Ecology and the Arts in Ancient Panama

Ecology and the Arts in Ancient Panama
Author: Olga F. Linares
Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks
Total Pages: 92
Release: 1977
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780884020691

Linares reinterprets the Classic rank-societies of the central Panamanian provinces using archaeological, ecological, iconographic, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic evidence, and concludes that the art of this area used animal motifs as a metaphor for the qualities of aggression and hostility characteristic of local social and political life.

The Angry Earth

The Angry Earth
Author: Anthony Oliver-Smith
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 351
Release: 1999-11-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1136755586

From hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes to oil spills and nuclear accidents, natural and technological disasters have become increasingly frequent and destructive across the planet. This ground-breaking collection of essays explores how various cultures in different historical moments have responded to calamity, offering new insights into the comp

Chiefdoms

Chiefdoms
Author: Timothy K. Earle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 360
Release: 1993-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780521448963

These eleven case studies of different chiefdoms examine how ruling elites retain and legitimize their power.

Goldwork and Shamanism

Goldwork and Shamanism
Author: Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff
Publisher: Villegas Asociados
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2005
Genre: Colombia
ISBN: 9588156610

Classic study with photos of gold artifacts. Book by Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia scholar Reichel-Dolmatoff with studies of the mysterious rituals of what was undoubtedly the most important aspect of the life of the ancient ethnic communities of El Dorado: the decisive role of the Shamans and their hallucinatory world of magic and religion. The book analyses the spiritual dimensions of these cultures and the natural wisdom of century-old secrets along lavish full-page color images of the enigmatic and beautiful gold objects still known today as "gold of the ancients" that skillful craftsmen wrought for ritual use.

Reader in Archaeological Theory

Reader in Archaeological Theory
Author: David S. Whitley
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 370
Release: 1998
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780415141604

This Reader in Archaeological Theory presents sixteen articles of key theoretical significance, in a format which makes this notoriously complex area easier for students to understand. This volume: * provides an intellectual history of different approaches to archaeology which contextualizes the complex traditions of cognitive archaeology and postprocessualism on which it focuses * organizes theories of archaeology, the meanings of things, the prehistoric mind and cognition, gender, ideology and social theory and archaeology's relationship to today's society and politics * includes lucid section introductions to each section which provide context, explain why the papers are so significant and summarize their key points * emphasizes research from the 'New World', making archaeological theory especially relevant and accessible to students in North America

The Taking and Displaying of Human Body Parts as Trophies by Amerindians

The Taking and Displaying of Human Body Parts as Trophies by Amerindians
Author: Richard J. Chacon
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 694
Release: 2007-08-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0387483039

This edited volume mainly focuses on the practice of taking and displaying various body parts as trophies in both North and South America. The editors and contributors (which include Native Peoples from both continents) examine the evidence and causes of Amerindian trophy taking. Additionally, they present objectively and discuss dispassionately the topic of human proclivity toward ritual violence. This book fills the gap in literature on this subject.

Bronze Age Economics

Bronze Age Economics
Author: Timothy Earle
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2018-02-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429981627

"Timothy Earle has set out to offer the most comprehensive view now available of the economic foundations of early societies, and it may well be that he has succeeded. Bronze Age Economics is a pioneering contribution to archaeological theory." —Colin Renfrew, University of Cambridge

World Military History Bibliography

World Military History Bibliography
Author: Barton Hacker
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 847
Release: 2003-06-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9047402103

Preclassical and indigenous nonwestern military institutions and methods of warfare are the chief subjects of this annotated bibliography of work published 1967–1997. Classical antiquity, post-Roman Europe, and the westernized armed forces of the 20th century, although covered, receive less systematic attention. Emphasis is on historical studies of military organization and the relationships between military and other social institutions, rather than wars and battles. Especially rich in references to the periodical literature, the bibliography is divided into eight parts: (1) general and comparative topics; (2) the ancient world; (3) Eurasia since antiquity; (4) sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania; (5) pre-Columbian America; (6) postcontact America; (7) the contemporary nonwestern world; and (8) philosophical, social scientific, natural scientific, and other works not primarily historical.

Multiscalar Approaches to Studying Social Organization and Change in the Isthmo-Colombian Area

Multiscalar Approaches to Studying Social Organization and Change in the Isthmo-Colombian Area
Author: Scott D. Palumbo
Publisher: Center for Comparative Arch
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2013-11-04
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1877812927

Chapters offer new understandings of how ranked societies emerged and developed in prehistoric southern Central America and northern South America (the "Isthmo-Colombian Area"). The emphasis is on integrating the results of studies of social units at a range of different scales from the household to the local commuity to the region and beyond. Complete text in English and Spanish.