Yumi Park Huntington, Dean E. Arnold, and Johanna Minich (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780813056067
- eISBN:
- 9780813053820
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813056067.001.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Ceramics of Ancient America analyzes ceramics specifically from ancient America to add new layers to our understanding by emphasizing new perspectives and a multidisciplinary approach from the fields ...
More
Ceramics of Ancient America analyzes ceramics specifically from ancient America to add new layers to our understanding by emphasizing new perspectives and a multidisciplinary approach from the fields of archaeology, art history, and anthropology. Scholars have studied ceramic objects in these disciplines using various methodologies. So far, however, no publication has combined these different scholarly approaches to analyze Pre-Columbian ceramics to understand aspects of many different ancient societies across the Americas. This book thus will provide a much-needed compendium, survey, and synthesis of current scholarship of New World ceramics by drawing on a combination of three different disciplines. This volume will help students and scholars alike better understand and appreciate ceramics as one of the vital forms of communication within small social units, and across cultural and political boundaries. Although three different disciplines have approached the study of ceramics using different methodologies, this book will be the first to utilize them in a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary way to contribute to a more complete picture of Pre-Columbian ceramics and their place in society. The study of ceramics has already been recognized as a fundamental tool for understanding Pre-Columbian beliefs about daily life, reconstructing social systems, and assessing inter- and intra- cultural political relationships. The contributors to this book, however, explore social implications, iconography, trade, variations of regional style, innovation, ritual, and political meanings from numerous cultures in North, Central, and South America that are relevant to the study of ceramics anywhere, but particularly in ancient America.Less
Ceramics of Ancient America analyzes ceramics specifically from ancient America to add new layers to our understanding by emphasizing new perspectives and a multidisciplinary approach from the fields of archaeology, art history, and anthropology. Scholars have studied ceramic objects in these disciplines using various methodologies. So far, however, no publication has combined these different scholarly approaches to analyze Pre-Columbian ceramics to understand aspects of many different ancient societies across the Americas. This book thus will provide a much-needed compendium, survey, and synthesis of current scholarship of New World ceramics by drawing on a combination of three different disciplines. This volume will help students and scholars alike better understand and appreciate ceramics as one of the vital forms of communication within small social units, and across cultural and political boundaries. Although three different disciplines have approached the study of ceramics using different methodologies, this book will be the first to utilize them in a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary way to contribute to a more complete picture of Pre-Columbian ceramics and their place in society. The study of ceramics has already been recognized as a fundamental tool for understanding Pre-Columbian beliefs about daily life, reconstructing social systems, and assessing inter- and intra- cultural political relationships. The contributors to this book, however, explore social implications, iconography, trade, variations of regional style, innovation, ritual, and political meanings from numerous cultures in North, Central, and South America that are relevant to the study of ceramics anywhere, but particularly in ancient America.
Dean E. Arnold, Yumi Park Huntington, and Johanna Minich
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780813056067
- eISBN:
- 9780813053820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813056067.003.0001
- Subject:
- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology
Clay is the most malleable raw material used by many cultures across the world. Its fired product, ceramics, are commonly studied by archaeologists, art historians, and anthropologists. This ...
More
Clay is the most malleable raw material used by many cultures across the world. Its fired product, ceramics, are commonly studied by archaeologists, art historians, and anthropologists. This introductory chapter describes the various perspectives and how these disciplines study the ceramics of ancient America and the cultures that produced them. Bringing together a variety of approaches and terminologies used by these three disciplines, this chapter reveals the complementarity of the differences of these varied approaches. Since ceramic objects constitute part of the history and identity of a specific group of people, it is also important to consider the archaeological ethics of studying Pre-Columbian ceramics, especially how archaeologists and art historians perform authentication and respect cultural heritage. Summarizing the unique properties of ceramics, the operational sequences of their production, and considerations of both human and material agency, the chapter also shows how recognizing various ceramic production sequences (chaîn opératoire) enables reconstruction of ancient societies through different disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of ceramics than possible with any single discipline.Less
Clay is the most malleable raw material used by many cultures across the world. Its fired product, ceramics, are commonly studied by archaeologists, art historians, and anthropologists. This introductory chapter describes the various perspectives and how these disciplines study the ceramics of ancient America and the cultures that produced them. Bringing together a variety of approaches and terminologies used by these three disciplines, this chapter reveals the complementarity of the differences of these varied approaches. Since ceramic objects constitute part of the history and identity of a specific group of people, it is also important to consider the archaeological ethics of studying Pre-Columbian ceramics, especially how archaeologists and art historians perform authentication and respect cultural heritage. Summarizing the unique properties of ceramics, the operational sequences of their production, and considerations of both human and material agency, the chapter also shows how recognizing various ceramic production sequences (chaîn opératoire) enables reconstruction of ancient societies through different disciplines. This multidisciplinary approach provides a more comprehensive understanding of ceramics than possible with any single discipline.
Charles Stanish
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520232457
- eISBN:
- 9780520928190
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520232457.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Latin American Cultural Anthropology
One of the richest and most complex civilizations in ancient America evolved around Lake Titicaca in southern Peru and northern Bolivia. This book is a comprehensive synthesis of four thousand years ...
More
One of the richest and most complex civilizations in ancient America evolved around Lake Titicaca in southern Peru and northern Bolivia. This book is a comprehensive synthesis of four thousand years of prehistory for the entire Titicaca region. It is a story of the transition from hunting and gathering to early agriculture, to the formation of the Tiwanaku and Pucara civilizations, and to the double conquest of the region, first by the powerful neighboring Inca in the fifteenth century and a century later by the Spanish Crown. Based on more than fifteen years of field research in Peru and Bolivia, the book brings together a wide range of ethnographic, historical, and archaeological data, including material not previously published. It brings together intimate knowledge of the ethnography and archaeology in this region to bear on major theoretical concerns in evolutionary anthropology. The book provides a broad comparative framework for evaluating how these complex societies developed. After giving an overview of the region's archaeology and cultural history, it discusses the history of archaeological research in the Titicaca Basin, as well as its geography, ecology, and ethnography. The book then synthesizes the data from six archaeological periods in the Titicaca Basin within an evolutionary anthropological framework. Titicaca Basin prehistory has long been viewed through the lens of Inca intellectuals and the Spanish state. This book demonstrates that the ancestors of the Aymara people of the Titicaca Basin rivaled the Incas in wealth, sophistication, and cultural genius.Less
One of the richest and most complex civilizations in ancient America evolved around Lake Titicaca in southern Peru and northern Bolivia. This book is a comprehensive synthesis of four thousand years of prehistory for the entire Titicaca region. It is a story of the transition from hunting and gathering to early agriculture, to the formation of the Tiwanaku and Pucara civilizations, and to the double conquest of the region, first by the powerful neighboring Inca in the fifteenth century and a century later by the Spanish Crown. Based on more than fifteen years of field research in Peru and Bolivia, the book brings together a wide range of ethnographic, historical, and archaeological data, including material not previously published. It brings together intimate knowledge of the ethnography and archaeology in this region to bear on major theoretical concerns in evolutionary anthropology. The book provides a broad comparative framework for evaluating how these complex societies developed. After giving an overview of the region's archaeology and cultural history, it discusses the history of archaeological research in the Titicaca Basin, as well as its geography, ecology, and ethnography. The book then synthesizes the data from six archaeological periods in the Titicaca Basin within an evolutionary anthropological framework. Titicaca Basin prehistory has long been viewed through the lens of Inca intellectuals and the Spanish state. This book demonstrates that the ancestors of the Aymara people of the Titicaca Basin rivaled the Incas in wealth, sophistication, and cultural genius.
