The Archaeology of Kinship

The Archaeology of Kinship PDF Author: Bradley E. Ensor
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816599262
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391

Get Book Here

Book Description
Archaeology has been subjected to a wide range of misunderstandings of kinship theory and many of its central concepts. Demonstrating that kinship is the foundation for past societies’ social organization, particularly in non-state societies, Bradley E. Ensor offers a lucid presentation of kinship principles and theories accessible to a broad audience. He provides not only descriptions of what the principles entail but also an understanding of their relevance to past and present topics of interest to archaeologists. His overall goal is always clear: to illustrate how kinship analysis can advance archaeological interpretation and how archaeology can advance kinship theory. The Archaeology of Kinship supports Ensor’s objectives: to demonstrate the relevance of kinship to major archaeological questions, to describe archaeological methods for kinship analysis independent of ethnological interpretation, to illustrate the use of those techniques with a case study, and to provide specific examples of how diachronic analyses address broader theory. As Ensor shows, archaeological diachronic analyses of kinship are independently possible, necessary, and capable of providing new insights into past cultures and broader anthropological theory. Although it is an old subject in anthropology, The Archaeology of Kinship can offer new and exciting frontiers for inquiry. Kinship research in general—and prehistoric kinship in particular—is rapidly reemerging as a topical subject in anthropology. This book is a timely archaeological contribution to that growing literature otherwise dominated by ethnology.

The Archaeology of Kinship

The Archaeology of Kinship PDF Author: Bradley E. Ensor
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816599262
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391

Get Book Here

Book Description
Archaeology has been subjected to a wide range of misunderstandings of kinship theory and many of its central concepts. Demonstrating that kinship is the foundation for past societies’ social organization, particularly in non-state societies, Bradley E. Ensor offers a lucid presentation of kinship principles and theories accessible to a broad audience. He provides not only descriptions of what the principles entail but also an understanding of their relevance to past and present topics of interest to archaeologists. His overall goal is always clear: to illustrate how kinship analysis can advance archaeological interpretation and how archaeology can advance kinship theory. The Archaeology of Kinship supports Ensor’s objectives: to demonstrate the relevance of kinship to major archaeological questions, to describe archaeological methods for kinship analysis independent of ethnological interpretation, to illustrate the use of those techniques with a case study, and to provide specific examples of how diachronic analyses address broader theory. As Ensor shows, archaeological diachronic analyses of kinship are independently possible, necessary, and capable of providing new insights into past cultures and broader anthropological theory. Although it is an old subject in anthropology, The Archaeology of Kinship can offer new and exciting frontiers for inquiry. Kinship research in general—and prehistoric kinship in particular—is rapidly reemerging as a topical subject in anthropology. This book is a timely archaeological contribution to that growing literature otherwise dominated by ethnology.

Centuries of Decline during the Hohokam Classic Period at Pueblo Grande

Centuries of Decline during the Hohokam Classic Period at Pueblo Grande PDF Author: David R. Abbott
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 081653635X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the prehispanic Southwest, Pueblo Grande was the site of the largest platform mound in the Phoenix basin and the most politically prominent village in the region. It has long been held to represent the apex of Hohokam culture that designates the Classic period. New data from major excavations in Phoenix, however, suggest that little was "classic" about the Classic period at Pueblo Grande. These findings challenge views of Hohokam society that prevailed for most of the twentieth century, suggesting that for Pueblo Grande it was a time of decline rather than prosperity, a time marked by overpopulation, environmental degradation, resource shortage, poor health, and social disintegration. During this period, the Hohokam in the lower Salt River Valley began a precipitous slide toward the eventual abandonment of a homeland that they had occupied for more than one thousand years. This volume is a long-awaited summary of one of the most important data-recovery projects in Southwest archaeology, synthesizing thousands of pages of data and text published in seven volumes of contract reports. The authors—all leading authorities in Hohokam archaeology who played primary roles in this revolution of understanding—here craft a compelling argument for the eventual collapse of Hohokam society in the late fourteenth century as seen from one of the largest and seemingly most influential irrigation communities along the lower Salt River. Drawing on extremely large and well-preserved collections, the book reveals startling evidence of a society in decline as reflected in catchment analysis, archaeofaunal assemblage composition, skeletal studies, burial assemblages, artifact exchange, and ceramic production. The volume also includes a valuable new summary of the archival reconstruction of the architectural sequence for the Pueblo Grande platform mound. With its wealth of data, interpretation, and synthesis, Centuries of Decline represents a milestone in our understanding of Hohokam culture. It is a key reference for Southwest archaeologists who seek to understand the Hohokam collapse and a benchmark for anyone interested in the prehistory of Arizona.

Environment and Subsistence in the Classic Period Tonto Basin

Environment and Subsistence in the Classic Period Tonto Basin PDF Author: Katherine A. Spielmann
Publisher: Arizona State University
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Get Book Here

Book Description


New Lives for Ancient and Extinct Crops

New Lives for Ancient and Extinct Crops PDF Author: Paul E. Minnis
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816534225
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

Get Book Here

Book Description
New Lives for Ancient and Extinct Crops profiles nine plant species that were important contributors to human diets and medicinal uses in antiquity: maygrass, chenopod, marsh elder, agave, little barley, chia, arrowroot, little millet, and bitter vetch. Each chapter is written by a well-known scholar, who illustrates the value of the ancient crop record to inform the present.

People and plants in ancient western North America

People and plants in ancient western North America PDF Author: Paul E. Minnis
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816502233
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 492

Get Book Here

Book Description


Ceramics and Community Organization among the Hohokam

Ceramics and Community Organization among the Hohokam PDF Author: David R. Abbott
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816536368
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
Among desert farmers of the prehistoric Southwest, irrigation played a crucial role in the development of social complexity. This innovative study examines the changing relationship between irrigation and community organization among the Hohokam and shows through ceramic data how that dynamic relationship influenced sociopolitical development. David Abbott contends that reconstructions of Hohokam social patterns based solely on settlement pattern data provide limited insight into prehistoric social relationships. By analyzing ceramic exchange patterns, he provides complementary information that challenges existing models of sociopolitical organization among the Hohokam of central Arizona. Through ceramic analyses from Classic period sites such as Pueblo Grande, Abbott shows that ceramic production sources and exchange networks can be determined from the composition, surface treatment attributes, and size and shape of clay containers. The distribution networks revealed by these analyses provide evidence for community boundaries and the web of social ties within them. Abbott's meticulous research documents formerly unrecognized horizontal cohesiveness in Hohokam organizational structure and suggests how irrigation was woven into the fabric of their social evolution. By demonstrating the contribution that ceramic research can make toward resolving issues about community organization, this work expands the breadth and depth of pottery studies in the American Southwest.

Landscape of the Spirits

Landscape of the Spirits PDF Author: Todd W. Bostwick
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816536430
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Get Book Here

Book Description
High above the noise and traffic of metropolitan Phoenix, Native American rock art offers mute testimony that another civilization once thrived in the Arizona desert. In the city's South Mountains, prehispanic peoples pecked thousands of images into the mountains' boulders and outcroppings—images that today's hikers can encounter with every bend in the trail. Todd Bostwick, an archaeologist who has studied the Hohokam for more than twenty years, and Peter Krocek, a professional photographer with a passion for archaeology, have combed the South Mountains to locate nearly all of the ancient petroglyphs found in the canyons and ridges. Their years of learning the landscape and investigating the ancient designs have resulted in a book that explores this wealth of prehistoric rock art within its natural and cultural contexts, revealing what these carvings might mean, how they got there, and when they were made. Landscape of the Spirits is the first book to cover these ancient images and is one of the most comprehensive treatments of a rock art location ever published. It conveys the range of different rock art elements and compositions found in the South Mountains—animals, humans, and geometric shapes, as well as celestial and calendrical markings at key sites—through accurate descriptions, drawings, and photographs. Interpretations of the petroglyphs are based on Native American ethnographic accounts and consider the most recent theories concerning shamanism and archaeoastronomy. Written in a simple and accessible style, Landscape of the Spirits is an indispensable volume for anyone exploring the South Mountains, and for rock art enthusiasts everywhere who wish to broaden their understanding of the prehistoric world. It is both an authoritative overview of these ancient wonders and an unprecedented benchmark in southwestern rock art research at a single geographic location.

Ethnobiology at the Millennium

Ethnobiology at the Millennium PDF Author: Richard I. Ford
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
ISBN: 0915703505
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193

Get Book Here

Book Description
A collection of papers from the Ethnobiology 2000 millennium conference in Ann Arbor. Contributions by Richard Ford, Elizabeth Wing, Steven Weber, Paul Minnis, Karen Adams, Eugene Hunn, Cecil Brown, Catherine Fowler, Nancy Turner, and Eugene Anderson.

Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture

Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture PDF Author: Scott E. Ingram
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816531293
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 391

Get Book Here

Book Description
Traditional Arid Lands Agriculture is the first of its kind. Each chapter considers four questions: what we don’t know about specific aspects of traditional agriculture, why we need to know more, how we can know more, and what research questions can be pursued to know more. What is known is presented to provide context for what is unknown. Traditional agriculture, nonindustrial plant cultivation for human use, is practiced worldwide by millions of smallholder farmers in arid lands. Advancing an understanding of traditional agriculture can improve its practice and contribute to understanding the past. Traditional agriculture has been practiced in the U.S. Southwest and northwest Mexico for at least four thousand years and intensely studied for at least one hundred years. What is not known or well-understood about traditional arid lands agriculture in this region has broad application for research, policy, and agricultural practices in arid lands worldwide. The authors represent the disciplines of archaeology, anthropology, agronomy, art, botany, geomorphology, paleoclimatology, and pedology. This multidisciplinary book will engage students, practitioners, scholars, and any interested in understanding and advancing traditional agriculture.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 560

Get Book Here

Book Description