Terra 2008

Terra 2008
Author: Leslie Rainer
Publisher: Getty Publications
Total Pages: 438
Release: 2011-06-14
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1606060430

Earthen architecture constitutes one of the most diverse forms of cultural heritage and one of the most challenging to preserve. It dates from all periods and is found on all continents but is particularly prevalent in Africa, where it has been a building tradition for centuries. Sites range from ancestral cities in Mali to the palaces of Abomey in Benin, from monuments and mosques in Iran and Buddhist temples on the Silk Road to Spanish missions in California. This volume's sixty-four papers address such themes as earthen architecture in Mali, the conservation of living sites, local knowledge systems and intangible aspects, seismic and other natural forces, the conservation and management of archaeological sites, research advances, and training.

Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century

Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century
Author: Bethwell A. Ogot
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 1088
Release: 1992
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780435948115

The result of years of work by scholars from all over the world, The UNESCO General History of Africa reflects how the different peoples of Africa view their civilizations and shows the historical relationships between the various parts of the continent. Historical connections with other continents demonstrate Africa's contribution to the development of human civilization. Each volume is lavishly illustrated and contains a comprehensive bibliography. This fifth volume of the acclaimed series covers the history of the continent from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the close of the eighteenth century in which two themes emerge: first, the continuing internal evolution of the states and cultures of Africa during this period second, the increasing involvement of Africa in external trade--with major but unforeseen consequences for the whole world. In North Africa, we see the Ottomans conquer Egypt. South of the Sahara, some of the larger, older states collapse, and new power bases emerge. Traditional religions continue to coexist with both Christianity (suffering setbacks) and Islam (in the ascendancy). Along the coast, particularly of West Africa, Europeans establish a trading network which, with the development of New World plantation agriculture, becomes the focus of the international slave trade. The immediate consequences of this trade for Africa are explored, and it is argued that the long-term global consequences include the foundation of the present world-economy with all its built-in inequalities.

Miscast

Miscast
Author: Pippa Skotnes
Publisher: University of Cape Town Press (ZA)
Total Pages: 394
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN:

In this book, eminent scholars explore the term 'Bushmen' and the relationships that gave rise to it, from the perspectives of anthropology, archaeology, comparative religion, literary studies, art history and musicology. Topics as diverse as trophy heads and museums, to the destruction of the Cape San, and appraisals of 19th-century photographic practices are examined.

A Grammar of Jahai

A Grammar of Jahai
Author: Niclas Burenhult
Publisher:
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2005
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN:

This book is a linguistic study of Jahai, a language belonging to the Northern Aslian subgroup of the Aslian branch of the Mon-Khmer language family. The language is spoken by groups of foragers in the mountain rainforests of northern Peninsular Malaysia and southernmost Thailand, its total number of speakers estimated at around 1,000. This study describes the grammar of Jahai, including its phonology, processes of word formation, word classes, and syntax. It also includes a word-list. While primarily aimed at linguistic description, the study makes use of suitable theoretical models for the analysis of linguistic features. In particular, models of Prosodic and Template Morphology are employed to describe the language's intricate processes of affixation. Typological comparisons are made at times, especially with other Aslian languages. The study is intended to expand our knowledge of the understudied Aslian languages. It is also intended to contribute to Mon-Khmer and Southeast Asian language studies in general, and, hopefully, also to a wider linguistic context. Furthermore, it may serve as a practical source of linguistic information for researchers and others working among the Northern Aslian speech communities.

The Intangible Elements of Culture in Ethnoarchaeological Research

The Intangible Elements of Culture in Ethnoarchaeological Research
Author: Stefano Biagetti
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2016-06-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319231537

This volume focuses on the intangible elements of human cultures, whose relevance in the study of archaeology has often been claimed but rarely practiced. In this book, the authors successfully show how the adoption of ethnoarchaeological perspectives on non-material aspects of cultures can support the development of methodologies aimed at refining the archaeological interpretation of ancient items, technologies, rituals, settlements and even landscape. The volume includes a series of new approaches that can foster the dialogue between archaeology and anthropology in the domain of the intangible knowledge of rural and urban communities. The role of ethnoarchaeology in the study of the intangible heritage is so far largely underexplored, and there is a considerable lack of ethnoarchaeological studies explicitly focused on the less tangible evidence of present and past societies. Fresh case studies will revitalize the theoretical debate around ethnoarchaeology and its applicability in the archaeological and heritage research in the new millennium. Over the past decade, ‘intangible’ has become a key word in anthropological research and in heritage management. Archaeological theories and methods regarding the explorations of the meaning and the significance of artifacts, resources, and settlement patterns are increasingly focusing on non-material evidence. Due to its peculiar characteristics, ethnoarchaeology can effectively foster the development of the study of the intangible cultural heritage of living societies, and highlight its relevance to the study of those of the past.

At the Edges of States

At the Edges of States
Author: Michael Eilenberg
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004253467

Set in West Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, this study explores the shifting relationships between border communities and the state along the political border with East Malaysia. The book rests on the premise that remote border regions offer an exciting study arena that can tell us important things about how marginal citizens relate to their nation-state. The basic assumption is that central state authority in the Indonesian borderlands has never been absolute, but waxes and wanes, and state rules and laws are always up for local interpretation and negotiation. In its role as key symbol of state sovereignty, the borderland has become a place were central state authorities are often most eager to govern and exercise power. But as illustrated, the borderland is also a place were state authority is most likely to be challenged, questioned and manipulated as border communities often have multiple loyalties that transcend state borders and contradict imaginations of the state as guardians of national sovereignty and citizenship.

Reason and Passion

Reason and Passion
Author: Michael G. Peletz
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 416
Release: 2023-11-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520326873

This book provides a historical and ethnographic examination of gender relations in Malay society, in particular in the well-known state of Negeri Sembilan, famous for its unusual mixture of Islam and matrilineal descent. Peletz analyzes the diverse ways in which the evocative, heavily gendered symbols of "reason" and "passion" are deployed by Malay Muslims. Unlike many studies of gender, this book elucidates the cultural and political processes implicated in the constitution of both feminine and masculine identity. It also scrutinizes the relationship between gender and kinship and weighs the role of ideology in everyday life. Peletz insists on the importance of examining gender systems not as social isolates, but in relation to other patterns of hierarchy and social difference. His study is historical and comparative; it also explores the political economy of contested symbols and meanings. More than a treatise on gender and social change in a Malay society, this book presents a valuable and deeply interesting model for the analysis of gender and culture by addressing issues of hegemony and cultural domination at the heart of contemporary cultural studies. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1996.

Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World

Early Exchange between Africa and the Wider Indian Ocean World
Author: Gwyn Campbell
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2016-12-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 3319338226

This volume comprises a selection of essays by scholars from a variety of disciplines that discuss the exchange relationship between Africa and the wider Indian Ocean world (IOW), a macro-region running from East Africa to China, from early times to about 1300 CE. The rationale for regarding this macro-region as a “world” is the central significance of the monsoon system which facilitated the early emergence of long-distance trans-IOW maritime exchange of commodities, peoples, plants, animals, technologies and ideas.