Archaeology in the Lowland American Tropics

Archaeology in the Lowland American Tropics PDF Author: Peter W. Stahl
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521444866
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
This volume explore problems faced by archaeologists in the difficult conditions of the lowland American tropics.

Archaeology in the Lowland American Tropics

Archaeology in the Lowland American Tropics PDF Author: Peter W. Stahl
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521444866
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
This volume explore problems faced by archaeologists in the difficult conditions of the lowland American tropics.

Encyclopedia of Prehistory

Encyclopedia of Prehistory PDF Author: Peter N. Peregrine
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461505259
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 486

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Book Description
The Encyclopedia of Prehistory represents temporal dimension. Major traditions are an attempt to provide basic information also defined by a somewhat different set of on all archaeologically known cultures, sociocultural characteristics than are eth covering the entire globe and the entire nological cultures. Major traditions are prehistory of humankind. It is designed as defined based on common subsistence a tool to assist in doing comparative practices, sociopolitical organization, and research on the peoples of the past. Most material industries, but language, ideology, of the entries are written by the world's and kinship ties play little or no part in foremost experts on the particular areas their definition because they are virtually and time periods. unrecoverable from archaeological con The Encyclopedia is organized accord texts. In contrast, language, ideology, and ing to major traditions. A major tradition kinship ties are central to defining ethno is defined as a group of populations sharing logical cultures. similar subsistence practices, technology, There are three types of entries in the and forms of sociopolitical organization, Encyclopedia: the major tradition entry, which are spatially contiguous over a rela the regional subtradition entry, and the tively large area and which endure tempo site entry. Each contains different types of rally for a relatively long period. Minimal information, and each is intended to be areal coverage for a major tradition can used in a different way.

Handbook of South American Archaeology

Handbook of South American Archaeology PDF Author: Helaine Silverman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387752280
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1228

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Book Description
Perhaps the contributions of South American archaeology to the larger field of world archaeology have been inadequately recognized. If so, this is probably because there have been relatively few archaeologists working in South America outside of Peru and recent advances in knowledge in other parts of the continent are only beginning to enter larger archaeological discourse. Many ideas of and about South American archaeology held by scholars from outside the area are going to change irrevocably with the appearance of the present volume. Not only does the Handbook of South American Archaeology (HSAA) provide immense and broad information about ancient South America, the volume also showcases the contributions made by South Americans to social theory. Moreover, one of the merits of this volume is that about half the authors (30) are South Americans, and the bibliographies in their chapters will be especially useful guides to Spanish and Portuguese literature as well as to the latest research. It is inevitable that the HSAA will be compared with the multi-volume Handbook of South American Indians (HSAI), with its detailed descriptions of indigenous peoples of South America, that was organized and edited by Julian Steward. Although there are heroic archaeological essays in the HSAI, by the likes of Junius Bird, Gordon Willey, John Rowe, and John Murra, Steward states frankly in his introduction to Volume Two that “arch- ology is included by way of background” to the ethnographic chapters.

Archaeology

Archaeology PDF Author: Barry W. Cunliffe
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780197262559
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 652

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Book Description
Twenty-six leading scholars from around the world have come together to celebrate the strengths, the energies and the sheer intellectual excitement of their discipline. They unashamedly proclaim that over the last hundred years archaeology has transformed itself from a genteel antiquarianpursuit, deeply rooted in the classical tradition, to a rigorous and demanding discipline, spanning the humanities and the sciences, yet at the same time one widely accessible to the public at large. The contributors show how our understanding of the past has changed, reveal the exciting ideas under current debate, and offer their visions of the future.The result is a remarkable overview of world archaeology, focusing on new and unexpected themes at the cutting edge of the discipline.

Documenting Domestication

Documenting Domestication PDF Author: Melinda A. Zeder
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520932420
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 377

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Book Description
Agriculture is the lever with which humans transformed the earth over the last 10,000 years and created new forms of plant and animal species that have forever altered the face of the planet. In the last decade, significant technological and methodological advances in both molecular biology and archaeology have revolutionized the study of plant and animal domestication and are reshaping our understanding of the transition from foraging to farming, one of the major turning points in human history. This groundbreaking volume for the first time brings together leading archaeologists and biologists working on the domestication of both plants and animals to consider a wide variety of archaeological and genetic approaches to tracing the origin and dispersal of domesticates. It provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in this quickly changing field as well as reviews of recent findings on specific crop and livestock species in the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa. Offering a unique global perspective, it explores common challenges and potential avenues for future progress in documenting domestication.

The Tutu Archaeological Village Site

The Tutu Archaeological Village Site PDF Author: Elizabeth Righter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134552696
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
Excavations at the Tutu site represent a dramatic chapter in the annals of Caribbean archaeological excavation. The site was discovered in 1990 during the initial site clearing for a shopping mall in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The site was excavated with the assistance of a team of professional archaeologists and volunteers. Utilizing resources and funds donated by the local scientific communities, the project employed a multidisciplinary sampling strategy designed to recover material for analysis by experts in fields such as anthropology, archaeology, palaeobotany, zooarchaeology, bioarchaeology, palaeopathology and photo imaging. This volume reports the results of these various applied analytical techniques laying a solid foundation for future comparative studies of prehistoric Caribbean human populations and cultures.

Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology

Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology PDF Author: Elizabeth Reitz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9780387713960
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
This book highlights studies addressing significant anthropological issues in the Americas from the perspective of environmental archaeology. The book uses case studies to resolve questions related to human behavior in the past rather than to demonstrate the application of methods. Each chapter is an original or revised work by an internationally-recognized scientist. This second edition is based on the 1996 book of the same title. The editors have invited back a number of contributors from the first edition to revise and update their chapter. New studies are included in order to cover recent developments in the field or additional pertinent topics.

Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany

Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany PDF Author: Amber VanDerwarker
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1441909354
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
In recent years, scholars have emphasized the need for more holistic subsistence analyses, and collaborative publications towards this endeavor have become more numerous in the literature. However, there are relatively few attempts to qualitatively integrate zooarchaeological (animal) and paleoethnobotanical (plant) data, and even fewer attempts to quantitatively integrate these two types of subsistence evidence. Given the vastly different methods used in recovering and quantifying these data, not to mention their different preservational histories, it is no wonder that so few have undertaken this problem. Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany takes the lead in tackling this important issue by addressing the methodological limitations of data integration, proposing new methods and innovative ways of using established methods, and highlighting case studies that successfully employ these methods to shed new light on ancient foodways. The volume challenges the perception that plant and animal foodways are distinct and contends that the separation of the analysis of archaeological plant and animal remains sets up a false dichotomy between these portions of the diet. In advocating qualitative and quantitative data integration, the volume establishes a clear set of methods for (1) determining the suitability of data integration in any particular case, and (2) carrying out an integrated qualitative or quantitative approach.

Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology

Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology PDF Author: William Balée
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231509618
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
This collection of studies by anthropologists, botanists, ecologists, and biologists is an important contribution to the emerging field of historical ecology. The book combines cutting-edge research with new perspectives to emphasize the close relationship between humans and their natural environment. Contributors examine how alterations in the natural world mirror human cultures, societies, and languages. Treating the landscape like a text, these researchers decipher patterns and meaning in the Ecuadorian Andes, Amazonia, the desert coast of Peru, and other regions in the neotropics. They show how local peoples have changed the landscape over time to fit their needs by managing and modifying species diversity, enhancing landscape heterogeneity, and controlling ecological disturbance. In turn, the environment itself becomes a form of architecture rich with historical and archaeological significance. Time and Complexity in Historical Ecology explores thousands of years of ecological history while also addressing important contemporary issues, such as biodiversity and genetic variation and change. Engagingly written and expertly researched, this book introduces and exemplifies a unique method for better understanding the link between humans and the biosphere.

Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change

Tropical Rainforest Responses to Climatic Change PDF Author: John Flenley
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540488421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
This is the first book to examine how tropical rain forest ecology is altered by climate change, rather than simply seeing how plant communities were altered. The book’s goal is to provide a current overview of the impacts of climate change on tropical forests. It aims to investigate past, present, and future climatic influences on the ecosystems with the highest biodiversity on the planet.