Description
Book SynopsisAn examination of the connections between social identity and social memory using archaeological research on indigenous societies that existed more than one thousand years ago in what is now Honduras.
Trade Review“[Hendon’s] nuanced analysis is brilliantly crafted, culturally intimate, and immensely provocative. Hendon’s playing field spans a range of objects, features, and monuments that elicit newfound insights into the seeming intangibles of memory in Maya thought and culture. Ultimately, the author delivers the promise and prospect for interpreting community memory, daily life, and the dynamics of intergroup relations via the thoughtful, introspective consideration of objects recovered from cultural landscapes in archaeology. Highly recommended.” - R. G. Mendoza,
Choice“I encourage scholars of the Maya and construction of memory to read Hendon’s attractive and well-presented volume. . . . Overall,
Houses in a Landscape is likely to fuel scholarly debate and inspire archaeological projects to test its conclusions for many years to come.” - Stephen L. Whittington,
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Association“A brilliant work,
Houses in a Landscape sets a new standard for the social archaeology of the Maya and related cultures. It is theoretically sophisticated, meticulously researched, and beautifully written, and it extends the existing literature on memory and archaeology in significant ways. ”—
Robert W. Preucel, author of
Archaeological Semiotics“This is an invigorating, original, and intellectually rewarding book, notable for the breadth and critical rigor of Julia A. Hendon’s theoretical discussions, and the originality of her insights to ancient Honduran societies. It will be of interest not only to archaeologists but also to social theorists more broadly.”—
Wendy Ashmore, coeditor of
Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past“[Hendon’s] nuanced analysis is brilliantly crafted, culturally intimate, and immensely provocative. Hendon’s playing field spans a range of objects, features, and monuments that elicit newfound insights into the seeming intangibles of memory in Maya thought and culture. Ultimately, the author delivers the promise and prospect for interpreting community memory, daily life, and the dynamics of intergroup relations via the thoughtful, introspective consideration of objects recovered from cultural landscapes in archaeology. Highly recommended.” -- R. G. Mendoza * Choice *
“I encourage scholars of the Maya and construction of memory to read Hendon’s attractive and well-presented volume. . . . Overall,
Houses in a Landscape is likely to fuel scholarly debate and inspire archaeological projects to test its conclusions for many years to come.” -- Stephen L. Whittington * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
Table of ContentsIllustrations ix
Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Thinking About Memory 1
1. Communities of Practice in Honduras in the Seventh Century through the Eleventh 33
2. The Enchantment and Humility of Objects 63
3. The Semiotic House: Everyday Life and Domestic Space 91
4. Embodied Forms of Knowing 123
5. Relational Identities and Material Domains 149
6. Special Events at Home 181
7. Ballcourts and Houses: Shared Patterns of Monumentality and Domesticity 203
Conclusion: Communities of Memory and Local Histories 227
Notes 239
Bibliography 243
Index 283
