The Lords of Tikal

The Lords of Tikal PDF Author: Peter D. Harrison
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500050941
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
The Maya metropolis of Tikal was once one of the greatest cities in the world, its skyline dominated by huge temple-pyramids. In ad 750 over 100,000 people lived here, in the heart of the Guatemalan rainforest. Today Tikal is a popular site on the Maya tourist itinerary. But why did the city flourish? What does its history reveal about Maya civilization? And why did Tikal collapse? Drawing upon over 30 years of excavation and research, some of it his own, Peter D. Harrison gives a vivid account of the turbulent story of Tikal from 800 bc to the late 9th century ad. Strategically located, the city was a trade centre, an architectural pioneer and a focal point of warfare. The apogee of power and wealth was achieved during the reign of the Jaguar Claw clan, who built the Great Temples, some with tombs of treasures that hint at the richness of life of the lords of Tikal. Illustrated with photographs of artefacts and objects found at the site, remaining structures and a reconstruction of a Tikal king in full regalia, Peter D. Harrison offers a summary of what is known to date of this romantic, mysterious city and its rulers.

The Lords of Tikal

The Lords of Tikal PDF Author: Peter D. Harrison
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 9780500050941
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Maya metropolis of Tikal was once one of the greatest cities in the world, its skyline dominated by huge temple-pyramids. In ad 750 over 100,000 people lived here, in the heart of the Guatemalan rainforest. Today Tikal is a popular site on the Maya tourist itinerary. But why did the city flourish? What does its history reveal about Maya civilization? And why did Tikal collapse? Drawing upon over 30 years of excavation and research, some of it his own, Peter D. Harrison gives a vivid account of the turbulent story of Tikal from 800 bc to the late 9th century ad. Strategically located, the city was a trade centre, an architectural pioneer and a focal point of warfare. The apogee of power and wealth was achieved during the reign of the Jaguar Claw clan, who built the Great Temples, some with tombs of treasures that hint at the richness of life of the lords of Tikal. Illustrated with photographs of artefacts and objects found at the site, remaining structures and a reconstruction of a Tikal king in full regalia, Peter D. Harrison offers a summary of what is known to date of this romantic, mysterious city and its rulers.

Tikal

Tikal PDF Author: John Montgomery
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
This concise illustrated volume recounts Tikal's rise from prehistoric obscurity to unparalleled success at the height of Maya Civilisation, as well as its spectacular collapse and abandonment. Through the many hieroglyphic inscriptions, grave gifts from tombs, and a rich architectural and artistic legacy, the book recreates the political, and social life of the city and of the Maya in general.

Patron Gods and Patron Lords

Patron Gods and Patron Lords PDF Author: Joanne Baron
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 1607325187
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
In the first comprehensive treatment of Classic Maya patron deity veneration, Joanne P. Baron demonstrates the central importance of patron deity cults in political relationships between both rulers and their subjects and among different Maya kingdoms. Weaving together evidence from inscriptions, images, and artifacts, Patron Gods and Patron Lords provides new insights into how the Classic Maya polity was organized and maintained. Using semiotic theory, Baron draws on three bodies of evidence: ethnographies and manuscripts from Postclassic, Colonial, and modern Maya communities that connect patron saints to pre-Columbian patron gods; hieroglyphic texts from the Classic period that discuss patron deity veneration; and excavations from four patron deity temples at the site of La Corona, Guatemala. She shows how the Classic Maya used patron deity effigies, temples, and acts of devotion to negotiate group membership, social entitlements, and obligations between individuals and communities. She also explores the wider role of these processes in politics, arguing that rituals and discourses related to patron deities ultimately formulated Maya rulership as a locally oriented institution, which limited the ability of powerful kingdoms to create wider religious communities. Applying a new theoretical approach for the archaeological study of ideology and power dynamics, Patron Gods and Patron Lords reveals an overlooked aspect of the belief system of Maya communities.

The Age of Everything

The Age of Everything PDF Author: Matthew Hedman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226322947
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
Taking advantage of recent advances throughout the sciences, Matthew Hedman brings the distant past closer to us than it has ever been. Here, he shows how scientists have determined the age of everything from the colonization of the New World over 13,000 years ago to the origin of the universe nearly fourteen billion years ago. Hedman details, for example, how interdisciplinary studies of the Great Pyramids of Egypt can determine exactly when and how these incredible structures were built. He shows how the remains of humble trees can illuminate how the surface of the sun has changed over the past ten millennia. And he also explores how the origins of the earth, solar system, and universe are being discerned with help from rocks that fall from the sky, the light from distant stars, and even the static seen on television sets. Covering a wide range of time scales, from the Big Bang to human history, The Age of Everything is a provocative and far-ranging look at how science has determined the age of everything from modern mammals to the oldest stars, and will be indispensable for all armchair time travelers. “We are used to being told confidently of an enormous, measurable past: that some collection of dusty bones is tens of thousands of years old, or that astronomical bodies have an age of some billions. But how exactly do scientists come to know these things? That is the subject of this quite fascinating book. . . . As told by Hedman, an astronomer, each story is a marvel of compressed exegesis that takes into account some of the most modern and intriguing hypotheses.”—Steven Poole, Guardian “Hedman is worth reading because he is careful to present both the power and peril of trying to extract precise chronological data. These are all very active areas of study, and as you read Hedman you begin to see how researchers have to be both very careful and incredibly audacious, and how much of our understanding of ourselves—through history, through paleontology, through astronomy—depends on determining the age of everything.”—Anthony Doerr, Boston Globe

2000 Years of Mayan Literature

2000 Years of Mayan Literature PDF Author: Dennis Tedlock
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520271378
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 481

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Book Description
A chronological survey of Mayan literature, covering two thousand years, from the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions to later works using the Roman alphabet.

The Winds of Change

The Winds of Change PDF Author: Eugene Linden
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0684863529
Category : Climate and civilization
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Are we better prepared than our ancestors were to deal with climate change? Explaining fast-changing science, Linden suggests that man must learn from the past to avoid a coming catastrophe. Illustrations throughout.

The World of the Ancient Maya

The World of the Ancient Maya PDF Author: John S. Henderson
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801482847
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Theirs was one of the few complex societies to emerge in and to adapt successfully to a tropical-forest environment. Their architecture, sculpture, and painting were sophisticated and compellingly beautiful.

Heart of the World

Heart of the World PDF Author: H. Rider Haggard
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 309

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Book Description
"Heart of the World" by H. Rider Haggard. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World

Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World PDF Author: Lynn V. Foster
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195183634
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
This comprehensive and accessible reference explores the greatest and most mysterious of civilizations, hailed for its contributions to science, mathematics, and technology. Each chapter is supplemented by an extensive bibliography as well as photos, original line drawings, and maps.

Understanding Graffiti

Understanding Graffiti PDF Author: Troy R Lovata
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315416115
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
This collection of original articles brings together for the first time the research on graffiti from a wide range of geographical and chronological contexts and shows how they are interpreted in various fields. Examples range as widely as medieval European cliff carvings to tags on New York subway cars to messages left in library bathrooms. In total, the authors legitimize the study of graffiti as a multidisciplinary pursuit that can produce useful knowledge of individuals, cultures, and nations. The chapters-represent 20 authors from six countries; -offer perspectives of disciplines as diverse as archaeology, history, art history, museum studies, and sociology;-elicit common themes of authority and its subversion, the identity work of subcultures and countercultures, and presentation of privilege and status.