of the past to light.
Ancient Medicine: From Mesopotamia to Rome
by Laura M. ZucconiThis book by Laura Zucconi is an accessible introductory text to the practice and theory of medicine in the ancient world. In contrast to other works that focus heavily on Greece and Rome, Zucconi&’s Ancient Medicine covers a broader geographical and chronological range. The world of medicine in antiquity consisted of a lot more than Hippocrates and Galen.Zucconi applies historical and anthropological methods to examine the medical cultures of not only Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome but also the Levant, the Anatolian Peninsula, and the Iranian Plateau. Devoting special attention to the fundamental relationship between medicine and theology, Zucconi&’s one-volume introduction brings the physicians, patients, procedures, medicines, and ideas of the past to light.
Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations: From Prehistory To 640 Ce
by Ralph MathisenChallenging the stereotypes and myths that typically characterize students' understanding of antiquity, Ancient Mediterranean Civilizations: From Prehistory to 640 CE, Second Edition, focuses on continuity and connections, along with cultural diffusion and cultural diversity, to show how history is a cumulative process and that numerous similar themes recur in different times and places. The text also explores sensitive issues and debates including attitudes toward race, ethnicity, and tolerance; gender issues and roles; slavery; social mobility; religion; political evolution; the nature of government; and imperialism.
Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization
by A. Leo Oppenheim"This splendid work of scholarship . . . sums up with economy and power all that the written record so far deciphered has to tell about the ancient and complementary civilizations of Babylon and Assyria."—Edward B. Garside, New York Times Book Review Ancient Mesopotamia—the area now called Iraq—has received less attention than ancient Egypt and other long-extinct and more spectacular civilizations. But numerous small clay tablets buried in the desert soil for thousands of years make it possible for us to know more about the people of ancient Mesopotamia than any other land in the early Near East. Professor Oppenheim, who studied these tablets for more than thirty years, used his intimate knowledge of long-dead languages to put together a distinctively personal picture of the Mesopotamians of some three thousand years ago. Following Oppenheim's death, Erica Reiner used the author's outline to complete the revisions he had begun. "To any serious student of Mesopotamian civilization, this is one of the most valuable books ever written."—Leonard Cottrell, Book Week "Leo Oppenheim has made a bold, brave, pioneering attempt to present a synthesis of the vast mass of philological and archaeological data that have accumulated over the past hundred years in the field of Assyriological research."—Samuel Noah Kramer, Archaeology A. Leo Oppenheim, one of the most distinguished Assyriologists of our time, was editor in charge of the Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute and John A. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies at the University of Chicago.
Ancient Meteorology (Sciences of Antiquity)
by Liba TaubThe first book of its kind in English, Ancient Meteorology discusses Greek and Roman approaches and attitudes to this broad discipline, which in classical antiquity included not only 'weather', but occurrences such as earthquakes and comets that today would be regarded as geological, astronomical or seismological. The range and diversity of this literature highlights the question of scholarly authority in antiquity and illustrates how writers responded to the meteorological information presented by their literary predecessors. Ancient Meteorology will be a valuable reference tool for classicists and those with an interest in the history of science.
Ancient Mexico: An Introduction to the Pre-Hispanic Cultures
by Frederick A. PetersonGeneral introduction to pre-Columbian Mexico: history, politics, culture, arts, religion, economics, architecture, and mathematics.
Ancient Models of Mind
by Andrea Nightingale David SedleyHow does god think? How, ideally, does a human mind function? Must a gap remain between these two paradigms of rationality? Such questions exercised the greatest ancient philosophers, including those featured in this book: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and Plotinus. This volume encompasses a series of studies by leading scholars, revisiting key moments of ancient philosophy and highlighting the theme of human and divine rationality in both moral and cognitive psychology. The volume is a tribute to A. A. Long, and reflects multiple themes of his own work.
Ancient Modern: Polymer Clay And Wire Jewelry
by Ronna WeltmanWith Ancient Modern, learn to create organic, sophisticated, and distinctly contemporary jewelry by artistically combining polymer clay and wire.Use a range of innovative techniques to design beads and jewelry components from polymer clay.Add wireworking elements, inspired clasps and ear wires, and more for a signature look.16 one-of-a-kind projects, including necklaces, bracelets, and pins in Ronna's distinctive style.Each project features detailed instructions and step-by-step photography.Crafters and jewelry makers will be making gallery-style jewelry in no time!In addition to an extensive technique section on polymer clay, wireworking, and jewelry design, readers will also find a gallery of work for endless inspiration.Ancient Modern draws on artist Ronna Sarvas Weltman's fundamentals of jewelry design, what makes a piece "primitive," and shows how to achieve her organic effects and signature style, from color mixing to texture effects.
Ancient Monuments
by Cynthia Phillips Shana PriwerDiscusses the Egyptian pyramids, Greek temples, Roman buildings, and megalithic monuments in Britain, the book includes chapters on architecture in Mesoamerica, the early Middle East, and ancient China and Japan.
Ancient Monuments and Modern Identities: A Critical History of Archaeology in 19th and 20th Century Greece
by Sofia Voutsaki and Paul CartledgeAncient Monuments and Modern Identities sets out to examine the role of archaeology in the creation of ethnic, national and social identities in 19th and 20th century Greece. The essays included in this volume examine the development of interpretative and methodological principles guiding the recovery, protection and interpretation of material remains and their presentation to the public. The role of archaeology is examined alongside prevailing perceptions of the past, and is thereby situated in its political and ideological context. The book is organized chronologically and follows the changing attitudes to the past during the formation, expansion and consolidation of the Modern Greek State. The aim of this volume is to examine the premises of the archaeological discipline, and to apply reflection and critique to contemporary archaeological theory and practice. The past, however, is not a domain exclusive to archaeologists. The contributors to this volume include prehistoric and classical archaeologists, but also modern historians, museum specialists, architectural historians, anthropologists, and legal scholars who have all been invited to discuss the impact of the material traces of the past on the Modern Greek social imaginary.
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley
by David J. Meltzer Edwin H. Davis Ephraim G. SquierOriginally published in 1848 as the first major work in the nascent discipline as well as the first publication of the newly established Smithsonian Institution, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley remains today not only a key document in the history of American archaeology but also the primary source of information on hundreds of mounds and earthworks in the eastern United States, most of which have now vanished. Despite adhering to the popular assumption that the moundbuilders could not have been the ancestors of the supposedly savage Native American groups still living in the region, the authors set high standards for their time. Their work provides insight into some of the conceptual, methodological, and substantive issues that archaeologists still confront.Long out of print, this 150th anniversary edition includes David J. Meltzer's lively introduction, which describes the controversies surrounding the book's original publication, from a bitter, decades-long feud between Squier and Davis to widespread debates about the links between race, religion, and human origins. Complete with a new index and bibliography, and illustrated with the original maps, plates, and engravings, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley provides a new generation with a first-hand view of this pioneer era in American archaeology.
Ancient Music in the Pines
by Osho Osho International FoundationToday, humanity is caught up in the mad complexity of the mind, and as never before, there is an urgent need to rediscover simplicity and innocence. Osho brings to life the inherent and timeless wisdom of traditional Zen stories. He shows us that Zen is a way of dissolving philosophical problems, not of solving them. It is a way of getting rid of philosophy, because philosophy is a sort of neurosis. Zen is for those intelligent enough to understand the limitations of the intellect and ready to recognize the significance of intuition in the world of mysticism.
Ancient Mysteries
by Peter James Nick ThorpeWhat was the Minotaur? Did a Welsh prince discover America? Did Robin Hood really exist? How does the Star of Bethlehem fit into the science of astronomy? Is the Vinland Map a fake? Can archaeologists use spirit messages to guide their work? For centuries, philosophers, scientists, and charlatans have attempted to decipher the baffling mysteries of our past, from the Stonehenge to the lost continent of Atlantis. Today, however, DNA testing, radiocarbon dating, and other cutting-edge investigative tools, together with a healthy dose of common sense, are guiding us closer to the truth. Peter James and Nick Thorpe, the professional historian and archaeologist team who created the acclaimed Ancient Inventions, now tackle these age-old conundrums, presenting the latest information from the scientific community--and the most startling challenges to traditional explanations of mysteries such as: - The rise and fall of the Maya - A lost cache of Dead Sea Scrolls - The curse of Tutankhamun - The devastation of Sodom and Gomorrah - The Nazca Lines These true mystery stories twist and turn like a good whodunit, as James and Thorpe present the evidence for and against the expert theories, shedding new light on humankind's age-old struggle to make sense of the past. The authors also make dramatic contributions of their own to the fray, demonstrating persuasively that catastrophic events--including the collisions of comets with the Earth long ago--could explain puzzles that have baffled experts for centuries. Ancient Mysteries will entertain and enlighten, delight the curious, and inform the serious.