The Iberians inhabited southern and eastern Spain between the Greek and Phoenician colonisation, beginning in the eighth century BC, and the Roman conquest. This was a period of significant changes in native Spanish societies, and the emergence of urbanism and the adoption of ideological symbols and technological innovations from the colonists created an important and unique Iron Age culture. In this 1998 book, Arturo Ruiz and Manuel Molinos offer the first synthesis of the period for more than thirty years, and cover a number of topics: ways in which material culture can help to explain cultural change, ethnicity, and ethnic conflict, and the decline of the Iberian world following the Punic Wars and Roman colonization. The result is a sophisticated, theoretically informed case study of cultural change within a specific complex society.
Renowned for their monumental architecture and rich visual culture, the Moche inhabited the north coast of Peru during the Early Intermediate Period (AD 100-800). Archaeological discoveries over the
Staniforth, (Flinders U., Australia) has been involved personally in excavating many shipwreck sites in Australia, but here he offers synthesis, analysis, interpretation, and explanation rather than a
This book gives evidence of the proliferation of successful multidisciplinary collaborations among researchers in museums, universities and laboratories. These studies use the methods and techniques of materials research to understand degradation and design strategies and promote long-term preservation of material culture and cultural heritage, e.g., works of art, culturally significant artifacts, and archaeological sites and complexes and their environments. Preserving cultural heritage includes developing a critical understanding of how our predecessors used technology and craft to solve problems of survival and organization and make the symbols or representations of what was important to them. The book also discloses patterns of technology-transfer from one field to another and provides evaluation tools and skills so that preservation expectations may be based on performance criteria and life histories of the constituent materials. Topics include: technical art history; conservation
"This excellent book by Bjørnar Olsen provides us with the best critical survey of material culture studies currently available. He also shows how writing about `things' from an archaeologi
Over the last thirty years issues of culture, identity and meaning have moved out of the academic sphere to become central to politics and society at all levels from the local to the global. Archaeolo
The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1076–664 BCE) has been characterised previously by political and social changes based upon the introduction of Libyan social and cultural influences. In this book, James Bennett analyses the concepts of 'transition' and 'continuity' within the cultural and societal environment of Egypt during the Third Intermediate Period and provides an up-to-date synthesis of current research on the settlement archaeology of the period. This is done through the assessment of settlement patterns and their development, the built environment of the settlements, and their associated material culture. Through this analysis, Bennett identifies several interconnected themes within the culture and society of the Twenty-First to Twenty-Fifth Dynasties. They are closely related to the political and economic powers of different regions, the nucleation of settlements and people, self-sufficiency at a collective and individual level, defence, both physical and spiritual, re
For 2,000 years and more, the Bible and its precepts have shaped world culture and civilization, whether Judeo-Christian or not. The Bible is a touchstone of religious belief, literary accomplishment,
This book offers a global perspective on the role food has played in shaping human societies, through both individual and collective identities. It integrates ethnographic and archaeological case studies from the European and Near Eastern Neolithic, Han China, ancient Cahokia, Classic Maya, the Inka and many other periods and regions, to ask how the meal in particular has acted as a social agent in the formation of society, economy, culture and identity. Drawing on a range of social theorists, Hastorf provides a theoretical toolkit essential for any archaeologist interested in foodways. Studying the social life of food, this book engages with taste, practice, the meal and the body to discuss power, identity, gender and meaning that creates our world as it created past societies.
Situated between the worlds of the Near East, Europe and Africa, the archaeology and culture of Cyprus are central to an understanding of the ancient Mediterranean world. This book treats the archaeology of Cyprus from the first-known human presence during the Late Epipalaeolithic (c.11,000 BC) through the end of the Bronze Age (c.1000 BC). A. Bernard Knapp examines the archaeological and documentary records of prehistoric Cyprus within their regional context, paying special attention to the Levant and the Aegean. The appendix (compiled by Sturt W. Manning) analyses all published radiocarbon dates from the island, providing for the first time a comprehensive chronological framework for all of Cypriot prehistory. Focusing on key themes such as identity, insularity and connectivity, and society, community and polity throughout, this book provides a remarkably up-to-date and integrated synthesis of human activity on the Mediterranean's third-largest island.
This book offers a global perspective on the role food has played in shaping human societies, through both individual and collective identities. It integrates ethnographic and archaeological case studies from the European and Near Eastern Neolithic, Han China, ancient Cahokia, Classic Maya, the Inka and many other periods and regions, to ask how the meal in particular has acted as a social agent in the formation of society, economy, culture and identity. Drawing on a range of social theorists, Hastorf provides a theoretical toolkit essential for any archaeologist interested in foodways. Studying the social life of food, this book engages with taste, practice, the meal and the body to discuss power, identity, gender and meaning that creates our world as it created past societies.
Style, Society, and Person integrates the diverse current and past understandings of the causes of style in material culture. It comprehensively surveys the many factors that cause style; reviews theo
Peruvian Prehistory offers an authoritative survey of the cultural evolution of Peru from the appearance of the first inhabitants around 10,000 BC to the arrival of the Spanish in 1534. The book is divided chronologically into three main parts, which examine in turn the highland and lowland zones in the Preceramic and Initial periods; the development of complex society at Chavin, Tiwanaku and Fluari and in the Moche and Nazca cultures; and the culmination of this process, the Pan-Andean empire of the Incas, and the way this can be studied through a combination of archaeology and ethnohistoric research. A fourth, concluding section deals with the often neglected tropical forest region of Peru and its formative influence on the evolution of Andean culture. The first collective assessment of Peruvian archaeology for a generation, this volume traces the processes of political, social and economic change in Andean civilisation in a manner that will attract many with no specialist interest i
Material culture surrounds us and yet is habitually overlooked. So integral is it to our everyday lives that we take it for granted. This attitude has also afflicted the academic analysis of material
Han Material Culture is an analysis of Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) Chinese archaeology based on a comparison of the forms of vessels found in positively dated tombs. The resultant chronological framework allows for the cross dating of tombs across China, of which approximately one thousand are documented here. In the context of this body of data, the development of not only vessel types but also tomb structure and decor is reevaluated, together with the pervasive intercultural exchange visible in all areas of this material. The Han dynasty emerges as a creative, surprisingly open society, heir to the Bronze Age and herald of what might be called the Age of Ceramics.
Recent symbolic and social analyses have drawn much attention to the role of material culture in human society, emphasising the representational and ideological aspects of the material world. These studies have, nonetheless, often overlooked how the very physicality of material culture and our material surroundings make them unique and distinctive from text and discourse. In this book, Boivin explores how the physicality of the material world shapes our thoughts, emotions, cosmological frameworks, social relations and even our bodies. Focusing on the agency of material culture, she draws on the work of a diverse range of thinkers, from Marx and Merleau-Ponty to Darwin, while highlighting a wide selection of studies in archaeology, cultural anthropology, history, cognitive science and evolutionary biology. She asks what is distinctive about material culture compared to other aspects of human culture and presents a comprehensive overview of material agency that has much to offer to both
Recent symbolic and social analyses have drawn much attention to the role of material culture in human society, emphasising the representational and ideological aspects of the material world. These studies have, nonetheless, often overlooked how the very physicality of material culture and our material surroundings make them unique and distinctive from text and discourse. In this book, Boivin explores how the physicality of the material world shapes our thoughts, emotions, cosmological frameworks, social relations and even our bodies. Focusing on the agency of material culture, she draws on the work of a diverse range of thinkers, from Marx and Merleau-Ponty to Darwin, while highlighting a wide selection of studies in archaeology, cultural anthropology, history, cognitive science and evolutionary biology. She asks what is distinctive about material culture compared to other aspects of human culture and presents a comprehensive overview of material agency that has much to offer to both
"Growing Up in Ancient Israel uses a child-centered methodology to investigate the world of children in ancient Israel. Where sources from ancient Israel are lacking, the book turns to cross-cultural
