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Handbook of the Anthropocene: Humans between Heritage and Future
By Nathanaël Wallenhorst, Christoph Wulf. 2023
This Handbook is a collection of contributions of more than 300 researchers who have worked to grasp the Anthropocene, this…
new geological epoch characterised by a modification of the conditions of habitability of the Earth for all living things, in its biogeophysical and socio-political reality. These researchers also sought to define a historical and prospective anthropology that integrates social, economic, cultural and political issues as well as, of course, environmental ones. What are the anthropological changes needed to ensure that our human adventure will be able to continue in the Anthropocene? And what are the educational and political issues involved?Anthropocene is fast becoming a widely-used term, but thus far, there been no reference work explaining the thoughts of the greatest experts of the present day on this subject (at the intersection of biogeophysical and socio-political knowledge). A scientific and political concept (but which is also the conceptual vehicle for conveying the scientific community's sense of concern), this complex term is explained by international experts as they reflect on scientific arguments taking place in earth system science, the social sciences and the humanities. What these researchers from different disciplines have in common is a healthy concern for the future and how to prepare for it in the Anthropocene and also the identification of possible anthropological changes. This Handbook encourages readers to immerse themselves in reflections on the human adventure through descriptions of our differing heritages and the future that is in the process of being written.A unique introduction to how understanding archaeology can support modern-day sustainability efforts, from restoring forested land to developing fire management strategiesAn essential and…
hopeful book for climate-conscious readersThe world faces an uncertain future with the rise of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, overfishing, and other threats. Understanding Imperiled Earth meets this uncertainty head-on, presenting archaeology and history as critical guides to addressing the modern environmental crisis.Anthropologist Todd J. Braje draws connections between deep history and today's hot-button environmental news stories to reveal how the study of the ancient past can help build a more sustainable future. The book covers a diverse array of interconnected issues, including: how modern humans have altered the natural world conservation work of Indigenous communitiesextinction of megafauna like dire wolves and woolly rhinocerosthe risk of deforestation highlighted by Notre Dame's destructionthe extinction crisis reflected by endangered bird species in Hawai'ifish scarcity driving demand and price, like the single blue-fin tuna fish that sold for three million dollarsimportance of "action archaeology" Braje examines how historical roots offer a necessary baseline for a healthier Earth, because understanding how the planet used to be is fundamental to creating effective restoration efforts moving forward through urban forests, sustainable food webs, and more. Understanding Imperiled Earth offers an illuminating, hopeful, and actionable approach to some of the world's most urgent problems.The Archaeology of Contemporary America (The American Experience in Archaeological Perspective)
By William R. Caraher. 2024
An introduction to the field of contemporary archaeology as practiced in the United States This book is the first…
survey of contemporary archaeology, a field that focuses on the study of the past 50 years, in the United States. William Caraher demonstrates the plurality of theoretical and methodological approaches that make this discipline in the US unique, including the application of anthropological methods such as ethnography and oral history and the contributions of collaborative and community-based research. Opening with a case study of the excavation of Atari games from a municipal landfill in Alamogordo, New Mexico, Caraher invites readers into discussions of the archaeology of garbage, consumer objects, and digital music and video devices. He then synthesizes research on migrant camps, homelessness, military bases, residential school campuses, and urbanism, and offers a second case study: an examination of temporary workforce housing in North Dakota's Bakken oil boom. The Archaeology of Contemporary America explores how American historical archaeology, with its emphasis on consumer culture, race, and social class, provided a foundation for early efforts to apply archaeology to the contemporary world. Caraher also situates US contemporary archaeology in a global context that traces networks of extractive industries, manufacturing, and discard practices that make the American experience possible. A volume in the series the American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael S. Nassaney and Krysta RyzewskiCulturing the Body: Past Perspectives on Identity and Sociality
By Benjamin Collins and April Nowell. 2024
The human body is both the site of lived experiences and a means of communicating those experiences to a diverse…
audience. Hominins have been culturing their bodies, that is adding social and cultural meaning through the use pigments and objects, for over 100,000 years. There is archaeological evidence for practices of adornment of the body by late Pleistocene and early Holocene hominins, including personal ornaments, clothing, hairstyles, body painting, and tattoos. These practices have been variously interpreted to reflect differences such as gender, status, and ethnicity, to attract or intimidate others, and as indices of a symbolically mediated self and personal identity. These studies contribute to a novel and growing body of evidence for diversity of cultural expression in the past, something that is a hallmark of human cultures today.Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion
By Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, John S Major. 2023
Metamorphic Imagery in Ancient Chinese Art and Religion demonstrates that the concept of metamorphism was central to ancient Chinese religious…
belief and practices from at least the late Neolithic period through the Warring States Period of the Zhou dynasty. Central to the authors' argument is the ubiquitous motif in early Chinese figurative art, the metamorphic power mask. While the motif underwent stylistic variation over time, its formal properties remained stable, underscoring the image’s ongoing religious centrality. It symbolized the metamorphosis, through the phenomenon of death, of royal personages from living humans to deceased ancestors who required worship and sacrificial offerings. Treated with deference and respect, the royal ancestors lent support to their living descendants, ratifying and upholding their rule; neglected, they became dangerous, even malevolent. Employing a multidisciplinary approach that integrates archaeologically recovered objects with literary evidence from oracle bone and bronze inscriptions to canonical texts, all situated in the appropriate historical context, the study presents detailed analyses of form and style, and of change over time, observing the importance of relationality and the dynamic between imagery, materials, and affects. This book is a significant publication in the field of early China studies, presenting an integrated conception of ancient art and religion that surpasses any other work now available.Collective Action and the Reframing of Early Mesoamerica (Elements in Anthropological Archaeology in the 21st Century)
By null David M. Carballo, null Gary M. Feinman. 2023
In considering the long trajectory of human societies, researchers have too often favored models of despotic control by the few…
or structural models that fail to grant agency to those with less power in shaping history. Recent scholarship demonstrates such models to be not only limiting but also empirically inaccurate. This Element reviews archaeological approaches to collective action drawing on theoretical perspectives from across the globe and case studies from prehispanic Mesoamerica. It highlights how institutions and systems of governance matter, vary over space and time, and can oscillate between more pluralistic and more autocratic forms within the same society, culture, or polity. The historical coverage examines resource dilemmas and ways of mediating them, how ritual and religion can foster both social solidarity and hierarchy, the political financing of institutions and variability in forms of governance, and lessons drawn to inform the building of more resilient communities in the present.A History of Ancient Rome in 100 Lives
By Philip Matyszak, Joanne Berry. 2008
One hundred vivid portraits of real-life characters bring to life the highs and lows of Rome’s dramatic history. A vibrant…
portrait of a lost world, A History of Ancient Rome in 100 Lives reveals the mightiest civilization of antiquity through the eyes of one hundred of its citizens. The book gives a voice not just to Rome’s most famous generals and rulers, such as Caesar and Caligula, but also to its builders, sculptors, poets, historians, gladiators, shepherds, enslaved people, and courtesans. The book begins with Faustulus, the fosterfather of Romulus and Remus, and closes with the final emperor, Romulus Augustulus. The stories of Roman women are given their due as well—from Servilia, Caesar’s lover; to Agrippina, the murderous wife of Claudius; Amazonia, the sword-swinging gladiator; and Hypatia, philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. Exploring every level of society and using the latest archaeological evidence as well as ancient texts, the authors build up a picture of what it meant to live in Ancient Rome.Crypt: Life, Death and Disease in the Middle Ages and Beyond
By Alice Roberts. 2024
The new book by Sunday Times bestselling author of Ancestors and Buried - the final instalment in Professor Alice Roberts' acclaimed trilogy.We can unlock secrets from…
bones preserved for centuries in tombs, graves and crypts. The history of the Middle Ages is typically the story of the rich and powerful, there&’s barely a written note for most people&’s lives. Archaeology represents another way of interrogating our history. By using cutting-edge science to examine human remains and burials, it is possible to unearth details about how individuals lived and died that give us a new understanding of the past – one that is more intimate and inclusive than ever before. The seven stories in Crypt are not comforting tales. We meet the patients at one of the earliest hospitals in England and the victims of the St Brice&’s Day Massacre. We see a society struggling to make sense of disease, disability and death, as incurable epidemics sweep through medieval Europe. We learn of a protracted battle between Church and State that led to the murder of Thomas Becket and the destruction of the most famous tomb in England. And we come face to face with the archers who went down with Henry VIII&’s favourite ship, the Mary Rose. Beautifully written and expertly researched by Professor Alice Roberts, Crypt is packed with thrilling discoveries that will make you see the history of Britain afresh.The History of the Merchant Taylors' Company
By Matthew Davies. 2004
One of the 'Great Twelve' livery companies of the City of London, the Merchant Taylors' Company has been in existence…
for some seven hundred years. This new history will chart the remarkable story of the Company and its members from its origins until the 1950s, encompassing the lives and achievements of men such as Sir Thomas White (founder of St John's College, Oxford) and the celebrated chronicler, John Stow, as well as the roles played by the Company in the City and beyond in different periods. As well as looking in detail at the internal life of the Company, the book will also focus on a number of important themes in the wider history of London. These include trade and industry, apprenticeship, the impact of religious change, the foundation of schools and other charities, and the government and politics of the City. In doing so, the book will contribute to an understanding of the aims and activities of the livery companies over the centuries, their ability to adapt to changing circumstances and their relevance in a modern world far removed from that in which they were first established. The History of the Merchant Taylors' Company will appeal to a wide range of people interested in the history of London. It is fully illustrated with more than seventy-five black and white and thirty colour illustrations.Early European Castles: Aristocracy and Authority, AD 800-1200 (Debates In Archaeology Ser.)
By Oliver H. Creighton. 2012
Medieval castles were, alongside the great cathedrals, the most recognizable buildings of the medieval world. Closely associated with concepts of…
justice, lordship, and authority as well as military might, castles came to encapsulate the period's very essence. Looking at above and below-ground evidence and examining a wide variety of sites - from towering donjons to earth and timber castles - in different parts of western Europe, this book explores the relationship between early castle building and the emergence of a new aristocracy and investigates the impact of authority on the organisation of the landscape. A particular focus is on the social context of early private fortifications: Europe's earliest castles came to embody a new and radically different form of power - an aristocratic authority that was highly personal in nature, glaringly visible in its presence, and enforceable through violence, both threatened and real. The volume reassesses traditional models of castle origins; examines aspects of elite lifestyle in and around these structures, including pastimes and diet; considers medieval visual experiences of sites and their settings; and explores some future directions for research.This book presents a fresh perspective on eleventh- and twelfth-century Irish architecture, and a critical assessment of the value…
of describing it, and indeed contemporary European architecture in general, as “Romanesque”. Medieval Irish Architecture and the Concept of Romanesque is a new and original study of medieval architectural culture in Ireland. The book’s central premise is that the concept of a “Romanesque” style in eleventh- and twelfth-century architecture across Western Europe, including Ireland, is problematic, and that the analysis of building traditions of that period is not well served by the assumption that there was a common style. Detailed discussion of important buildings in Ireland, a place marginalised within the “Romanesque” model, reveals the Irish evidence to be intrinsically interesting to students of medieval European architecture, for it is evidence which illuminates how architectural traditions of the Middle Ages were shaped by balancing native and imported needs and aesthetics, often without reference to Romanitas. This book is for specialists and students in the fields of Romanesque, medieval archaeology, medieval architectural history, and medieval Irish studies.Communities and Place: A Thematic Approach to the Histories of LGBTQ Communities in the United States
By Katherine Crawford-Lackey and Megan E. Springate. 2020
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people have established gathering spaces to find acceptance, form social networks, and unify…
to resist oppression. Framing the emergence of queer enclaves in reference to place, this volume explores the physical and symbolic spaces of LGBTQ Americans. Authors provide an overview of the concept of “place” and its role in informing identity formation and community building. The book also includes interactive project prompts, providing opportunities to practically apply topics and theories discussed in the chapters.Blurring Timescapes, Subverting Erasure: Remembering Ghosts on the Margins of History
By Sarah Surface-Evans, A. E. Garrison, Kisha Supernant. 2020
What happens when we blur time and allow ourselves to haunt or to become haunted by ghosts of the past?…
Drawing on archaeological, historical, and ethnographic data, Blurring Timescapes, Subverting Erasure demonstrates the value of conceiving of ghosts not just as metaphors, but as mechanisms for making the past more concrete and allowing the negative specters of enduring historical legacies, such as colonialism and capitalism, to be exorcised.Pictorial Archaeology: Modernity and the Muse of Antiquity
By Roger Balm. 2024
This book explores the expressly pictorial type of visual archaeology, the transcribing of three-dimensional materiality into two-dimensional depictions, and its…
influential history within the discipline. The picturing of ancient sites and artifacts to convey information links visual reporting with the workings of the imagination and indicates that the study of antiquity has always had a hybrid identity: part artistic and part scientific. In examining expressly pictorial forms of visual story-telling about the past, this book looks beyond certain supposed "creative turns" and focuses instead on creative continuities, answering key questions about the power of picturing and its ability to not only inform documentary practices but actively structure those practices. How are prints, drawings, paintings and photographs able to collapse the three-dimensional world of the ancient past onto a flat page but also convey a sense of material reality? In contemporary practice, how do pictorial ways of seeing enable the interpretation of material remains but also shape the recognition of digital traces on a computer screen? Published illustrations, both historical and contemporary, are primary sources of evidence for answering such questions and identifying common patterns of pictorial information. This book provides a framework for scholars researching the visual culture of archaeology as well as the history of archaeology. It is also recommended for professionals in the fields of heritage studies, conservation and community archaeology.Uncovering evidence of slavery and control in the spatial landscapes of a Maryland plantation In this book, Megan Bailey…
uses archaeological data and historical records to document the treatment of enslaved people at L’Hermitage Plantation in Maryland from 1794 to 1827. Bailey uses the concept of the “nervous landscape”—a space where power is not absolute and where resistance is possible—to show how the Vincendière family’s fear of losing control of their workforce drove their brutality. Bailey shows how the Vincendières’ strategies to maintain their power were inscribed in the plantation’s landscapes through the design of the enslaved peoples’ village, which maximized surveillance and control while suppressing individuality. Despite the family’s behavior, enslaved people found ways to exercise agency, including through use of yard space, forming relationships with local residents, and running away. Considering fear and anxiety as a fundamental element of the colonial experience, Bailey argues that emotion should be considered in archaeological analyses of the past. Today, L’Hermitage Plantation is a part of the Monocacy National Battlefield operated by the National Park Service. Bailey discusses the public interpretation of the site and how excavations of the plantation highlighted a more complicated narrative than the prevailing story of Civil War conflict and heroism. Memory and Power at L’Hermitage Plantation uses archaeology to connect the Vincendières to the present-day landscape in a complex, layered narrative of precarity and control. A volume in the series Cultural Heritage Studies, edited by Paul A. Shackel Publication of this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.Ritual and Economy in a Pre-Columbian Chiefdom: The El Cajón Region of Honduras
By Kenneth Hirth, Susan Hirth, George Hasemann, Gloria Lara-Pinto. 2023
This volume examines the organization and ritual economy of a pre-Columbian chiefdom that developed in central Honduras over a 1,400-year…
period from 400 BC to AD 1000. Extremely applicable and broadly important to the archaeological studies of Mesoamerica, Ritual and Economy in a Pre-Columbian Chiefdom models the ritual organization of pre-Columbian societies across Honduras to expand the understanding of chiefdom societies in Central America and explore how these non-Maya societies developed and evolved. As part of the ritual economy, a large quantity of jade and marble artifacts were deposited as offerings in the ritual architecture of the El Cajón region’s central community of Salitrón Viejo. Over 2,800 of these high-value items were recovered from their original ritual contexts, making Salitrón Viejo one of the largest in situ collections of these materials ever recovered in the New World. These materials are well dated and tremendously varied and provide a cross-section of all jade-carving lapidary traditions in use across eastern Mesoamerica between AD 250 and 350. With a complementary website providing extensive additional description, visualization, and analysis (https://journals.psu.edu/opa/issue/view/3127), Ritual and Economy in a Pre-Columbian Chiefdom is a new and original contribution that employs an “economy of ritual approach” to the study of chiefdom societies in the Americas. It is a foundational reference point for any scholar working in Mesoamerica and Central America, especially those engaged in Maya research, as well as archaeologists working with societies at this scale of complexity in Latin America and around the world.Civil War Talks: Further Reminiscences of George S. Bernard and His Fellow Veterans (A Nation Divided)
By George S. Bernard. 2012
George S. Bernard was a Petersburg lawyer and member of the 12th Virginia Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. Over…
the course of his life, Bernard wrote extensively about his wartime experiences and collected accounts from other veterans. In 1892, he published War Talks of Confederate Veterans, a collection of firsthand accounts focusing on the battles and campaigns of the 12th Virginia that is widely read to this day. Bernard prepared a second volume but was never able to publish it. After his death in 1912, his papers became scattered or simply lost. But a series of finds, culminating with the discovery of a cache of papers in Roanoke in 2004, have made it possible to reconstruct a complete manuscript of the unpublished second volume.The resulting book, Civil War Talks, contains speeches, letters, Bernard’s wartime diary, and other firsthand accounts of the war not only by veterans of the Confederacy, such as General William Mahone, but by Union veterans as well. Their personal stories cover the major military campaigns in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania--Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Petersburg, and Appomattox. For the general reader, this volume offers evocative testimonies focusing on the experiences of individual soldiers. For scholars, it provides convenient access to many accounts that, until now, have not been widely available or have been simply unknown.Old Fields: Photography, Glamour, and Fantasy Landscape
By John R. Stilgoe. 2014
Glamour subverts convention. Models, images, and even landscapes can skew ordinary ways of seeing when viewed through the lens of…
photography, suggesting new worlds imbued with fantasy, mystery, sexuality, and tension.In Old Fields, John Stilgoe—one of the most original observers of his time—offers a poetic and controversial exploration of the generations-long effort to portray glamour. Fusing three forces in contemporary American culture—amateur photography after 1880; the rise of glamour and fantasy; and the often-mysterious quality of landscape photographs—Stilgoe provides a wide-ranging yet concentrated take on the cultural legacy of our photographic history.Through the medium of "shop theory"—the techniques, tools, and purpose-made equipment a maker uses to realize intent—Stilgoe looks at the role of Eastman Kodak in shaping the ways photographers purchased cameras and films, while also mapping the divisions that were created by European-made cameras. He then goes on to argue that with the proliferation of digital cameras, smart phones, and Instagram, young people’s lack of knowledge about photographic technique is in direct correlation to their lack of knowledge of the history of glamour photography.In his exploration of the rise of glamour and fantasy in contemporary American culture, Stilgoe offers a provocative and very personal look into his enduring fascination with, and the possibilities inherent in, creating one’s own images.Ce que la rivière nous procurait: Archéologie et histoire du réservoir de l’Eastmain-1 (La Collection Mercure)
By Pierre Bibeau, David Denton et André Burroughs. 2014
La réalisation de l’aménagement hydroélectrique de l’Eastmain-1 a créé en 2006 un réservoir de 603 kilomètres carrés sur le territoire…
d’Eeyou Istchee Baie-James. Des recherches archéologiques préventives y ont été menées entre 2002 et 2005 dans le cadre des études environnementales de la Société d’énergie de la Baie James et du Programme sur l’archéologie et le patrimoine culturel prévues par une convention avec le peuple cri. Grâce à une collaboration remarquable entre les équipes d’archéologues, de géographes et d’ethnologues d’Arkéos inc., le consultant retenu, et de l’Administration régionale crie, un travail colossal a été entrepris et les recherches aux abords de la rivière Eastmain ont conduit à la mise au jour de 158 sites couvrant cinq millénaires d’occupation humaine. Les 18 contributions abordent autant d’angles de discussion relatifs au milieu naturel, à l’histoire culturelle et aux vestiges mis au jour, mais c’est l’amour de ces terres et de la rivière qui s’exprime dans chaque page de cet ouvrage.Petun to Wyandot: The Ontario Petun from the Sixteenth Century (Mercury Series)
By Charles Garrad. 2014
In Petun to Wyandot, Charles Garrad draws upon five decades of research to tell the turbulent history of the Wyandot…
tribe, the First Nation once known as the Petun. Combining and reconciling primary historical sources, archaeological data and anthropological evidence, Garrad has produced the most comprehensive study of the Petun Confederacy. Beginning with their first encounters with French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1616 and extending to their decline and eventual dispersal, this book offers an account of this people from their own perspective and through the voices of the nations, tribes and individuals that surrounded them.Through a cross-reference of views, including historical testimony from Jesuits, European explorers and fur traders, as well as neighbouring tribes and nations, Petun to Wyandot uncovers the Petun way of life by examining their culture, politics, trading arrangements and legends. Perhaps most valuable of all, it provides detailed archaeological evidence from the years of research undertaken by Garrad and his colleagues in the Petun Country, located in the Blue Mountains of Central Ontario. Along the way, the author meticulously chronicles the work of other historians and examines their theories regarding the Petun's enigmatic life story.