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The Goddess and the Bull
By Michael Balter. 2005
Thousands of years before the pyramids were built in Egypt and the Trojan War was fought, a great civilization arose…
on the Anatolian plains. The Goddess and the Bull details the dramatic quest by archaeologists to unearth the buried secrets of human cultural evolution at this huge, spectacularly well-preserved 9,500-year-old village in Turkey. Here lie the origins of modern society -- the dawn of art, architecture, religion, family -- even the first tangible evidence of human self-awareness, the world's oldest mirrors. Some archaeologists have claimed that the Mother Goddess was first worshipped at Çatalhöyük, which is now a site of pilgrimage for Goddess worshippers from all over the world. The excavations here have yielded the seeds of the Neolithic Revolution, when prehistoric humans first abandoned the hunter-gatherer life they had known for millions of years, invented farming, and began living in houses and communities. Michael Balter, the excavation's official biographer, brings readers behind the scenes, providing the first inside look at the remarkable site and its history of scandal and thrilling scientific discovery. He tells the very human story of two colorful men: British archaeologist James Mellaart, who discovered Çatalhöyük in 1958 only to be banned from working at the site forever after a fabulous ancient treasure disappeared without a trace; and Ian Hodder, a pathbreaking archaeological rebel who reinvented the way archaeology is practiced and reopened the excavation after it had lain dormant for three decades. Today Hodder leads an international team of more than one hundred archaeologists who continue to probe the site's secrets. Balter reveals the true story behind modern archaeology -- the thrill of history-making scientific discovery as well as the crushing disappointments, the community and friendship, the love affairs, and the often bitter rivalries between warring camps of archaeologists. Along the way, Balter describes the cutting-edge advances in archaeological science that have allowed the team at Çatalhöyük to illuminate the central questions of human existence.Paleoanthropology of the Balkans and Anatolia
By Katerina Harvati, Mirjana Roksandic. 2016
This edited volume systematically reviews the evidence for early human presence in one of the most relevant geographic regions of…
Europe - the Balkans and Anatolia, an area that has been crucial in shaping the course of human evolution in Europe, but whose paleoanthropological record is poorly known. The primary aim of this book is to showcase new paleoanthropological (human paleontological and paleolithic) research conducted in the region. The volume is organized into three sections. The first one deals with the human fossil record from Greece, the Central Balkans, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. The second section presents the paleolithic record of the same countries. In the third part, the authors provide a synthesis of current paleoenvironmental evidence for the Balkans. Chapters summarize and systematize the available human fossil evidence, examine their context, and place them within the framework of our understanding of human evolution in Europe and beyond, as well as present new analyses of existing human fossils. This book will be of interest to professionals, upper undergraduate and graduate students in paleoanthropology, human paleontology and paleolithic archaeology and in a variety of related fields, including human variation and adaptation, paleontology and biogeography. It will also be appropriate as a reference book for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on human evolution and European paleoanthropology.Archaeological Approaches to Technology
By Heather Margaret-Louise Miller. 2007
This book is designed for upper-division undergraduate and graduate level archaeology students taking courses in ancient technologies, archaeological craft production,…
material culture, the history of technology, archaeometry, and field methods. This text can also serve as a general introduction and a reference for archaeologists, material culture specialists in socio-cultural disciplines, and engineers/scientists interested in the backgrounds and histories of their disciplines. The study of ancient technologies, that is, the ways in which objects and materials were made and used can reveal insights into economic, social, political, and ritual realms of the past. This book summarizes the current state of ancient technology studies by emphasizing methodologies, some major technologies, and the questions and issues that drive archaeologists in their consideration of these technologies. It shows the ways that technology studies can be used by archaeologists working anywhere, on any type of society and it embraces an orientation toward the practical, not the philosophical. It compares the range of pre-industrial technologies, from stone tool production, fiber crafts, wood and bone working, fired clay crafts, metal production, and glass manufacture. It includes socially contextualized case studies, as well as general descriptions of technological processes. It discusses essential terminology (technology, material culture, chaine operatoire, etc.), primarily from the perspective of how these terms are used by archaeologists.Heritage Values in Contemporary Society
By George S Smith, Hilary A Soderland, Phyllis Mauch Messenger. 2010
What do we value about the past? In formulating policies about heritage preservation, that is the inevitable question, and deals…
not only with economic value but also the intangible value to individuals, communities and society as a whole. This interdisciplinary group of scholars—anthropologists, archaeologists, architects, educators, lawyers, heritage administrators, policy analysts, and consultants—make the first attempt to define and assess heritage values on a local, national and global level. Chapters range from the theoretical to policy frameworks to case studies of heritage practice, written by scholars from eight countries.The Creative Spark: How Imagination Made Humans Exceptional
By Agust n Fuentes. 2017
A bold new synthesis of paleontology, archaeology, genetics, and anthropology that overturns misconceptions about race, war and peace, and human…
nature itself, answering an age-old question: What made humans so exceptional among all the species on Earth? Creativity. It is the secret of what makes humans special, hiding in plain sight. Agustín Fuentes argues that your child's finger painting comes essentially from the same place as creativity in hunting and gathering millions of years ago, and throughout history in making war and peace, in intimate relationships, in shaping the planet, in our communities, and in all of art, religion, and even science. It requires imagination and collaboration. Every poet has her muse; every engineer, an architect; every politician, a constituency. The manner of the collaborations varies widely, but successful collaboration is inseparable from imagination, and it brought us everything from knives and hot meals to iPhones and interstellar spacecraft. Weaving fascinating stories of our ancient ancestors' creativity, Fuentes finds the patterns that match modern behavior in humans and animals. This key quality has propelled the evolutionary development of our bodies, minds, and cultures, both for good and for bad. It's not the drive to reproduce; nor competition for mates, or resources, or power; nor our propensity for caring for one another that have separated us out from all other creatures. As Fuentes concludes, to make something lasting and useful today you need to understand the nature of your collaboration with others, what imagination can and can't accomplish, and, finally, just how completely our creativity is responsible for the world we live in. Agustín Fuentes's resounding multimillion-year perspective will inspire readers—and spark all kinds of creativity.Marco Island (Images of America)
By Austin J. Bell, The Marco Island Historical Society. 2017
Marco Island projects prominently from Florida�s mainland at the peninsula�s southwestern fringe, where the waters of the Everglades and the…
Gulf of Mexico commingle. Its tropical climate, verdant landscape, unique topography, and abundant wildlife sustained prehistoric Native American cultures for centuries. The first pioneer settlers arrived in 1870, carving out a niche on the harsh Florida frontier. Bustling villages soon sprang up on the island, bolstered by strong leaders and economies centered around farming and fishing. The crash of Florida�s land boom, along with the Great Depression, devastating hurricanes, and a series of failed developments, ultimately stunted the island�s growth. Most of Marco Island was sold to the Deltona Corporation in 1964, which transformed the island into a place its early residents might find unrecognizable. Despite Marco Island�s common distinction as the largest of Florida�s Ten Thousand Islands, there are only 12 square miles of land upon which to wander�making the enormity of its history all the more remarkable.High Resolution Archaeology and Neanderthal Behavior
By Eudald Carbonell i Roura. 2011
The aim of this book is to provide a new insight on Neanderthal behaviour using the data recovered in level…
J of Romaní rockshelter (north-eastern Spain). Due to the sedimentary dynamics that formed the Romaní deposit, the occupation layers are characterized by a high temporal resolution, which makes it easier to interprete the archaeological data in behavioural terms. In addition, the different analytical domains (geoarchaeology, lithic technology, zooarchaeology, taphonomy, anthracology, palaeontology) are addressed from a spatial perspective that is basic to understand human behaviour, but also to evaluate the behavioural inferences in the framework of the archaeological formation processes.Petrolipalynology
By Dexin Jiang, Eleanora I. Robbins, Yongdong Wang, Huiqiu Yang. 2016
This book addresses the principles and methods for determining petroleum source rocks based on fossil spores and pollen. Studying petroliferous…
basins in China, we discovered that there are often as many as three different sources of the microfossils: the source rocks, the rocks along the pathway, and the reservoir rocks. Therefore, fossil spores, pollen and algae from inland and coastal shelf petroliferous basins are analyzed and illustrated to show this complex process. Furthermore, the organic origin theory of oil is proven and environmental characteristics for hydrocarbon source-rock formation are discussed. Along with the geochronical and geographic distribution of non-marine petroleum source rocks in China, the mechanisms of petroleum migration following the pathways to the reservoirs are investigated. It will be a valuable reference work as well as a textbook for a wider research areas ranging from stratigraphy, palynology, palaeontology and petroleum geology.The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov Volume III
By Naama Goren-Inbar, Lutz Kindler, Rivka Rabinovich, Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser. 2011
Multidisciplinary research on the Early-Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov has yielded abundant climatic, environmental, ecological and behavioral records.…
The 15 archaeological horizons form a sequence of Acheulian occupational episodes on the shore of the paleo-Lake Hula. These enable us to reconstruct numerous aspects of the survival and adaptation of ancient hominins, leading to a better understanding of their evolution and behavior. This book presents the faunal analyses of medium-sized and large mammals, providing taxonomic, taphonomic and actualistic data for the largest faunal assemblages. The study of modes of animal exploitation reveals valuable information on hominin behavior.Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry
By Radu Iovita, Katsuhiro Sano. 2016
The objective of this volume is to showcase the contemporary state of research on recognizing and evaluating the performance of…
stone age weapons from a variety of viewpoints, including investigating their cognitive and evolutionary significance. New archaeological finds and experimental studies have helped to bring this subject back to the forefront of human origins research. In the last few years, investigations have expanded beyond examining the tools themselves to include studies of damage caused by projectile weapons on animal and hominin bones and skeletal asymmetries in ancient hominin populations. Only recently has there been a growing interest in controlled and replicative experiments. Through this book readers will be updated in the state of knowledge through a multidisciplinary scientific reconstruction of prehistoric weapon use and its implications. Contributions from expert authors are organized into three themed parts: recognizing weapon use (experimental and archaeological studies of impact traces), performance of weapon systems (factors influencing penetration depth etc. ), and behavioral and evolutionary ramifications (cognitive and ecological effects of using different weapons).Use-Wear and Residue Analysis in Archaeology
By João Manuel Marreiros, Juan F. Gibaja Bao, Nuno Ferreira Bicho. 2015
This book is designed to act as a readily accessible guide to different methods and techniques of use-wear and residue…
analysis and therefore includes a wide range of different and complementary essential topics: experimental tests, observation and record methods and techniques and the interpretation of a diversity of tool types and worked raw materials The onset of use-wear studies was marked by the development of theory, method and techniques in order to infer prehistoric tools functionality and, therefore, understand human technological, social and cultural behavior. The last decade of functional studies, use-wear and residue analysis have been aimed at the observation, recording and interpretation of different activities and worked materials found on archaeological tools made on different types of organic and non-organic materials. This international group of contributions will be fundamental for all researchers and students of the discipline.Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology
By Junko Habu, Peter V. Lape, John W. Olsen. 2017
This Handbook focuses on the material culture and lifeways of the peoples of prehistoric and early historic East and Southeast…
Asia, their origins, behavior and identities as well as their biological, linguistic and cultural diversity and commonalities. Emphasis is placed upon the interpretation of material culture to illuminate and explain social processes and relationships as well as behavior, technology, patterns and mechanisms of long-term change and chronology in addition to the intellectual history of archaeology as a discipline in this diverse region. The Handbook of East and Southeast Asian Archaeology augments archaeologically-focused chapters contributed by regional scholars by providing histories of research and intellectual traditions and by maintaining a broadly comparative perspective. Archaeologically-derived data are emphasized with text-based documentary information provided to complement interpretations of material culture. The Handbook is not restricted to art historical or purely descriptive perspectives; its geographical coverage includes the modern nation-states of China, Mongolia, Far Eastern Russia, North and South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and East Timor.Modernity's Classics
By Rudolf G Wagner, Sarah C. Humphreys. 2012
This book presents critical studies of modern reconfigurations of conceptions of the past, of the 'classical', and of national heritage.…
Its scope is global (China, India, Egypt, Iran, Judaism, the Greco-Roman world) and inter-disciplinary (textual philology, history of art and architecture, philosophy, gardening). Its emphasis is on the complexity of the modernization process and of reactions to it: ideas and technologies travelled from India to Iran and from Japan to China, while reactions show tensions between museumization and the recreation of 'presence'. It challenges readers to rethink the assumptions of the disciplines in which they were trainedTheory and Practice in the Bioarchaeology of Care
By Lorna Tilley. 2015
This book provides the first comprehensive introduction to, and explanation of, the theory and practice of the 'bioarchaeology of care',…
an original, fully theorised and contextualised case study-based approach designed to identify and interpret cases of care provision in prehistory. The applied methodology comprises four stages of analysis, each building on the content of the preceding one(s), which provide the framework for this process. Theory and Practice in the Bioarchaeology of Care is the primary source of information on this new approach and serves as a manual for its implementation. It elaborates the foundations on which the bioarchaeology of care is constructed; it leads the reader through the methodology; and it provides three detailed examples of prehistoric caregiving which illustrate how bioarchaeology of care analysis has the capacity to reveal aspects of past group and individual identity and lifeways which might otherwise have remained unknown.Ethics and the Archaeology of Violence
By Gabriel Moshenska, Alfredo González-Ruibal. 2015
This volume examines the distinctive and highly problematic ethical questions surrounding conflict archaeology. By bringing together sophisticated analyses and pertinent…
case studies from around the world it aims to address the problems facing archaeologists working in areas of violent conflict, past and present. Of all the contentious issues within archaeology and heritage, the study of conflict and work within conflict zones are undoubtedly the most highly charged and hotly debated, both within and outside the discipline. Ranging across the conflict zones of the world past and present, this book attempts to raise the level of these often fractious debates by locating them within ethical frameworks. The issues and debates in this book range across a range of ethical models, including deontological, teleological and virtue ethics. The chapters address real-world ethical conundrums that confront archaeologists in a diversity of countries, including Israel/Palestine, Iran, Uruguay, Argentina, Rwanda, Germany and Spain. They all have in common recent, traumatic experiences of war and dictatorship. The chapters provide carefully argued, thought-provoking analyses and examples that will be of real practical use to archaeologists in formulating and addressing ethical dilemmas in a confident and constructive manner.Meeting Challenges in the Public Interpretation of Maritime Cultural Heritage: Between the Devil and the Deep
By Della A Scott-Ireton. 2014
In creating interpretive strategies for maritime sites, archaeologists and resource managers often are required to think creatively to overcome challenges…
and problems. These issues include interpreting sites in inaccessible locations and extremely deep water, enabling and controlling access to fragile sites and restricted areas, monitoring visitor behavior, making information interesting to a wide audience, and creating opportunities for public engagement, among other concerns. Meeting Challenges presents cutting-edge interpretation and public education strategies for maritime resources, both on land and underwater, with emphasis on solving the unique problems often associated with presenting these fragile, limited-access sites as heritage attractions and on developing effective visitation and civic engagement opportunities. The examples presented ideally can serve as models for resource managers, archaeologists engaged in interpretation, and site administrators. This volume brings together a diverse group of heritage professionals to discuss issues they've encountered and to present ideas and case studies for adapting, improvising, and overcoming them.OpenStack Trove
By Amrith Kumar, Douglas Shelley. 2015
OpenStack Trove is your step-by-step guide to set up and run a secure and scalable cloud Database as a Service…
(DBaaS) solution. The book shows you how to set up and configure the Trove DBaaS framework, use prepackaged or custom database implementations, and provision and operate a variety of databases--including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Cassandra, and Redis--in development and production environments. Authors Amrith Kumar and Douglas Shelley, both active technical contributors to the Trove project, describe common deployment scenarios such as single-node database instances and walk you through the setup, configuration, and ongoing management of complex database topics like replication, clustering, and high availability. The book provides detailed descriptions of how Trove works and gives you an in-depth understanding of its architecture. It also shows you how to avoid common errors and debug and troubleshoot Trove installations, and perform common tasks such as: What you'll learn Install and configure Trove Install preconfigured database technologies or guest images Launch database instances using Trove Perform common administrative tasks Resize and reconfigure database instances Take backups, and launch instances from existing backups Manage groups of database instances with configuration groups Debug and troubleshoot a Trove installation Set up replication and clustering Build custom guest images for use with Trove Who this book is for OpenStack Trove is targeted at a broad spectrum of readers, including software engineers seeking development agility with database-driven applications, devops engineers tasked with operating a database infrastructure with numerous databases, and data analysts looking to improve velocity by being able to quickly provision and release database capacity. Table of Contents 1 An introduction to Database-as-a-Service 2 Downloading and Installing OpenStack Trove 3 Basic Trove Operations 4 OpenStack Trove Concepts and Architecture 5 Advanced Trove configurations and operations 6 Debugging and Troubleshooting 7 Building custom guest images 8 Trove Configuration Files 9 Trove Quick Reference 10 Trove API 11 Trove OrchestrationMaterial Agency
By Carl Knappett, Lambros Malafouris. 2008
Thus far an 'agent' in the social sciences has always meant someone whose actions bring about change. In this volume,…
the editors challenge this position and examine the possibility that agency is not a solely human property. Instead, this collection of archaeologists, anthropologists, sociologists and other social scientists explores the symbiotic relationships between humans and material entities (a key opening a door, a speed bump raising a car) as they engage with one another.Underwater Archaeology of a Pacific Battlefield
By Jennifer F. Mckinnon, Toni L. Carrell. 2015
Battlefields have been the object of fascination for millions of tourists and the subjects of elaborate interpretation projects. This volume…
will outline the process and results of developing the WWII Maritime Heritage Trail: Battle of Saipan Project. This book will provide examples of how a group of archaeologists, managers and a community took a specific battle and transformed it from a collection of unknown archaeological sites into a comprehensive storied battlescape that reflects the individuals and actions of those who were involved. It will provide an in-depth view of current maritime archaeological research on submerged battlefield sites, the development of a WWII battlefield maritime heritage trail, as well as the problems and solutions of such an effort. It will cover subjects such as: -heritage and dark tourism-conflict or battlefield archaeology-public interpretation, and community engagement. This volume will serve as a practical review of a project influenced by a range of complementary areas of study and inclusive of many stakeholders, from the public to the professional and beyond. It provides an example of a balanced approach towards research and interpreting archaeological sites through the identification and inclusion of the various stakeholders (professional and community) and an awareness of what was being included, ignored, or inadequately represented in the research and interpretation.Hunter-Gatherers
By Robert L. Bettinger, Raven Garvey, Shannon Tushingham. 2015
Hunter-gatherer research has played a historically central role in the development of anthropological and evolutionary theory. Today, research in this…
traditional and enduringly vital field blurs lines of distinction between archaeology and ethnology, and seeks instead to develop perspectives and theories broadly applicable to anthropology and its many sub disciplines. In the groundbreaking first edition of Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory (1991), Robert Bettinger presented an integrative perspective on hunter-gatherer research and advanced a theoretical approach compatible with both traditional anthropological and contemporary evolutionary theories. Hunter-Gatherers remains a well-respected and much-cited text, now over 20 years since initial publication. Yet, as in other vibrant fields of study, the last two decades have seen important empirical and theoretical advances. In this second edition of Hunter-Gatherers, co-authors Robert Bettinger, Raven Garvey, and Shannon Tushingham offer a revised and expanded version of the classic text, which includes a succinct and provocative critical synthesis of hunter-gatherer and evolutionary theory, from the Enlightenment to the present. New and expanded sections relate and react to recent developments--some of them the authors' own--particularly in the realms of optimal foraging and cultural transmission theories. An exceptionally informative and ambitious volume on cultural evolutionary theory, Hunter-Gatherers, second edition, is an essential addition to the libraries of anthropologists, archaeologists, and human ecologists alike.