Merchants, Markets, and Exchange in the Pre-Columbian World

Merchants, Markets, and Exchange in the Pre-Columbian World
Author: Kenn Hirth
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Indians of Central America
ISBN: 9780884023869

This title examines the structure, scale and complexity of economic systems in the pre-Hispanic Americas, with a focus on the central highlands of Mexico, the Maya Lowlands and the central Andes.

Polynesians in America

Polynesians in America
Author: Terry L. Jones
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2011-01-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0759120064

The possibility that Polynesian seafarers made landfall and interacted with the native people of the New World before Columbus has been the topic of academic discussion for well over a century, although American archaeologists have considered the idea verboten since the 1970s. Fresh discoveries made with the aid of new technologies along with re-evaluation of longstanding but often-ignored evidence provide a stronger case than ever before for multiple prehistoric Polynesian landfalls. This book reviews the debate, evaluates theoretical trends that have discouraged consideration of trans-oceanic contacts, summarizes the historic evidence and supplements it with recent archaeological, linguistic, botanical, and physical anthropological findings. Written by leading experts in their fields, this is a must-have volume for archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and anyone else interested in the remarkable long-distance voyages made by Polynesians. The combined evidence is used to argue that that Polynesians almost certainly made landfall in southern South America on the coast of Chile, in northern South America in the vicinity of the Gulf of Guayaquil, and on the coast of southern California in North America.

Pre-Columbian Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador

Pre-Columbian Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador
Author: Colin McEwan
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection
Total Pages: 482
Release: 2021
Genre: Central America
ISBN: 9780884024705

Pre-Columbian Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador: Toward an Integrated Approach presents current research on the prehispanic indigenous peoples in the lands between Mesoamerica and the Andes. Specialists have contributed to this illustrated book on topics ranging from historical and theoretical perspectives to reports on recent excavations.

Making Value, Making Meaning

Making Value, Making Meaning
Author: Cathy Lynne Costin
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Handicraft
ISBN: 9780884024156

Making Value, Making Meaning explores the concept of techné--the application of a thorough and masterful knowledge of a specific field--as an analytic tool useful for understanding how the production process created value and meaning for objects and public monuments in complex societies of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and the Andes.

New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida

New Histories of Pre-Columbian Florida
Author: Neill J. Wallis
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780813062099

Given its pivotal location between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, its numerous islands, its abundant flora and fauna, and its subtropical climate, Florida has long been ideal for human habitation. Representing the next wave of southeastern archaeology, the essays in this book resoundingly argue that Florida is a crucial hub of archaeological inquiry. Contributors use new data to challenge well-worn models of environmental determinism and localized social contact. Themes of monumentality, human alterations of landscapes, the natural environment, ritual and mortuary practices, and coastal adaptations demonstrate the diversity, empirical richness, and broader anthropological significance of Florida's aboriginal past.

Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico

Pre-Columbian Literatures of Mexico
Author:
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 1986
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9780806119748

This volume presents ancient Mexican myths and sacred hymns, lyric poetry, rituals, drama, and various forms of prose, accompanied by informed criticism and comment. The selections come from the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Mixtecs and Zapotecs of Oaxaca, the Tarascans of Michoacan, the Otomís of central Mexico, and others. They have come down to us from inscriptions on stone, the codices, and accounts written, after the coming of Europeans, of oral traditions. It is Miguel León-Portilla’s intention "to bring to contemporary readers an understanding of the marvelous world of symbolism which is the very substance of these early literatures." That he has succeeded is obvious to every reader.

Pre-Columbian Landscapes of Creation and Origin

Pre-Columbian Landscapes of Creation and Origin
Author: John Staller
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2008-03-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 0387769102

Pre-Columbian Andean and Mesoamerican cultures have inspired a special fascination among historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, as well as the general public. As two of the earliest known and studied civilizations, their origin and creation mythologies hold a special interest. The existing and Pre-Columbian cultures from these regions are particularly known for having a strong connection with the natural landscape, and weaving it into their mythologies. A landscape approach to archaeology in these areas is uniquely useful shedding insight into their cultural beliefs, practices, and values. The ways in which these cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance influenced the settlement of the population, the construction of monuments, as well as their rituals and practices. This edited volume combines research on Pre-Columbian cultures throughout Mesoamerica and South America, examining their constructed monuments and ritual practices. It explores the foundations of these cultures, through both the creation mythologies of ancient societies as well as the tangible results of those beliefs. It offers insight on specific case studies, combining evidence from the archaeological record with sacred texts and ethnohistoric accounts. The patterns developed throughout this work shed insight on the effect that perceived sacredness can have on the development of culture and society. This comprehensive and much-needed work will be of interest to archaeologists and anthropologists focused on Pre-Columbian studies, as well as those in the fields of cultural or religious studies with a broader geographic focus.