Search results for ""Author Joy McCorriston""
Archaeopress Persistent Pastoralism: Monuments and Settlements in the Archaeology of Dhofar
A summary of archaeological teamwork along the Dhofar plateau and its backslope into the Nejd of Southern Oman, this book documents survey and excavation of small-scale stone monuments and pastoral settlements. Whether used as burial places, as landmarks, as mnemonic devices, or for other purposes, monuments are the enduring and prominent traces of desert pastoralists. In Dhofar, pastoralists constructed monuments in discrete pulses over 7500 years. Recognizing the dynamic ecosystems and climate regimes of Arabian prehistory, the author suggests that mobile pastoralists used monuments to link dispersed households into broader social communities. Furthermore, the range of practical adjustments to monuments as a consistent means of messaging among mobile people showcases the adaptive strength of Dhofar’s prehistoric inhabitants over time. A singular episode of settlement during a particularly arid period highlights the longer tradition of pastoral people on the move. With fictional vignettes to imagine the people who used these monuments, the chapters introduce archaeological analysis of the social identities, patterns of resource access, contacts, aversions, and exchanges with neighboring groups. Finally, the book underscores the rich heritage of persistent pastoralism within contemporary Oman.
£45.00
Thames & Hudson Ltd Anthropocene: A New Introduction to World Prehistory
Since taking their first steps on this planet, humans have changed the environment around them. Anthropocene: A New Introduction to World Prehistory tells the comprehensive story of human prehistory through the lens of anthropogenic environmental change. Each chapter explains how and why ancient humans transformed the Earth, linking prehistory to today’s greatest global challenge. As they explore this record of the world’s early people and societies, authors Joy McCorriston and Julie Field reject the traditional account of cultural evolution, instead presenting a thematic organization that highlights our Anthropocene narrative. Chapters are devoted to cities and agriculture, but also to such topics as technology, extinction, food production, writing and extractivism. Chapter 9, ‘Individuals and Identity,’ considers human identity and agency in more recent eras, and the book ends with a contemporary chapter that takes a hopeful look at the future.
£29.95
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA Landscape History of Hadramawt: The Roots of Agriculture in Southern Arabia (RASA) Project 1998-2008
The rugged highlands of southern Yemen are one of the less archaeologically explored regions of the Near East. This final report of survey and excavations by the Roots of Agriculture in Southern Arabia (RASA) Project addresses the development of food production and human landscapes, topics of enduring interest as scholarly conceptualizations of the Anthropocene take shape. Along with data from Manayzah, site of the earliest dated remains of clearly domesticated animals in Arabia, the volume also documents some of the earliest water management technologies in Arabia, thereby anchoring regional dates for the beginnings of pastoralism and of potential farming. The authors argue that the initial Holocene inhabitants of Wadi Sana were Arabian hunters who adopted limited pastoral stock in small social groups, then expanded their social collectives through sacrifice and feasts in a sustained pastoral landscape. This volume will be of interest to a wide audience of archaeologists including not only those working in Arabia, but more broadly those interested in the ancient Near East, Africa, South Asia, and in Holocene landscape histories generally.
£78.00
