Author: Scott M. Fitzpatrick
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 081306550X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482
Book Description
“A well-founded and presented description of the integral role that psychoactive substances played in ancient societies. . . . A unique addition to ancient history collections.”—Choice “Very informative, well referenced, and well illustrated.”—Latin American Antiquity “A diverse and interesting introduction to the evidence for psychoactive use in the past, including consideration of the physical techniques and interpretative methods for understanding these practices.”—Journal of Psychedelic Studies "This well-researched and fascinating volume not only demonstrates the important cultural role of psychoactive substances in ancient societies but also points the way to an emerging research field. The unveiling of the past history of drug use becomes a lesson for present-day society."--Jan G. Bruhn, founding editor, Journal of Ethnopharmacology "Presents a broad overview of drug plants and fermented beverages by using anthropological, ethnological, archaeological, iconographic, chemical, and botanical approaches. Essential reading."--Elisa Guerra Doce, author of Drugs in Prehistory: Archaeological Evidence of the Use of Psychoactive Substances in Europe Mind-altering substances have been used by humans for thousands of years. In fact, ancient societies sometimes encouraged the consumption of drugs. Focusing on the archaeological study of how various entheogens have been used in the past, this volume examines why humans have social and psychological needs for these substances. Contributors trace the long-term use of drugs in ancient cultures and highlight the ways they evolved from being sacred to recreational in more modern times. By analyzing evidence of these substances across a diverse range of ancient cultures, the contributors explore how and why past civilizations harvested, manufactured, and consumed drugs. Case studies examine the use of stimulants, narcotics, and depressants by hunter-gatherers who roamed Africa and Eurasia, prehistoric communities in North and South America, and Maya kings and queens. Offering perspectives from many different fields of study, contributors illustrate the wide variety of sources and techniques that can provide information about materials that are often invisible to archaeologists. They use advanced biomolecular procedures to identify alkaloids and resins on cups, pipes, and other artifacts. They interpret paintings on vases and discuss excavations of breweries and similar sites. Uncovering signs of drugs, including ayahuasca, peyote, ephedra, cannabis, tobacco, yaupon, vilca, and maize and molle beer, they explain how psychoactive substances were integral to interpersonal relationships, religious practices, and social cohesion in antiquity. Scott M. Fitzpatrick, professor of archaeology at the University of Oregon, is coeditor of Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean. Contributors: Quetta Kaye | Victor D. Thompson | Thomas J. Pluckhahn | Sean Rafferty | Mark Merlin | Matt Sayre | Constantino Manuel Torres | Zuzana Chovanec | Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Newman | Justin Jennings | Daniel M. Seinfeld | Shannon Tushingham | Scott M. Fitzpatrick
Ancient Psychoactive Substances
Author: Scott M. Fitzpatrick
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 081306550X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482
Book Description
“A well-founded and presented description of the integral role that psychoactive substances played in ancient societies. . . . A unique addition to ancient history collections.”—Choice “Very informative, well referenced, and well illustrated.”—Latin American Antiquity “A diverse and interesting introduction to the evidence for psychoactive use in the past, including consideration of the physical techniques and interpretative methods for understanding these practices.”—Journal of Psychedelic Studies "This well-researched and fascinating volume not only demonstrates the important cultural role of psychoactive substances in ancient societies but also points the way to an emerging research field. The unveiling of the past history of drug use becomes a lesson for present-day society."--Jan G. Bruhn, founding editor, Journal of Ethnopharmacology "Presents a broad overview of drug plants and fermented beverages by using anthropological, ethnological, archaeological, iconographic, chemical, and botanical approaches. Essential reading."--Elisa Guerra Doce, author of Drugs in Prehistory: Archaeological Evidence of the Use of Psychoactive Substances in Europe Mind-altering substances have been used by humans for thousands of years. In fact, ancient societies sometimes encouraged the consumption of drugs. Focusing on the archaeological study of how various entheogens have been used in the past, this volume examines why humans have social and psychological needs for these substances. Contributors trace the long-term use of drugs in ancient cultures and highlight the ways they evolved from being sacred to recreational in more modern times. By analyzing evidence of these substances across a diverse range of ancient cultures, the contributors explore how and why past civilizations harvested, manufactured, and consumed drugs. Case studies examine the use of stimulants, narcotics, and depressants by hunter-gatherers who roamed Africa and Eurasia, prehistoric communities in North and South America, and Maya kings and queens. Offering perspectives from many different fields of study, contributors illustrate the wide variety of sources and techniques that can provide information about materials that are often invisible to archaeologists. They use advanced biomolecular procedures to identify alkaloids and resins on cups, pipes, and other artifacts. They interpret paintings on vases and discuss excavations of breweries and similar sites. Uncovering signs of drugs, including ayahuasca, peyote, ephedra, cannabis, tobacco, yaupon, vilca, and maize and molle beer, they explain how psychoactive substances were integral to interpersonal relationships, religious practices, and social cohesion in antiquity. Scott M. Fitzpatrick, professor of archaeology at the University of Oregon, is coeditor of Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean. Contributors: Quetta Kaye | Victor D. Thompson | Thomas J. Pluckhahn | Sean Rafferty | Mark Merlin | Matt Sayre | Constantino Manuel Torres | Zuzana Chovanec | Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Newman | Justin Jennings | Daniel M. Seinfeld | Shannon Tushingham | Scott M. Fitzpatrick
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 081306550X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 482
Book Description
“A well-founded and presented description of the integral role that psychoactive substances played in ancient societies. . . . A unique addition to ancient history collections.”—Choice “Very informative, well referenced, and well illustrated.”—Latin American Antiquity “A diverse and interesting introduction to the evidence for psychoactive use in the past, including consideration of the physical techniques and interpretative methods for understanding these practices.”—Journal of Psychedelic Studies "This well-researched and fascinating volume not only demonstrates the important cultural role of psychoactive substances in ancient societies but also points the way to an emerging research field. The unveiling of the past history of drug use becomes a lesson for present-day society."--Jan G. Bruhn, founding editor, Journal of Ethnopharmacology "Presents a broad overview of drug plants and fermented beverages by using anthropological, ethnological, archaeological, iconographic, chemical, and botanical approaches. Essential reading."--Elisa Guerra Doce, author of Drugs in Prehistory: Archaeological Evidence of the Use of Psychoactive Substances in Europe Mind-altering substances have been used by humans for thousands of years. In fact, ancient societies sometimes encouraged the consumption of drugs. Focusing on the archaeological study of how various entheogens have been used in the past, this volume examines why humans have social and psychological needs for these substances. Contributors trace the long-term use of drugs in ancient cultures and highlight the ways they evolved from being sacred to recreational in more modern times. By analyzing evidence of these substances across a diverse range of ancient cultures, the contributors explore how and why past civilizations harvested, manufactured, and consumed drugs. Case studies examine the use of stimulants, narcotics, and depressants by hunter-gatherers who roamed Africa and Eurasia, prehistoric communities in North and South America, and Maya kings and queens. Offering perspectives from many different fields of study, contributors illustrate the wide variety of sources and techniques that can provide information about materials that are often invisible to archaeologists. They use advanced biomolecular procedures to identify alkaloids and resins on cups, pipes, and other artifacts. They interpret paintings on vases and discuss excavations of breweries and similar sites. Uncovering signs of drugs, including ayahuasca, peyote, ephedra, cannabis, tobacco, yaupon, vilca, and maize and molle beer, they explain how psychoactive substances were integral to interpersonal relationships, religious practices, and social cohesion in antiquity. Scott M. Fitzpatrick, professor of archaeology at the University of Oregon, is coeditor of Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean. Contributors: Quetta Kaye | Victor D. Thompson | Thomas J. Pluckhahn | Sean Rafferty | Mark Merlin | Matt Sayre | Constantino Manuel Torres | Zuzana Chovanec | Jennifer A. Loughmiller-Newman | Justin Jennings | Daniel M. Seinfeld | Shannon Tushingham | Scott M. Fitzpatrick
Philosophy of the Ancient Maya
Author: Alexus McLeod
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498531393
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
This book investigates some of the central topics of metaphysics in the philosophical thought of the Maya people of Mesoamerica, particularly from the Preclassic through Postclassic periods. This book covers the topics of time, change, identity, and truth, through comparative investigation integrating Maya texts and practices—such as Classic Period stelae, Postclassic Codices, and Colonial-era texts such as the Popol Vuh and the books of Chilam Balam—and early Chinese philosophy.
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498531393
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239
Book Description
This book investigates some of the central topics of metaphysics in the philosophical thought of the Maya people of Mesoamerica, particularly from the Preclassic through Postclassic periods. This book covers the topics of time, change, identity, and truth, through comparative investigation integrating Maya texts and practices—such as Classic Period stelae, Postclassic Codices, and Colonial-era texts such as the Popol Vuh and the books of Chilam Balam—and early Chinese philosophy.
The Ancient Maya
Author: Sylvanus Griswold Morley
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804721301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 940
Book Description
"Comprehensive synthesis of ancient Maya scholarship. Extensive summary of the archaeology of the Maya world provides the historical context for a detailed topical synthesis of chronological and geographic variability within the Maya cultural tradition"--
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804721301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 940
Book Description
"Comprehensive synthesis of ancient Maya scholarship. Extensive summary of the archaeology of the Maya world provides the historical context for a detailed topical synthesis of chronological and geographic variability within the Maya cultural tradition"--
Breath and Smoke
Author: Jennifer Loughmiller-Cardinal
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0826360939
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
From Classical antiquity to the present, tobacco has existed as a potent ritual substance. Tobacco use among the Maya straddles a recreational/ritual/medicinal nexus that can be difficult for Western audiences to understand. To best characterize the pervasive substance, this volume assembles scholars from a variety of disciplines and specialties to discuss tobacco in modern and ancient contexts. The chapters utilize research from archaeology, ethnography, mythic narrative, and chemical science from the eighth through the twenty-first centuries. Breath and Smoke explores the uses of tobacco among the Maya of Central America, revealing tobacco as a key topic in pre-Columbian art, iconography, and hieroglyphics. By assessing and considering myths, imagery, hieroglyphic texts, and material goods, as well as modern practices and their somatic effects, this volume brings the Mayan world of the past into greater focus and sheds light on the practices of today.
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
ISBN: 0826360939
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281
Book Description
From Classical antiquity to the present, tobacco has existed as a potent ritual substance. Tobacco use among the Maya straddles a recreational/ritual/medicinal nexus that can be difficult for Western audiences to understand. To best characterize the pervasive substance, this volume assembles scholars from a variety of disciplines and specialties to discuss tobacco in modern and ancient contexts. The chapters utilize research from archaeology, ethnography, mythic narrative, and chemical science from the eighth through the twenty-first centuries. Breath and Smoke explores the uses of tobacco among the Maya of Central America, revealing tobacco as a key topic in pre-Columbian art, iconography, and hieroglyphics. By assessing and considering myths, imagery, hieroglyphic texts, and material goods, as well as modern practices and their somatic effects, this volume brings the Mayan world of the past into greater focus and sheds light on the practices of today.
Chicle
Author: Jennifer P. Mathews
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816528219
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
Chicle is a history in four acts, all of them focused on the sticky white substance that seeps from the sapodilla tree when its bark is cut. First, Jennifer Mathews recounts the story of chicle and its earliest-known adherents, the Maya and Aztecs. Second, with the assistance of botanist Gillian Schultz, Mathews examines the sapodilla tree itself, an extraordinarily hardy plant that is native only to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. Third, Mathews presents the fascinating story of the chicle and chewing gum industry over the last hundred plus years, a tale (like so many twentieth-century tales) of greed, growth, and collapse. In closing, Mathews considers the plight of the chicleros, the "extractors" who often work by themselves tapping trees deep in the forests, and how they have emerged as icons of local pop culture -- portrayed as fearless, hard-drinking brawlers, people to be respected as well as feared. --publisher description.
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 9780816528219
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
Chicle is a history in four acts, all of them focused on the sticky white substance that seeps from the sapodilla tree when its bark is cut. First, Jennifer Mathews recounts the story of chicle and its earliest-known adherents, the Maya and Aztecs. Second, with the assistance of botanist Gillian Schultz, Mathews examines the sapodilla tree itself, an extraordinarily hardy plant that is native only to Mesoamerica and the Caribbean. Third, Mathews presents the fascinating story of the chicle and chewing gum industry over the last hundred plus years, a tale (like so many twentieth-century tales) of greed, growth, and collapse. In closing, Mathews considers the plight of the chicleros, the "extractors" who often work by themselves tapping trees deep in the forests, and how they have emerged as icons of local pop culture -- portrayed as fearless, hard-drinking brawlers, people to be respected as well as feared. --publisher description.
Her Cup for Sweet Cacao
Author: Traci Ardren
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477321640
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Presenting new data from leading scholars in the field, this collection uses evidence from archaeology, hieroglyphic texts, chemical analyses, and art to explore the many ways food was integral to Classic Maya society.
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 1477321640
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Presenting new data from leading scholars in the field, this collection uses evidence from archaeology, hieroglyphic texts, chemical analyses, and art to explore the many ways food was integral to Classic Maya society.
Ancient Maya
Author: Arthur Demarest
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521533904
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Ancient Maya comes to life in this new holistic and theoretical study.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521533904
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Ancient Maya comes to life in this new holistic and theoretical study.
Golden Kingdoms
Author: Joanne Pillsbury
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 1606065483
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 331
Book Description
This volume accompanies a major international loan exhibition featuring more than three hundred works of art, many rarely or never before seen in the United States. It traces the development of gold working and other luxury arts in the Americas from antiquity until the arrival of Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Presenting spectacular works from recent excavations in Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, this exhibition focuses on specific places and times—crucibles of innovation—where artistic exchange, rivalry, and creativity led to the production of some of the greatest works of art known from the ancient Americas. The book and exhibition explore not only artistic practices but also the historical, cultural, social, and political conditions in which luxury arts were produced and circulated, alongside their religious meanings and ritual functions. Golden Kingdoms creates new understandings of ancient American art through a thematic exploration of indigenous ideas of value and luxury. Central to the book is the idea of the exchange of materials and ideas across regions and across time: works of great value would often be transported over long distances, or passed down over generations, in both cases attracting new audiences and inspiring new artists. The idea of exchange is at the intellectual heart of this volume, researched and written by twenty scholars based in the United States and Latin America.
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 1606065483
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 331
Book Description
This volume accompanies a major international loan exhibition featuring more than three hundred works of art, many rarely or never before seen in the United States. It traces the development of gold working and other luxury arts in the Americas from antiquity until the arrival of Europeans in the early sixteenth century. Presenting spectacular works from recent excavations in Peru, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Mexico, this exhibition focuses on specific places and times—crucibles of innovation—where artistic exchange, rivalry, and creativity led to the production of some of the greatest works of art known from the ancient Americas. The book and exhibition explore not only artistic practices but also the historical, cultural, social, and political conditions in which luxury arts were produced and circulated, alongside their religious meanings and ritual functions. Golden Kingdoms creates new understandings of ancient American art through a thematic exploration of indigenous ideas of value and luxury. Central to the book is the idea of the exchange of materials and ideas across regions and across time: works of great value would often be transported over long distances, or passed down over generations, in both cases attracting new audiences and inspiring new artists. The idea of exchange is at the intellectual heart of this volume, researched and written by twenty scholars based in the United States and Latin America.
Ancient Maya Politics
Author: Simon Martin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108483887
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 543
Book Description
With new readings of ancient texts, Ancient Maya Politics unlocks the long-enigmatic political system of the Classic Maya.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108483887
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 543
Book Description
With new readings of ancient texts, Ancient Maya Politics unlocks the long-enigmatic political system of the Classic Maya.
Río Azul
Author: Richard E. W. Adams
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806130767
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Book Description
Deep within the forest in northern Guatemala lie the ruins of Río Azul, a Maya city that reached one-third the size of Tikal. Discovered and partially explored in the early 1960s, Río Azul and the surrounding region were more fully investigated between 1983 and 1987 by an archaeological team led by Richard E. W. Adams. In this summary, Adams integrates the findings of field archaeologists with those of the epigraphers and art historians to recreate the life of this Maya city from the little-known Early Classic period. Remains in the Río Azul area date from 900 B.C. to A.D. 850. The data indicate that, unlike most Maya cities that have been studied, Río Azul was a frontier town, an administrative center, with alternating defense and trade outpost functions. About A.D. 385, the Río Azul region was conquered and the city founded by Tikal, serving as a Teotihuacan-linked garrison for that capital. Nearly all of the more than seven hundred structures found within Río Azul were erected between A.D. 390 and 530. Acres of pavement were laid down around some thirty complexes of residences, temples, and tombs notable for the brightly painted red hieroglyphs and murals on their walls. The elaborate complexes and sumptuous artifacts suggest a city with a heavy proportion of aristocratic families and retainers. Around A.D. 530, Río Azul appears to have been suddenly destroyed. The city was abandoned, then reoccupied--only to stagnate and finally collapse, like many other Classic Maya cities, in the late ninth century.
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
ISBN: 9780806130767
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282
Book Description
Deep within the forest in northern Guatemala lie the ruins of Río Azul, a Maya city that reached one-third the size of Tikal. Discovered and partially explored in the early 1960s, Río Azul and the surrounding region were more fully investigated between 1983 and 1987 by an archaeological team led by Richard E. W. Adams. In this summary, Adams integrates the findings of field archaeologists with those of the epigraphers and art historians to recreate the life of this Maya city from the little-known Early Classic period. Remains in the Río Azul area date from 900 B.C. to A.D. 850. The data indicate that, unlike most Maya cities that have been studied, Río Azul was a frontier town, an administrative center, with alternating defense and trade outpost functions. About A.D. 385, the Río Azul region was conquered and the city founded by Tikal, serving as a Teotihuacan-linked garrison for that capital. Nearly all of the more than seven hundred structures found within Río Azul were erected between A.D. 390 and 530. Acres of pavement were laid down around some thirty complexes of residences, temples, and tombs notable for the brightly painted red hieroglyphs and murals on their walls. The elaborate complexes and sumptuous artifacts suggest a city with a heavy proportion of aristocratic families and retainers. Around A.D. 530, Río Azul appears to have been suddenly destroyed. The city was abandoned, then reoccupied--only to stagnate and finally collapse, like many other Classic Maya cities, in the late ninth century.