Archaeology Books

Book Synopsis For thousands of years, Native Americans throughout the Eastern Woodlands and Great Plains used the physical act and visual language of tattooing to construct and reinforce the identity of individuals and their place within society and the cosmos. The act of tattooing served as a rite of passage and supplication, while the composition and use of ancestral tattoo bundles was intimately related to group identity. The resulting symbols and imagery inscribed on the body held important social, civil, military, and ritual connotations within Native American society. Yet despite the cultural importance that tattooing held for prehistoric and early historic Native Americans, modern scholars have only recently begun to consider the implications of ancient Native American tattooing and assign tattooed symbols the same significance as imagery inscribed on pottery, shell, copper, and stone. Drawing with Great Needles is the first book-length scholarly examination into the antiquity, Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction (Carol Diaz-Granados and Aaron Deter-Wolf) 1. Native American Tattooing in the Protohistoric Southeast (Antoinette B. Wallace) 2. Needle in a Haystack: Examining the Archaeological Evidence for Prehistoric Tattooing (Aaron Deter-Wolf) 3. Swift Creek Paddle Designs as Tattoos: Ethnographic Insights on Prehistoric Body Decoration and Material Culture (Benjamin A. Steere) 4. Tattoos, Totem Marks, and War Clubs: Projecting Power through Visual Symbolism in Northern Woodlands Culture (Lars Krutak) 5. The Art of Enchantment: Corporeal Marking and Tattooing Bundles of the Great Plains (Lars Krutak) 6. Identifying the Face of the Sacred: Tattooing the Images of Gods and Heroes in the Art of the Mississippian Period (F. Kent Reilly III) 7. Dhegihan Tattoos: Markings That Consecrate, Empower, and Designate Lineage (James R. Duncan) 8. Snaring Life from the Stars and the Sun: Mississippian Tattooing and the Enduring Cycle of Life and Death (David H. Dye) References Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThis major architectural survey and analysis of the Inca royal estate at Chinchero significantly increases our understanding of how the Inca conceived, constructed, and gave meaning to their built environment.Trade Review"Nair's book is an important contribution to Andean scholarship, demonstrating that a nuanced appreciation of architectural space can result in surprising insights about an ancient culture." * Journal of Interdisciplinary History *"This is exactly the sort of book I wanted. This is exactly the sort of book you probably want, if you’re interested in the Inca and even possibly if you aren’t. Of all the Inca Imperial material I’ve read, this is the one I would recommend most highly." * marissalingen.com *"This is an impressive and important contribution to Andean studies and to the anthropological study of landscape and architecture. The volume is full of nuanced analyses of the construction and experience of Chinchero. Nair presents fascinating interpretations throughout the book and touches on a wide range of theoretical domains. . . . [A] wonderful and erudite book that will inform analyses of the Inca state for years to come." * American Anthropologist *"As eloquent and sure-footed as it is insightful and practical, both generalists and specialists will appreciate the volume’s detailed analysis of Inca architecture and landscape rooted in close observation and measurement, archaeology, ethnohistoric sources, and the acuity of a phenomenological methodology. . . In sum, At Home with the Sapa Inca is a critical addition to Andean studies." * College Art Association Reviews *"This engaging, meticulously researched, and clearly written monograph is well suited for course adaptation. It promises to become one of the classic studies of the Inca and their magnificent architectural legacy, and to serve as puncu, an opening from which future studies will follow." * Latin American Antiquity *"Insightful, evocative, and thoroughly researched, Stella Nair’s new book explores the distinctive architectural spaces and structures of the royal Inca palace…. This wonderful work will be of great interest to Andeanists of all disciplines. Its highly accessible nature makes it ideal for undergraduate and graduate courses in architectural history, art history, and archeology, anthropology, and the history of Latin America." * Hispanic American Historical Review *"[At Home with the Sapa Inca fosters] a deeper understanding of Inka culture, especially as it was borne out through elite practices and space…[It] would be useful for both casual and specialist readers interested in Inka and architectural history. It offers a real insights into Inka life and architectural style." * Ethnohistory *"This important book offers a superb study of Topa Inca’s palace complex at Chinchero, Peru, organizing its analysis around Inca concepts and architectural features, and through the spatial progression through which the site would have been experienced. Nair foregrounds how Inca architecture delineated and sacralized space while producing stages for performance, and she provides and excellent reading of the politics of place and movement." * The Americas *"El detallado análisis arquitectónico efectuado por Stella Nair, a partir de sus observaciones en Chinchero y la atenta lectura de diversas fuentes etnohistóricas coloniales, convierten a este libro en un importante referente para el estudio e interpretación de la arquitectura imperial incaica." * Cuadernos del Qhapaq Ñan *"Clearly written and beautifully illustrated, At Home with the Sapa Inca will be of great interest to scholars interested in learning about the production of space at the center of an ancient empire, and how the intended meanings and actions of these spaces changed relative to historical and political transformations." * Cambrige Journal of Archaeology *"Remarkable…The book's seven chapters expertly guide the reader trough the experience of space at Chinchero." * Sixteenth Century Journal *Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsQuechuaIntroduction1. Pirca – Wall2. Pacha – Place and Time3. Pampa – Plaza4. Puncu – Doorway5. Uasi – House6. Pata – Platform7. Llacta – CommunityEpilogueNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisThis lively history of seven decades of archaeological exploration in the Olmec region of Mexico tells the fascinating backstory of how archaeological discoveries are made while offering an exceptional overview of this ancient civilization.Trade ReviewWhat a great book! Grove, an archaeologist who has spent his professional career doing fieldwork in Mesoamerica, has produced an eminently readable account of the Olmec, one of the most well-publicized yet least well-known cultures of pre-Hispanic Mexico. Highly recommended. * Choice *Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1. The Olmecs Come to Light Chapter 2. The Tulane Expedition and the Olmec World (1925–1926) Chapter 3. The First Excavations: Tres Zapotes (1938–1940) Chapter 4. Stone Heads in the Jungle (1940) Chapter 5. Fortuitous Decisions at La Venta (1942–1943) Chapter 6. Monuments on the Río Chiquito (1945–1946) Chapter 7. The Return to La Venta (1955) Chapter 8. Of Monuments and Museums (1963, 1968) Chapter 9. Adding Antiquity to the Olmecs (1966–1968) Chapter 10. Research Headaches at La Venta (1967–1969) Chapter 11. Reclaiming La Venta (1984 to the Present) Chapter 12. San Lorenzo Yields New Secrets (1990–2012, Part 1) Chapter 13. El Manatí: Like Digging in Warm Jell-O (1987–1993) Chapter 14. "They're Blowing Up the Site!" Tres Zapotes after Stirling (1950–2003) Chapter 15. An Olmec Stone Quarry and a Sugarcane Crisis (1991) Chapter 16. Discoveries Large and Small at San Lorenzo (1990–2012, Part 2) Chapter 17. The Night the Lights Went Out (2001) Chapter 18. Some Thoughts on the Archaeology of the Olmecs Bibliographic Essay Index

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Book SynopsisFollowing their first contact in 1519, accounts of Aztecs identifying Spaniards as gods proliferated. But what exactly did the Aztecs mean by a god (teotl), and how could human beings become gods or take on godlike properties? This sophisticated, interdisciplinary study analyzes three concepts that are foundational to Aztec religion-teotl (god), teixiptla (localized embodiment of a god), and tlaquimilolli (sacred bundles containing precious objects)-to shed new light on the Aztec understanding of how spiritual beings take on form and agency in the material world. In The Fate of Earthly Things, Molly Bassett draws on ethnographic fieldwork, linguistic analyses, visual culture, and ritual studies to explore what ritual practices such as human sacrifice and the manufacture of deity embodiments (including humans who became gods), material effigies, and sacred bundles meant to the Aztecs. She analyzes the Aztec belief that wearing the flayed skin of a sacrificial victim during a sacred rite could transform a priest into an embodiment of a god or goddess, as well as how figurines and sacred bundles could become localized embodiments of gods. Without arguing for unbroken continuity between the Aztecs and modern speakers of Nahuatl, Bassett also describes contemporary rituals in which indigenous Mexicans who preserve costumbres (traditions) incorporate totiotzin (gods) made from paper into their daily lives. This research allows us to understand a religious imagination that found life in death and believed that deity embodiments became animate through the ritual binding of blood, skin, and bone.Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction. God-Bodies, Talk-Makers: Deity Embodiments in Nahua ReligionsChapter 1. Meeting the GodsChapter 2. Ethnolinguistic Encounters: Teotl and Teixiptla in Nahuatl ScholarshipChapter 3. Divining the Meaning of TeotlChapter 4. Gods in the Flesh: The Animation of Aztec TeixiptlahuanChapter 5. Wrapped in Cloth, Clothed in Skins: Aztec Tlaquimilolli (Sacred Bundles) and Deity EmbodimentConclusion. Fates and Futures: Conclusions and New DirectionsAppendix A. Ixiptla Variants in Early LexiconsAppendix B. A List of Terms Modified by Teo- in the Florentine CodexAppendix C. Turquoise, Jet, and GoldNotesBibliographyIndex

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Book SynopsisWinner, Society for American Archaeology Book Award, 2017 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award, 2019The prehistoric hunter-gatherers of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas and Coahuila, Mexico, created some of the most spectacularly complex, colorful, extensive, and enduring rock art of the ancient world. Perhaps the greatest of these masterpieces is the White Shaman mural, an intricate painting that spans some twenty-six feet in length and thirteen feet in height on the wall of a shallow cave overlooking the Pecos River. In The White Shaman Mural, Carolyn E. Boyd takes us on a journey of discovery as she builds a convincing case that the mural tells a story of the birth of the sun and the beginning of time-making it possibly the oldest pictorial creation narrative in North America. Unlike previous scholars who have viewed Pecos rock art as random and indecipherable, Boyd demonstrates that the White Shaman mural was intentionally composed as a visual narrative, using a graphic vocabulary of images to communicate multiple levels of meaning and function. Drawing on twenty-five years of archaeological research and analysis, as well as insights from ethnohistory and art history, Boyd identifies patterns in the imagery that equate, in stunning detail, to the mythologies of Uto-Aztecan-speaking peoples, including the ancient Aztec and the present-day Huichol. This paradigm-shifting identification of core Mesoamerican beliefs in the Pecos rock art reveals that a shared ideological universe was already firmly established among foragers living in the Lower Pecos region as long as four thousand years ago.Table of Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Chapter 1. Archaic Codices Chapter 2. The Painted Landscape Chapter 3. Transcribing and Reading Visual Texts Chapter 4. A Primer: Abiding Themes in Mesoamerican Thought Chapter 5. Pilgrimage to Creation: A Reading of the White Shaman Mural Informed by Huichol Mythology Chapter 6. Return to Creation: A Reading of the White Shaman Mural Informed by Nahua Mythology Chapter 7. The Art of Transcendence Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPresenting the first English translation and analysis of a recently discovered late colonial Maya Christian manuscript, this volume opens important new insights into how the Maya made sense of Christianity within their own worldview.Trade ReviewFrom the structure of the book to the analytical execution, Christensen has done an excellent job of allowing the Teabo Manuscript to speak for itself and tell the story recorded within it. * Reading Religion *Christensen's translation as well as his black and white images of the entire manuscript will be invaluable to scholars working on Maya documents. Future authors should take note of Christensen's diligent efforts to bring this manuscript to light. * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *[An] illuminating selection of Maya Christian writings that are authoritatively introduced and contextualized by Christensen. * American Historical Review *Christensen's book is an important contribution to the discussions and debates regarding indigenous participation in the creation of Maya theologies. Historians, anthropologists, scholars of religious studies, and their students will find this book useful. * Hispanic American Historical Review *Maya Christian texts are…relatively rare, making the Teabo Manuscript an invaluable window into the minds of converted Maya Christians during the colonial period…In his extensive introductory notes and commentary, Christensen persuasively documents numerous instances in which the Maya authors inserted uniquely Maya concepts, storylines, events, and even dialogue into the original texts. * Ethnohistory *Table of Contents Maps and Figures Tables Acknowledgments Conventions of Transcription and Translation Introduction. Colonial Texts and Maya Christian Copybooks 1. Creating the Creation 2. Genealogies, Parables, and the Final Judgment 3. Doomsday and the Maya 4. Mary, Christ, and the Pope 5. Records of Death and Healing Conclusion Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis Poggio Civitate in Murlo, Tuscany, is home to one of the best-preserved Etruscan communities of the eighth through the sixth centuries BCE. In this book, Anthony Tuck, the director of excavations, provides a broad synthesis of decades of data from the site. The results of many years of excavation at Poggio Civitate tell a story of growth, urbanization, ancient industrialization, and dissolution. The site preserves traces of aristocratic domestic buildings, including some of the most evocative and enigmatic architectural sculpture in the region, along with remnants of non-elite domestic spaces, enabling illuminating comparisons across social strata. The settlement also features evidence of large-scale production systems, including tools and other objects that reflect the daily experiences of laborers. Finally, the site contains the story of its own destruction. Tuck finds in the data clear indications that Poggio Civitate was methodically dismantled, and he posits hypothesTable of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. Introduction The Site and Its Surroundings Ancient and Medieval History Poggio Civitate before Excavation Began in 1966 2. The Earliest Community of Poggio Civitate (Late Eighth Century BCE to the First Quarter/Middle of the Seventh Century BCE) Early Phase Orientalizing Complex Building 4 (EPOC4) Early Phase Orientalizing Complex Building 5 (EPOC5) 3. The Lords of Piano del Tesoro: The “Orientalizing Period Complex” (ca. 675/650 BCE to the End of the Seventh or Beginning of the Sixth Century BCE) The Orientalizing Complex Evidence for the Date of the Orientalizing Complex The Decorative Program of the Orientalizing Complex Daily Life of the Social Elite of Poggio Civitate OC3/Tripartite and Connections to the Larger Etruscan World Manufacturing at Poggio Civitate Personalities of Poggio Civitate’s Workforce The Economy of Poggio Civitate Sigla and the Communitarian Environment of Poggio Civitate Non-Elite Domestic Spaces at Poggio Civitate Subordinate Communities beyond Poggio Civitate Conviviality, Banqueting, and the Mistress of Animals Responses to Death at Poggio Civitate Before the Fire 4. Monumental Aspirations: Poggio Civitate’s Archaic Phase (ca. 600 BCE to Approximately 525 BCE) The Decorative System of Poggio Civitate’s Archaic Phase Building Interpreting the Archaic Phase Decorative Program The Function(s) of Poggio Civitate’s Archaic Phase Building The Destruction and Abandonment of Poggio Civitate The Political Situation of the Late Sixth Century BCE 5. Poggio Civitate: An Overview Notes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis Poggio Civitate in Murlo, Tuscany, is home to one of the best-preserved Etruscan communities of the eighth through the sixth centuries BCE. In this book, Anthony Tuck, the director of excavations, provides a broad synthesis of decades of data from the site. The results of many years of excavation at Poggio Civitate tell a story of growth, urbanization, ancient industrialization, and dissolution. The site preserves traces of aristocratic domestic buildings, including some of the most evocative and enigmatic architectural sculpture in the region, along with remnants of non-elite domestic spaces, enabling illuminating comparisons across social strata. The settlement also features evidence of large-scale production systems, including tools and other objects that reflect the daily experiences of laborers. Finally, the site contains the story of its own destruction. Tuck finds in the data clear indications that Poggio Civitate was methodically dismantled, and he posits hypothesTable of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments 1. Introduction The Site and Its Surroundings Ancient and Medieval History Poggio Civitate before Excavation Began in 1966 2. The Earliest Community of Poggio Civitate (Late Eighth Century BCE to the First Quarter/Middle of the Seventh Century BCE) Early Phase Orientalizing Complex Building 4 (EPOC4) Early Phase Orientalizing Complex Building 5 (EPOC5) 3. The Lords of Piano del Tesoro: The “Orientalizing Period Complex” (ca. 675/650 BCE to the End of the Seventh or Beginning of the Sixth Century BCE) The Orientalizing Complex Evidence for the Date of the Orientalizing Complex The Decorative Program of the Orientalizing Complex Daily Life of the Social Elite of Poggio Civitate OC3/Tripartite and Connections to the Larger Etruscan World Manufacturing at Poggio Civitate Personalities of Poggio Civitate’s Workforce The Economy of Poggio Civitate Sigla and the Communitarian Environment of Poggio Civitate Non-Elite Domestic Spaces at Poggio Civitate Subordinate Communities beyond Poggio Civitate Conviviality, Banqueting, and the Mistress of Animals Responses to Death at Poggio Civitate Before the Fire 4. Monumental Aspirations: Poggio Civitate’s Archaic Phase (ca. 600 BCE to Approximately 525 BCE) The Decorative System of Poggio Civitate’s Archaic Phase Building Interpreting the Archaic Phase Decorative Program The Function(s) of Poggio Civitate’s Archaic Phase Building The Destruction and Abandonment of Poggio Civitate The Political Situation of the Late Sixth Century BCE 5. Poggio Civitate: An Overview Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe eighth and seventh centuries BCE were a time of flourishing exchange between the Mediterranean and the Near East. One of the period's key imports to the Hellenic and Italic worlds was the image of the griffin, a mythical monster that usually possesses the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. In particular, bronze cauldrons bore griffin protomesfigurative attachments showing the neck and head of the beast. Crafted in fine detail, the protomes were made to appear full of vigor, transfixing viewers. Bronze Monsters and the Cultures of Wonder takes griffin cauldrons as case studies in the shifting material and visual universes of preclassical antiquity, arguing that they were perceived as lifelike monsters that introduced the illusion of verisimilitude to Mediterranean arts. The objects were placed in the tombs of the wealthy (Italy, Cyprus) and in sanctuaries (Greece), creating fantastical environments akin to later cabinets of curiosities. Yet griffin cauldrons were accessible Table of Contents List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Griffin Cauldrons in Contexts of Life and Death Chapter 1. Eastern Mediterranean, Ionia, and the Aegean Chapter 2. Mainland Greece Chapter 3. Italy and France Part II. Sources for the Lives of Griffin Cauldrons Chapter 4. Kolaios’s Monster Cauldron at the Heraion of Samos (Herodotus 4.152) Chapter 5. Monsters in Images: Pictorial Representations of Griffin Cauldrons Part III. Responses to the Uncanny Chapter 6. Vision of Wonders Conclusion. Disenchantment Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisA unique study of an Andean community’s water rituals and the extraordinary document describing how they should be performed In the dry season in the Andes, water from springs, lakes, reservoirs, and melting glaciers feeds irrigation canals that have sustained communities for thousands of years. Managing and maintaining these water infrastructures is essential, and in 1921, in the village of San Pedro de Casta, Peru, local authorities recorded their ritual canal-cleaning duties in a Spanish-language document called the Entablo. It is only the second book (along with the Huarochirí Manuscript) ever seen by scholars in which an Andean community explains its customs and ritual laws in its own words. Sarah Bennison offers a critical introduction to the Entablo, a Spanish transcription of the document, and an English translation. Among its other revelations, the Entablo delves into the use of khipu boards, devices that meld the traditional knotted Table of Contents List of Illustrations Preface 1. Introduction: The Entablo Manuscript of San Pedro de Casta, Huarochirí 2. The Entablo 3. El Entablo Acknowledgments Glossary References Index

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Book SynopsisA fascinating book on the origins of writing.Trade Review...possibly the single most important contribution published in recent years concerned with the antecedents to writing. * Libraries and Culture *Schmandt-Besserat’s discovery and its ramifications . . . are crucial to understanding the development of civilization.... This is a thought-provoking book, beautifully produced, and what it tells us is of great importance. * Times Literary Supplement *What shines here is the human mind, spinning a tight web of inference from abundant evidence. * Scientific American *

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Book SynopsisAn examination of how ancient Mesoamerican sculpture was experienced by its original audiences.Trade ReviewUnique, insightful, nicely theorized, and important, Unseen Art will stand alone among studies of Mesoamerican art produced in the last hundred years. This book will be a service to art historians and archaeologists studying ancient Mesoamerica but other parts of the world as well. -- Cecelia KleinIn Unseen Art, Claudia Brittenham looks deeply into the images and sacred things left by the peoples of Mesoamerica. She explores what it meant to 'see' beyond the sense of sight, whether in relation to concealed Olmec pavements; Maya lintels that offered, at best, partial glimpses; or the 'radical invisibility' of Aztec carvings—not a few with hidden surfaces that were never meant to be viewed. With insight and élan, Claudia Brittenham teaches us new ways of understanding Mesoamerican images. In so doing, she shows that the esoteric path to knowledge both privileges sight and, at times, transcends it. -- Stephen HoustonUltimately, Unseen Art brings to the forefront questions about the power of looking that are vital not just for scholars of Indigenous art of the Americas, but for all of art history. The interventions presented here ask us to consider the meaning of looking; the role of the body in relation to works of art; and connections between visibility and power that resonate in the present as well as in the past. * caa.reviews *Table of Contents List of Tables and Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction. Seeing and Knowing Chapter 1. Making: Building Community at La Venta Chapter 2. Vision: Seeing Maya Lintels Chapter 3. Power: Carving the Undersides of Aztec Sculpture Conclusion. The Language of Zuyua Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of the understudied sculpture of the Maya frontier.Table of Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments 1. The Edge of the Maya World: An Introduction 2. Kings and Captives at Tenam Puente 3. Bodies in the Ballcourt: Art and Identity at Tenam Rosario 4. Rulers and Ritual at Chinkultic 5. Art and the Ancestors at Quen Santo 6. Transformation: Comitán and the Postclassic 7. Conclusion: Frontiers, Identity, and the Comitán Style References Index

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Book SynopsisNew case studies documenting ten thousand years of cuisines across the cultures of Oaxaca, Mexico, from the earliest gathered plants, such as guajes, to the contemporary production of tejate and its health implications. Among the richest culinary traditions in Mexico are those of the “eight regions” of the state of Oaxaca. Mesquite Pods to Mezcal brings together some of the most prominent scholars in Oaxacan archaeology and related fields to explore the evolution of the area’s world-renowned cuisines. This volume, the first to address food practices across Oaxaca through a long-term historical lens, covers the full spectrum of human occupation in Oaxaca, from the early Holocene to contemporary times. Contributors consider the deep history of agroecological management and large-scale landscape transformation, framing food production as a human-environment relation. They explore how, after the arrival of the Spanish, Oaxacan cuisines adaptedTable of Contents List of Figures List of Tables Foreword. Food and the Sacred (Lila Downs) Acknowledgments Chapter 1. The Making of Oaxacan Foodways (Andrea M. Cuéllar, Verónica Pérez Rodríguez, Shanti Morell-Hart, and Stacie M. King) Part I. The Roots of Oaxacan Cuisine Chapter 2. Food from the Barranca: A 13,000-Year Perspective from the Yuzanú Drainage of the Mixteca Alta (Aleksander Borejsza, Arthur Joyce, and Jon C. Lohse) Chapter 3. Archaic-Period MRG-6 and the Deep Culinary Roots of Oaxacan Cuisine (Shanti Morell-Hart and Éloi Bérubé) Chapter 4. The Cooked, the Burned, and the Modified: Early Formative Cuisines and Human-Animal Relations in the Mixteca Alta (Víctor E. Salazar Chávez and Jeffrey P. Blomster) Part II. Oaxaca Foodways in Economic and Spiritual Life Chapter 5. Perspectives on Dietary Variability in the Classic-Period Valley of Oaxaca (Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas) Chapter 6. Eating in the City: Investigating the Dietary Impact of Urban Life in Ancient Oaxaca (Verónica Pérez Rodríguez) Chapter 7. Nourishing the Ancestors among the Zapotecs of the Valley of Oaxaca during the Late Classic and Postclassic Periods (Robert Markens and Cira Martínez López) Chapter 8. Foodways and Diet in the Prehispanic Mixteca Alta: Ceramic and Isotope Analyses of the Tomb 1 Burial in Nduatiucu (San Felipe Ixtapa, Teposcolula) (Jennifer Saumur and Aurélie Manin) Part III. Disrupted, Innovated, and Resilient Cuisines Chapter 9. Foregrounding Food: Mixtec Cuisine, Identity, and Ritual at Tututepec, Oaxaca (Marc N. Levine and Kathryn Puseman) Chapter 10. Preserving Oaxacan Foodways in the Face of Conquest: A Seed Bank in the Nejapan Sierra Sur (Stacie M. King and Shanti Morell-Hart) Chapter 11. Oaxacan Cuisine at Achiutla during the Early Colonial Period: A Story of Resilience (Éloi Bérubé and Jamie E. Forde) Part IV. Living Culinary Traditions Chapter 12. Itacate para el Camino: Prepared Meals for Prehispanic and Colonial Travelers (Nelly M. Robles García) Chapter 13. Isthmus Zapotec Food: Community, Ecology, Markets, Makers (Anya Peterson Royce) Chapter 14. Maize Cuisine on the Move in the Twenty-First Century: Persistence and Migration of Tejate, a Traditional Mesoamerican Maize and Cacao Beverage (Daniela Soleri, María del Carmen Castillo Cisernos, Flavio Aragón Cuevas, and David A. Cleveland) Contributors Index

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Book SynopsisThe fourth volume in the Amheida series, Ain el-Gedida: 2006-2008 Excavations of a Late Antique Site in Egypt''s Western Desert (Amheida IV) presents the systematic record and interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the excavations at Ain el-Gedida, a fourth-century rural settlement in Egypt''s Dakleh Oasis uniquely important for the study of early Egyptian Christianity and previously known only from written sources.Nicola Aravecchia (Washington University), the Deputy Field Director of NYU''s Amheida Excavations, offers a history of the site and its excavations, followed by an integrated topographical and archaeological interpretation of the site and its significance for the history of Christianity in Egypt. In the second half of the volume a team of international experts presents catalogs and interpretations of the archaeological finds, including ceramics (Delphine Dixneuf, CRNS), coins (David M. Ratzan, NYU), ostraca and graffiti (Roger S. Bagnall,

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Book SynopsisA detailed archaeological study of life in Egypt''s Eastern desert during the Roman period by a leading scholarRome in Egypt's Eastern Desert is a two-volume set collecting Hélène Cuvigny's most important articles on Egypt's Eastern Desert during the Roman period. The excavations she directed uncovered a wealth of material, including tens of thousands of texts written on pottery fragments (ostraca). Some are administrative texts, but many more are correspondence, both official and private, written by and to the people (mostly but not all men) who lived and worked in these remote and harsh environments, supported by an elaborate network of defense, administration, and supply that tied the entire region together. The contents of Rome in Egypt's Eastern Desert have all been published earlier in peer-reviewed venues, but most appear here for the first time in English. All of the contributions have been checked or translated by the editor and brought up to date

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Book SynopsisA detailed archaeological study of life in Egypt''s Eastern desert during the Roman period by a leading scholarRome in Egypt's Eastern Desert is a two-volume set collecting Hélène Cuvigny's most important articles on Egypt's Eastern Desert during the Roman period. The excavations she directed uncovered a wealth of material, including tens of thousands of texts written on pottery fragments (ostraca). Some are administrative texts, but many more are correspondence, both official and private, written by and to the people (mostly but not all men) who lived and worked in these remote and harsh environments, supported by an elaborate network of defense, administration, and supply that tied the entire region together. The contents of Rome in Egypt's Eastern Desert have all been published earlier in peer-reviewed venues, but most appear here for the first time in English. All of the contributions have been checked or translated by the editor and brought up to date

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Book SynopsisThis archaeological report provides a comprehensive study of the excavations carried out at Amheida House B2 in Egypt''s Dakhleh Oasis between 2005 and 2007, followed by three study seasons between 2008 and 2010.The excavations at Amheida in Egypt''s western desert, begun in 2001 under the aegis of Columbia University and sponsored by NYU since 2008, are investigating all aspects of social life and material culture at the administrative center of ancient Trimithis. The excavations so far have focused on three areas of this very large site: a centrally located upper-class fourth-century AD house with wall paintings, an adjoining school, and underlying remains of a Roman bath complex; a more modest house of the third century; and the temple hill, with remains of the Temple of Thoth built in the first century AD and of earlier structures. Architectural conservation has protected and partly restored two standing funerary monuments, a mud-brick pyramid and a tower tomb, both

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Book SynopsisUnifies for the first time the results of various excavations of the Galilean city. Here, archaeologists and historians of the Second Temple Period work together to understand the site and its significance to profile Galilee and the region around the lake in the Early Roman period.Trade Review"Such a thorough report on Magdala has been needed for some time and now that the excavations have progressed so far, it can be produced. I am confident that archaeologists, New Testament scholars, and scholars of early Judaism will find this volume attractive and informative." David Fiensy, Professor of New Testament, Kentucky Christian University

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Book Synopsis‘The interpretours of Plato,’ wrote Sir Thomas Elyot in The Governour (1531), ‘do think that the wonderful and incomprehensible order of the celestial bodies, I mean sterres and planettes, and their motions harmonicall, gave to them that intensifly and by the deepe serche of raison beholde their coursis, in the sondrye diversities of number and tyme, a forme of imitation of a semblable motion, which they called daunsigne or sltation.’ The image of the planets and stars engaged in an ordered and measured dance is an ancient one. Plato articulated it in a passage in the Timaeus, where he likened the apparent motions of the planets and stars to ‘choreiai’ (choral dances). Through the centuries the analogy has challenged Plator’s interpreters to define and elaborate the image. Miller has examined a range of poetic and philosophical texts influenced by Plato cosmology, and has discovered frequent comparisons of the cosmic ord

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Book SynopsisThe papers that are presented in this volume are the results of a resolution to organize a symposium that would include biographical and historical sketches of Davidson Black. The neglect of Black by both scientists and laymen in Canada is in part due to his untimely death in 1934, just seven years after the first in situ discovery of Sinanthropus at Chou Kou Tien. Other factors that contributed to his anonymity among his countrymen are historical circumstances and, perhaps, the national temperament.

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Book SynopsisThe original work, in Russian, appeared in 1947 and is still regarded as an important contribution to knowledge of the early history of the Eskimo. This translation makes available in English the results of archaeological research in a significant area, the extreme northeast of continental Asia, and the data reported are a valuable addition to previous information on the ethnology, linguistics and physical anthropology of the peoples of the Arctic. In particular this book reports investigations made by the author on the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula from the village of Uwelen in the north to the village of Sirhenik in the south.This is volume I in a series Anthropology of the North: Translations from Russian Sources being sponsored by the Arctic Institute of North America.

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Book SynopsisThis detailed study of the excavation and restoration of the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, reveals the roots of historical archaeology. In the1960s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsored an archaeology program to authentically restore the city of Nauvoo, which was founded along the Mississippi River in the 1840s by the Mormons as they moved west. Non-Mormon scholars were also interested in Nauvoo because it was representative of several western frontier towns in this era. As the archaeology and restoration of Nauvoo progressed, however, conflicts arose, particularly regarding control of the site and its interpretation for the public.The field of historical archaeology was just coming into its own during this period, with myriad perspectives and doctrines being developed and tested. The Nauvoo site was one of the places where the discipline was forged. This well-researched account weaves together multiple viewpoints in examining the many contenTrade Review"This thoughtful and carefully researched book, bolstered by many archival sources and oral histories, is an important reflection on the relatively young discipline of historical archaeology. Through the narrative of Nauvoo, Pykles teaches us much about the materials and materiality of the recent past and how identities take shape through stories we tell about that past, our ancestors, and our profession."—Shannon A. Novak, Journal of Anthropological Research "Pykles provides an even-handed and fascinating glimpse into the use of historic preservation and archaeology as both a restoration and a proselytizing tool."—Chris Merritt, Montana, The Magazine of Western History "Readers interested in the development of historical archaeology in the United States, in Mormon history, or in religious groups' struggles to control public perceptions of their past will find this book rewarding."—Stephen C. Taysom, Indiana Magazine of History"Researchers interested in archaeological activities at Nauvoo and their contribution to the development of historical archaeology will find that Pykles has an excellent command of the documentary record supporting his analysis."—Carl A. Merry, Plains Anthropologist"Historians and historical archaeologists alike will find Pykle's trailblazing work worthwhile."—Glen M. Leonard, Journal of Mormon History"Excavating Nauvoo is an excellent read for those interested in the study of archaeology as whole, and those interested in the field of historic archaeology."—Matt Donovan, Journal of the Iowa Archeological SocietyTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Foreword by Robert L. Schuyler Acknowledgements Series Editors' Introduction Introduction Chapter 1: The Origins of the Restoration of Nauvoo Chapter 2: The Rise of Nauvoo Restoration, Inc. Chapter 3: Interpretive Conflict in Nauvoo Chapter 4: Historical Archaeology in Nauvoo Chapter 5: The Nauvoo Excavations and the Development of Historical Archaeology in America Appendix: Chronology of Nauvoo Excavations NotesBibliography Index

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Book SynopsisGirl Archaeologist illuminates the life and trailblazing career of Alice Kehoe, a woman with a family who was always, also, an archaeologist.Trade Review“Kehoe has seen archaeology grow and change over sixty years—both technically and politically. While women in positions of prestige and influence were rare in the 1960s, today they are common. Kehoe’s story documents what it took to move the profession in that direction. It is an inspiration to all.”—American Archaeology “Books such as Girl Archaeologist are not only a reflection of how the field of archaeology has changed, but also provide space to examine the profession at the current moment.”—Historical Archaeology “Kehoe’s gift for friendship shines in her enduring relationships with students, colleagues, and her Native teachers. Hers is an accessible, absorbing book suitable for all readers and for a variety of courses in women’s studies, cultural anthropology, and archaeology.”—R. Berleant-Schiller, Choice "Alice is not one to "shut up and be quiet." She crafted a career, published sixteen books and four co-edited collections, and was honored for her enduring work as a Plains archaeologist. Her life as a "girl archaeologist" began in an era when there were few women in the field, and most faced the same kinds of discrimination and serious roadblocks. Now that there are many more successful women archaeologists, it is important to remember this grim history."—Louise Lamphere, Journal of Anthropological Research“Girl Archaeologist is everything Alice Beck Kehoe is—witty and irreverent while at the same time touching, honest, and open. . . . This book is necessary for anyone interested in archaeology’s less-than-welcoming history, especially in light of today’s calls for social justice, inclusion, and equity.”—Joe Watkins, president of the Society for American Archaeology, 2019–21“Piercing, funny, and heartbreaking all at once, the story of Kehoe’s grit and perseverance in the face of rampant sexism will keep you glued.”—Becky Cooper, author of We Keep the Dead Close“Alice Kehoe is a living legend in archaeology. . . . She digs deep with self-reflection and searing honesty to survey her struggles and breakthrough achievements. . . . She persevered through it all with unbroken tenacity.”—Chip Colwell, author of Plundered Skulls and Stolen SpiritsTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface 1. Born into a Man’s World 2. Launched into Archaeology, Where Sexism Ruled 3. Achieving the MRS. and Fieldwork, with Toddlers 4. “Benign Neglect” at Harvard 5. Academia 6. Trolls Appear 7. Life on My Own 8. My Friends Out on the Tundra with Me 9. Issues with Limits 10. Applause and Reward Epilogue: Where Was I When Kennedy Was Shot? Acknowledgments Appendix: Books I Have Written and Why

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Book SynopsisIn Truth and Power in American Archaeology, archaeologist and ethnohistorian Alice Beck Kehoe presents her key writings where archaeological fieldwork, ethnohistorical analysis, postcolonial anthropology, and feminist analysis intersect to provide students and scholars of anthropology an overview of the methodological and ethical issues in Americanist archaeology in the last thirty years.Truth and Power in American Archaeology brings together Kehoe’s broad-ranging, influential articles and previously unpublished lectures to explore archaeology’s history, methods, concepts, and larger imbrication in knowledge production in the West. With her contextualizing introductions, these articles argue for recognition of scientific method in the historical sciences of archaeology, paleontology, and geology; empirically grounded understandings of American First Nations’ ways of life and scientific knowledge; discussion of archaeology as expanded historie

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Book SynopsisIn Incidental Archaeologists, Bonnie Effros examines the archaeological contributions of nineteenth-century French military officers, who, raised on classical accounts of warfare and often trained as cartographers, developed an interest in the Roman remains they encountered when commissioned in the colony of Algeria. By linking the study of the Roman past to French triumphant narratives of the conquest and occupation of the Maghreb, Effros demonstrates how Roman archaeology in the forty years following the conquest of the Ottoman Regencies of Algiers and Constantine in the 1830s helped lay the groundwork for the creation of a new identity for French military and civilian settlers.Effros uses France''s violent colonial war, its efforts to document the ancient Roman past, and its brutal treatment of the region''s Arab and Berber inhabitants to underline the close entanglement of knowledge production with European imperialism. Significantly, IncideTrade ReviewIncidental Archaeologists offers an in-depth, rigorous archival exploration that, while providing a clear history to archaeological policy under the French in Algeria, also uncovers its links to affective relationships to the past, the construction of the racialized and colonized other, and the many forms of violence that are attendant with colonial force and often glossed as 'pacification. * Antiquity *Incidental Archaeologists will likely remain the main reference on the impact of the Roman imperial legacy in French Algeria for quite some time. Through an admirable engagement with the archives and the existing literature, Effros has provided invaluable depth to the well-known influence of the Roman model on French colonial officers. * Modern & Contemporary France *Incidental Archaeologists makes a valuable addition to the historiography on imperializing archaeology, which continues to reveal how the agents of European empires engaged with antiquities in foreign lands... Effros also makes a contribution to the study of classics and colonialism. * H-France Reviews *More than anyone before, Effros lays bare how deeply enmeshed the largely self- appointed French custodians of Algeria's Roman past—most of them military officers—were in deeply destructive forces.... Incidental Archaeologists offers the most complete account of how archaeological endeavors became part of French efforts to occupy and colonize Algeria.... It should find avid readers among all those interested in the intersecting histories of archaeology, public memory, and colonialism, not only in Algeria. * American Historical Review *Prof. Effros has produced a very impressive book that combines an account of the pioneering role of French army officers in the recovery of the physical remnants of the Roman era in Algeria, with the story of French imperial expansion in the region from the start of the conquest of the area in 1830 through 1870, and the uses to which archaeology was put in the service of that penetration. Incidental Archaeologists is an engaging, informative read for interested in archaeology, Roman History, and French military operations and colonialism in North Africa. * The NYMAS Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: War and the Destruction of Antiquities in the Former Ottoman Empire 1. Knowing and Controlling: Early Archaeological Exploration in the Algerian Colony 2. Envisioning the Future: French Generals' Use of Ancient Rome in the 1840s 3. The View from Ancient Lambaesis 4. Institutionalizing Algerian Archaeology 5. Cartography and Field Archaeology during the Second Empire Epilogue: Classical Archaeology in Algeria after 1870

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Book SynopsisIn Scandinavia in the Age of Vikings, Jón Viðar Sigurðsson returns to the Viking homeland, Scandinavia, highlighting such key aspects of Viking life as power and politics, social and kinship networks, gifts and feasting, religious beliefs, women''s roles, social classes, and the Viking economy, which included farming, iron mining and metalworking, and trade.Drawing of the latest archeological research and on literary sources, namely the sagas, Sigurðsson depicts a complex and surprisingly peaceful society that belies the popular image of Norsemen as bloodthirsty barbarians. Instead, Vikings often acted out power struggles symbolically, with local chieftains competing with each other through displays of wealth in the form of great feasts and gifts, rather than arms. At home, conspicuous consumption was a Viking leader''s most important virtue; the brutality associated with them was largely wreaked abroad.Sigurðsson''s engaging history of the Vikings at home begins by highlighting political developments in the region, detailing how Danish kings assumed ascendency over the region and the ways in which Viking friendship reinforced regional peace. Scandinavia in the Age of Vikings then discusses the importance of religion, first pagan and (beginning around 1000 A.D.) Christianity; the central role that women played in politics and war; and how the enormous wealth brought back to Scandinavia affected the social fabricshedding new light on Viking society.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Characteristics of the Viking Age in Scandinavia 1. The Powerful Danish Kings 2. Kings and Chieftains in the Shadow of the Danish Kings 3. Networks of Power 4. Peace and Conflict Resolution 5. Honor and Posthumous Reputation 6. Class and Gender in Viking Society 7. Religion and Power 8. Livelihoods Conclusion: The Viking Age Dynamic

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Book SynopsisReclaiming the Past examines the post-antique history of Argos and how the city''s archaeological remains have been perceived and experienced since the late eighteenth century by both local residents and foreign visitors to the Greek Peloponnese. The first western visitors to Argosa city continuously inhabited for six millenniainvariably expected to encounter landscapes described in classical textsyet what they found fell far short of those expectations. At the same time, local meanings attributed to ancient sites reflected an understanding of the past at odds with the supposed expertise of classically educated outsiders. Jonathan M. Hall details how new views of Argos emerged after the Greek War of Independence (18211830) with the adoption of national narratives connecting the newly independent kingdom to its ancient Hellenic past. With rising local antiquarianism at the end of the nineteenth century, new tensions surfaced between conserving the citTrade ReviewHall offers an erudite interpretation of post-classical Argos's navigation and negotiation of its cultural and archaeological heritage. * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Who Owns the Past? Part One: From Ancient History to the Modern Era 1. A Greek Town for 6,000 Years 2. The Rediscovery of Argos 3. Devastation and Reconstruction Part Two: Reclaiming the Past 4. Safeguarding Heritage 5. A New Age of Archaeological Heritage Conclusion: Preservation or Progress?

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Book SynopsisIn this autobiographical reflection, the distinguished anthropologist Philippe Descola looks back on his intellectual career and examines both the central themes of his work and the key questions that have shaped anthropological debates over the past forty years. A student of Lévi-Strauss, Descola conducted ethnographic research among the Achuar of the upper Amazon in the late 1970s, focusing on how native societies relate to their environment. In this book he sheds fresh light on the evolution of his thinking from structuralism to an anthropology beyond the human, on the critique of the modern separation between nature and society, and above all on the genesis and scope of his major work Beyond Nature and Culture. This synthesis of the ways in which humans view their relationships with non-humans proposes four schemas for the ‘composition of worlds’ (animism, naturalism, totemism, analogism) that characterize our ways of inhabiting the earth. Presented in the form of an extended conversation with Pierre Charbonnier, this book is both a lucid introduction to the work of one of the most original anthropologists writing today and an impassioned plea for ontologies that are more accommodating of the diversity of beings.Trade Review“Charbonnier’s questions have engendered exquisite insights into the essence of Descola’s anthropology. A very welcome translation reveals the prescience with which, long ago, this eminent thinker scaled up his concerns to address some of today’s most urgent problems.”Marilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge“What a privilege, to accompany this brilliant anthropologist as he develops and reflects on his meta-ontology against the background of the ethnographic vocation, the Amazonian forest, structuralism, and the distinctiveness of anthropology in France! An instant classic, this exceptionally lucid work will be indispensable for teaching.”Michael Lambek, University of TorontoTable of ContentsForeword to the English editionI. A taste for inquiry Philosophical journeys Discovering the mind, discovering the world Among the tribe of anthropologists Entering the pantheon II. An Amazonian sojourn and the challenges of ethnography The world of the forest Living and working among the Achuar The trial of return III. The diversity of natures The four corners of the world Methodological questions Conceptual reform Forms of figuration IV. The contemporary world in the light of anthropology We Moderns From anthropology to ecology Political anthropology The museum BibliographyNotesIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book examines how the Covid-19 pandemic can be described as a biopolitical crisis, taking into account a fact often overlooked by commentators: Covid-19 is a zoonosis, i.e. a disease transmissible between animal species. The Sars-Cov2 virus causing this respiratory disease circulated in bats before passing to humans under as yet mysterious conditions, and it was transmitted from humans to other species, notably mink and deer. Building on Michel Foucault's revival of the term biopolitics' and related notions (disciplinary power, pastoral power, cynegetic power), this book traces a set of public health measures taken over the last two centuries to control epidemics. It underlines how the need to conserve virus strains in order to identify and anticipate their mutations has given rise to cryopolitics, i.e. a set of techniques aimed at suspending the living in order to defer death. The book then questions the emancipatory scope of this cryopolitics by examining interspecies solidarity built by the warning signals sent by animals to humans about coming threats, be they pandemics, natural disasters or climate change. By blurring the boundaries between the wild and the domestic resulting from the process of domestication, the politics of zoonoses relies on sentinels who preserve the memory of signs from the past to prepare living beings for future threats by involving them in a common ideal.

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Book SynopsisDeveloped just after the close of the Civil War, the Springfield Gas Machine was a unique commercial and domestic gas lighting system marketed for use in homes and businesses outside of a city’s gas works. The self-contained unit was perfectly suited to accommodate an expanding rural and suburban U.S. landscape as middle- and upper-class American families were looking to find simplicity in the countryside without losing any modern comforts of the city. Industries, too, were looking for a means to operate more efficiently and implement longer work hours for various production operations. Perhaps more important, owners of the Springfield system could retain control of their light production during a time when corporations were reaping large benefits from their monopolistic hold over municipal gas works. In addition to detailing preserved Springfield systems across the country, Donald W. Linebaugh uses newspapers and magazine articles, advertisements, patents, and even mail-order catalogues to tell the story of this one-of-a-kind unit. The Gilbert and Barker Manufacturing Company's innovative business plan established them as a leader in the manufacture of gas lighting devices. By taking gasoline from an oft-discarded by product of refining crude oil to a viable fuel source, the company paved the way for other gas-powered appliances to improve household management strategies and industrial production. In capturing the pre-automobile market for gasoline, Gilbert and Barker attracted the attention of the Standard Oil Trust, presaging the oil-industry dominance over gasoline production that continues today. The story of the Springfield gas machine ends in the early twentieth century as the advent of electricity proved more available to the masses with considerably less expense. However, gas lighting was, for its time, a major innovation in domestic and commercial lighting, and it changed daily life and social behaviours in the late nineteenth century as the comforts of home became a reality for suburban and rural Americans. Developed just after the close of the Civil War, the Springfield Gas Machine was a unique commercial and domestic gas lighting system marketed for use in homes and businesses outside of a city’s gas works. The self-contained unit was perfectly suited to accommodate an expanding rural and suburban U.S. landscape as middle- and upper-class American families were looking to find simplicity in the countryside without losing any modern comforts of the city. Industries, too, were looking for a means to operate more efficiently and implement longer work hours for various production operations. Perhaps more important, owners of the Springfield system could retain control of their light production during a time when corporations were reaping large benefits from their monopolistic hold over municipal gas works. In addition to detailing preserved Springfield systems across the country, Donald W. Linebaugh uses newspapers and magazine articles, advertisements, patents, and even mail-order catalogs to tell the story of this one-of-a-kind unit. The Gilbert and Barker Manufacturing Company's innovative business plan established them as a leader in the manufacture of gas lighting devices. By taking gasoline from an oft-discarded byproduct of refining crude oil to a viable fuel source, the company paved the way for other gas-powered appliances to improve household management strategies and industrial production. In capturing the pre-automobile market for gasoline, Gilbert and Barker attracted the attention of the Standard Oil Trust, presaging the oil-industry dominance over gasoline production that continues today. The story of the Springfield gas machine ends in the early twentieth century as the advent of electricity proved more available to the masses with considerably less expense. However, gas lighting was, for its time, a major innovation in domestic and commercial lighting, and it changed daily life and social behaviors in the late nineteenth century as the comforts of home became a reality for suburban and rural Americans.

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Book SynopsisA more robust archaeological interpretation can be produced if a multiscalar approach is brought to bear on the study of the past. In Iroquoian Archaeology and Analytic Scale, ten contributors conducting studies of groups centered around New York State and southern Ontario present contemporary research focused not only on examining the role of scale and how it impacts the field of Iroquoian studies, but also how archaeologists studying other Native Americans can expand their own research. Specifically, the contributors employ a variety of spatial, temporal, and methodological scales to reveal patterns and insights into the cultural interactions that might otherwise be missed by a less multiscalar approach. Furthermore, the diversity of research spans nearly a millennium, from A.D. 900 to 1800, and encompasses several different topographical settings, including major river floodplains, upland headwater areas, and terraces along smaller tributaries, yielding a plethora of current findings from the largest of villages to the smallest of seasonal campsites. Laurie E. Miroff and Timothy D. Knapp have organized these essays in roughly chronological fashion and provide an introduction that addresses the importance of a multiscalar analysis.This volume of Iroquoian-specific yet wide-ranging essays will be of interest to anyone specializing in Native American studies in the Northeast. It will also benefit archaeologists who wish to gain a better understanding of how using a multiscalar approach in their own research can be an integral step toward a more dynamic view of the Native American lived experience.Laurie E. Miroff is an adjunct professor of anthropology at Binghamton University and a project director at the Public Archaeology Facility, Binghamton University. She is associate editor of Northeast Anthropology, and her articles have appeared in Northeast Historical Archaeology and other journals.Timothy D. Knapp is Assistant to the Director for Prehistoric Research at the Public Archaeology Facility at Binghamton University.

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Book SynopsisIn this provocative work, Cheryl Claassen challenges long-standing notions n this provocative work, Cheryl Claassen challenges long-standing notions Iabout hunter-gatherer life in the southern Ohio Valley as it unfolded some Iabout hunter-gatherer life in the southern Ohio Valley as it unfolded some I8,000 to 3,500 years ago. Focusing on freshwater shell mounds scattered 8,000 to 3,500 years ago. Focusing on freshwater shell mounds scattered along the Tennessee, Ohio, Green, and Harpeth rivers, Claassen draws on the latest archaeological research to offer penetrating new insights into the sacred world of Archaic peoples. Some of the most striking ideas are that there were no villages in the southern Ohio Valley during the Archaic period, that all of the trading and killing were for ritual purposes, and that body positioning in graves reflects cause of death primarily. Mid-twentieth-century assessments of the shell mounds saw them as the products of culturally simple societies that cared little about their dead and were concerned only with food. More recent interpretations, while attributing greater complexity to these peoples, have viewed the sites as mere villages and stressed such factors as population growth and climate change in analyzing the way these societies and their practices evolved. Claassen, however, makes a persuasive case that the sites were actually the settings for sacred rituals of burial and renewal and that their large shell accumulations are evidence of feasts associated with those ceremonies. She argues that the physical evidence—including the location of the sites, the largely undisturbed nature of the deposits, the high incidence of dog burials, the number of tools per body found at the sites, and the indications of human sacrifice and violent death—not only supports this view but reveals how ritual practices developed over time. The seemingly sudden demise of shellfish consumption, Claassen contends, was not due to overharvesting and environmental change; it ended, rather, because the sacred rituals changed. Feasting with Shellfish in the Southern Ohio Valley is a work bound to stir controversy and debate among scholars of the Archaic period. Just as surely, it will encourage a new appreciation for the spiritual life of ancient peoples—how they thought about the cosmos and the mysterious forces that surrounded them.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first of a three-volume final report on the Tel Aviv–Heidelberg Renewed Excavations at Ramat Raḥel, 2005–2010. It presents the stratigraphy and architecture of the excavation areas, including portions of the palatial compound, the subterranean columbarium complex, and the Late Roman cemetery; site formation of the tell; twentieth-century fortifications at the site; and the ancient garden and its water installations. Trade Review“The editors are to be commended for having published the stratigraphy and architecture of Ramat Raḥel, a hill site located at the outskirts of Jerusalem. The extensive list of loci at the end of this volume is exemplary for the admirable work the team has deployed to understand the complex history of building and rebuilding.”—Lucas Petit Bibliotheca OrientalisTable of ContentsPublications by the Ramat Raḥel ExpeditionPREFACEOded Lipschits, Manfred Oeming and Yuval GadotPART I: INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1 STRATEGIC LOCATION AND NATURAL SURROUNDINGSOded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Manfred OemingCHAPTER 2 THE ANCIENT NAME OF THE SITEOded Lipschits and Nadav Na’amanCHAPTER 3 HISTORY OF RESEARCHOded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Manfred OemingCHAPTER 4 THE RENEWED EXCAVATIONS OF THE TEL AVIV–HEIDELBERG EXPEDITIONYuval Gadot, Liora Freud, Manfred Oeming and Oded LipschitsPART II: AREA REPORTSCHAPTER 5 AREAS A1, B1 AND B3 WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE CEMETERYKeren RasCHAPTER 6 AREA B2Boaz GrossCHAPTER 7 AREA C1Nitsan Shalom and Boaz GrossCHAPTER 8 AREA C2Assaf KleimanCHAPTER 9 AREA D1Efrat Bocher and Lisa YehudaCHAPTER 10 AREA D2Shatil EmmanuilovCHAPTER 11 AREA D3: COURTYARD 380, THE INNER GATE AND BUILDING 468Ido KochCHAPTER 12 AREA D4Omer SergiCHAPTER 13 AREA D6Ido Koch and Nirit KedemCHAPTER 14 SURVEY AND EXCAVATIONS OF SUBTERRANEAN FEATURES BETWEEN AREAS D6 AND C1Uri Davidovich and Roi PoratCHAPTER 15 AREA UG7: THE SOUTHERN COLUMBARIUMUri DavidovichCHAPTER 16 AREA T: SURVEY AND EXCAVATIONS ON THE WESTERN SLOPEUri Davidovich and Naomi PoratPART III: SYNTHESISCHAPTER 17 SITE FORMATION AT RAMAT RAḤEL: THE NATURAL TOPOGRAPHY AND CHANGES MADE DURING ITS HISTORYNirit Kedem, Yuval Gadot and Oded LipschitsCHAPTER 18 THE ANCIENT GARDEN AND ITS WATER INSTALLATIONSBoaz Gross, Yuval Gadot and Oded LipschitsCHAPTER 19 TWENTIETH CENTURY FORTIFICATIONSEfrat BocherCHAPTER 20 DECONSTRUCTION AND RECONSTRUCTION: REEVALUATING THE FIVE EXPEDITIONS TO RAMAT RAḤELOded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Manfred OemingLIST OF LOCI

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Book SynopsisThis seventh volume of final reports of the Lahav Research Project’s efforts at Tell Halif in Southern Israel focuses on the team’s excavations and related regional ethnographic research at adjacent Khirbet Khuweilifeh, an early twentieth-century settlement of Bedouin and Arab fellahin clients. These efforts illustrate the symbiosis between the itinerant Bedouin and their seasonal sharecropper neighbors along the northern flanks of the Negev desert during and following the First World War in southern Palestine.The stratigraphic excavation and recovery of material culture from Cave Complex A revealed a pattern of occupation dating from the late nineteenth century C.E. up to the mid-1940s and produced hundreds of artifacts and samples, giving testimony to the lifeways of the fellahin who had inhabited the complex. The associated ethnographic research with Bedouin sheikhs and Hebron-area merchant informants established that the Complex’s most recent occupants were the family of a plow maker named Khalil al-Kaayke. The studies elucidated in this volume articulate in more detail the family’s patterns of subsistence, showing the interdependence of the Bedouin and fellahin partners. Examination of the pottery remains provides a profile of the site’s Stratum I, early twentieth-century ceramic forms and also reveals earlier Islamic-period and pre-Islamic traces.Over the past century the lifeways of these early twentieth-century Bedouin and their fellahin village neighbors in southern Palestine have been rapidly disappearing. This volume serves to chronicle and preserve data on their waning history and culture.

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Book SynopsisThis eighth volume of the Madaba Plains Project’s excavations at Tall al ʿUmayri covers the important finds of the 2002 season, updating and synthesizing the work that has been done to date.Accompanied by more than two hundred illustrations, it includes a summary of the cumulative results of all excavation seasons from 1984 through 2002, with a detailed description of the various levels that have been discovered. The contributions to this volume discuss at length the results of the 2002 season, specifically in fields B, H, and L, which helped to clarify the stratigraphy of the site and contributed to the long-term objectives of the excavation—in particular, the goal of elucidating the cycles of intensification and abatement of habitation and land use at and around the site, with a view to understanding how ‘Umayri influenced and participated in these processes.In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume include John W. Betlyon, Kent V. Bramlett, Julie L. Cormack, Marcel den Nijs, David C. Hopkins, Gloria London, Kevin Nick, and Monique D. Vincent.

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Book SynopsisThis reprinting makes available again the only book of its kind to be focused upon the prehistoric Indians of Mississippi. Although written expressly for the layreader, it has continued for more than eighty years to appeal to a wide audience that ranges from professional archeologists and scholars to weekend artifact collectors.Published originally in 1926, Archeology of Mississippi details Brown's records collected during more than a decade of research. Anyone wishing to investigate archeology in Mississippi must start with this book. As early as 1912 Brown, a professor of romance languages at the University of Mississippi, began taking photographs of Mississippi Indian mounds. His are the only photographic records of certain cultural sites that have since then been drastically altered.

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