Waves of Influence: Pacific Maritime Networks Connecting Mexico, Central America, and Northwestern South America (Dumbarto...

Waves of Influence: Pacific Maritime Networks Connecting Mexico, Central America, and Northwestern South America (Dumbarto...

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Waves of Influence brings fresh attention to connections among regions often seen as isolated from one another. Drawing upon recent models of globalization alongside methods such as computer simulation and iconographic analysis, authors present individual case studies to demonstrate how each region participated in its own distinct network.

 

Catawba Valley Mississippian: Ceramics, Chronology, and Catawba Indians

Catawba Valley Mississippian: Ceramics, Chronology, and Catawba Indians

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An excellent example of ethnohistory and archaeology working together, this model study reveals the origins of the Catawba Indians of North Carolina.By the 18th century, the modern Catawba Indians were living along the river and throughout the valley that bears their name near the present North Carolina-South Carolina border, but little was known of their history and origins. With this elegant study, David Moore proposes a model that bridges the archaeological record of the protohistoric Catawba Valley with written accounts of the Catawba Indians from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, thus providing an ethnogenesis theory for these Native Americans.Because the Catawba Confederacy had a long tradition of pottery making, dating ceramics and using them for temporal control was central to establishing a regional cultural chronology. Moore accomplishes this with a careful, thorough review and analysis of disparate data from the whole valley. His archaeological discoveries support documentary evidence of 16th century Spaniards in the region interacting with the resident Indians. By tracking the Spanish routes through the Catawba River valley and comparing their reported interactions with the native population with known archaeological sites and artifacts, he provides a firm chronological and spatial framework for Catawba Indian prehistory.With excellent artifact photographs and data-rich appendixes, this book is a model study that induces us to contemplate a Catawba genesis and homeland more significant than traditionally supposed. It will appeal to professional archaeologists concerned with many topics—Mississippian, Lamar, early historic Indians, de Soto, Pardo, and chiefdom studies—as well as to the broader public interested in the archaeology of the Carolinas.David G. Moore is Assistant Professor of Archaeology at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina.Additional reviews:On the whole, this book presents a very interesting perspective on an overlooked component of the larger Mississippian culture. The author has achieved his stated goals in advancing a cultural chronology for the Catawba River Valley and providing insight into recognizing Catawba Indian occupations. . . . Moore remains the authority on the Catawba Indians of the late prehistoric and early historic periods, and this book is the standard for work in that area.—Southeastern Archaeology

 

The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective

The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective

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The contributors to this volume examine how things are sold and traded in a variety of social and cultural settings, both present and past. Bridging the disciplines of social history, cultural anthropology, and economics, the volume marks a major step in our understanding of the cultural basis of economic life and the sociology of culture.

 

World Prehistory: A Brief Introduction

World Prehistory: A Brief Introduction

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This popular introductory textbook provides an overview of more than 3 million years of human prehistory. Written in an accessible and jargon-free style, this engaging volume tells the story of humanity from our beginnings in tropical Africa up to the advent of the world's first urban civilizations. A truly global account, World Prehistory surveys the latest advances in the study of human origins and describes the great diaspora of modern humans in the millennia which followed as they settled Europe, Asia and the Americas. Later chapters consider seminal milestones in prehistory: the origins of food production, the colonization of the offshore Pacific and the development of the first more complex human societies based, for the most part, on agriculture and stock raising. Finally, Fagan and Durrani examine the prevailing theories regarding early state-organized societies and the often flamboyant, usually volatile, pre-industrial civilizations which developed in the Old World and the Americas.Fully updated to reflect new research, controversies, and theoretical debates, this unique book continues to be an ideal resource for the beginner first approaching archaeology. Drawing on the experience of two established writers in the field, World Prehistory is a respected classic which acquaints students with the fascinations of human prehistory.

 

Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life

Unearthing the Bible: 101 Archaeological Discoveries That Bring the Bible to Life

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Who first recorded the creation of the world? What tools did people use in Bible times? When did the Israelites arrive and settle in Canaan? Who did Paul meet during his travels and ministry? The Bible is the most popular book in the world, yet there are many questions people ask as they seek evidence of its veracity. For truth seekers in search of physical evidence relating to the history of the world and the origin of faith, archaeology provides a rich treasure trove pointing toward the answers they seek.   In How Archaeology Confirms the Bible, Dr. Titus M. Kennedy presents 101 objects from more than 50 museums, private collections, and archaeological sites, to offer strong and compelling evidence for the historical accuracy of Scripture. Follow along the chronology of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, with artifacts from the Mesopotamian tablets that record creation to an inscription that mentions Pontius Pilate the governor. Examine inscriptions, coins, scarabs, tablets, papyri, stelae, reliefs, statues, altars, jewelry, weapons, tools, and pottery through vivid color photography. And learn how these artifacts not only demonstrate the historical reliability of the Bible but illuminate the ancient context for a more accurate understanding of God’s Word.  

 

Sacred Matter: Animacy and Authority in the Americas (Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Symposia and Colloquia)

Sacred Matter: Animacy and Authority in the Americas (Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Symposia and Colloquia)

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Sacred Matter: Animacy and Authority in the Americas examines animism in Pre-Columbian America, focusing on the central roles objects and places played in practices that expressed and sanctified political authority in the Andes, Amazon, and Mesoamerica.Pre-Columbian peoples staked claims to their authority when they animated matter by giving life to grandiose buildings, speaking with deified boulders, and killing valued objects. Likewise things and places often animated people by demanding labor, care, and nourishment. In these practices of animation, things were cast as active subjects, agents of political change, and representatives of communities. People were positioned according to specific social roles and stations: workers, worshippers, revolutionaries, tribute payers, or authorities. Such practices manifested political visions of social order by defining relationships between people, things, and the environment.Contributors to this volume present a range of perspectives (archaeological, art historical, ethnohistorical, and linguistic) to shed light on how Pre-Columbian social authority was claimed and sanctified in practices of transformation and transubstantiation—that is, practices that birthed, converted, or destroyed certain objects and places, as well as the social and natural order from which these things were said to emerge.

 

In Search of the Indo-Europeans

In Search of the Indo-Europeans

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What image do the Indo-Europeans conjure up? For many, it's one of horseriding warriors sweeping out of Asia, spreading their languages and culture with each clash of the sword. Certainly, linguistic history shows that most of the peoples of Europe, Iran and India share a common ancient language known today as Proto-Indo-European. Celts, Germans, Italians, Greeks, Albanians, Slavs, Indians and many peoples long extinct can all have their linguistic ancestry traced back to this mother tongue. But how far does the story told by languages match the historical and archaeological record? What do we know about the lives and beliefs of these early Indo-Europeans? And where was their original homeland? With the skill of a forensic scientist, Dr. Mallory traces the immediate origins of each of the Indo-European peoples of Europe and Asia. By comparing their languages he demonstrates their common cultural heritage, and through the technique of comparative mythology he examines their earliest beliefs. Then he puts the case for their most likely homeland and presents the archaeological and linguistic evidence for their expansion across Europe and Asia, a process that has in recent times carried Indo-European speakers to every corner of the world. Accompanied by extensive quotations from translated texts and fully illustrated with maps, diagrams and photographs, In Search of the Indo-Europeans is recognized as the standard work in its field.