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Foundations of Social Inequality
There are few more significant questions in the prehistory of our species than the emergence of social inequality. However, despite its apparent consequence, this issue is often overlooked. In their "Foundations of Social Inequality", T. Douglas Price and Gary M. Feinman bring together the authoritative edition on this issue that is fundamental to our knowledge of the human condition. The volume includes various case studies of the transition to social inequality and a variety of theoretical approaches to provide a current, diverse view on the critical changes that have taken place in the structure of human society. Ten papers by leading scholars in the areas of social differentiation and inequality contain a plethora of theoretical perspectives and specific case studies from the Old and New World, from foraging societies to agricultural groups and complex states. "Foundations of Social Inequality" is one of the very few volumes on the prehistory and emergence of social inequality to heighten our understanding of the critical processes involved. -- From publisher's description.
The Power of Feasts
In this book, Brian Hayden provides the first comprehensive, theoretical work on the history of feasting in pre-industrial societies. As an important barometer of cultural change, feasting is at the forefront of theoretical developments in archaeology. The Power of Feasts chronicles the evolution of the practice from its first perceptible prehistoric presence to modern industrial times. This study explores recurring patterns in the dynamics of feasts as well as linkages to other aspects of culture such as food, personhood, cognition, power, politics, and economics. Analyzing detailed ethnographic and archaeological observations from a wide variety of cultures, including Oceania and Southeast Asia, the Americas, and Eurasia, Hayden illuminates the role of feasts as an invaluable insight into the social and political structures of past societies.
The Memory of Bones
An analysis of the intellectual and emotional life of ancient Mesoamerican people through studies of figural works and inscriptions. All of human experience flows from bodies that feel, express emotion, and think about what such experiences mean. But is it possible for us, embodied as we are in a particular time and place, to know how people of long ago thought about the body and its experiences? In this groundbreaking book, three leading experts on the Classic Maya (ca. AD 250 to 850) marshal a vast array of evidence from Maya iconography and hieroglyphic writing, as well as archaeological findings, to argue that the Classic Maya developed an approach to the human body that we can recover a...
Feasts
In this collection of fifteen essays, archaeologists and ethnographers explore the material record of food and its consumption as social practice.
Shamans, Sorcerers, and Saints
Historians of art or religion and mythologists, such as Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, have written extensively on prehistoric religion, but no one before has offered a comprehensive and uniquely archaeological perspective on the subject. Hayden opens his book with an examination of the difference between traditional religions, which are passed on through generations orally or experientially, and more modern “book” religions, which are based on some form of scripture that describes supernatural beings and a moral code, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He attempts to answer the question of why religion developed at all, arguing that basic religious behaviors of the past and present have been shaped by our innate emotional makeup, specifically our ability to enter into ecstatic states through a variety of techniques and to create binding relationships with other people, institutions, or ideals associated with those states.
Archaeology at the Millennium
In this book an internationally distinguished roster of contributors considers the state of the art of the discipline of archaeology at the turn of the 21st century and charts an ambitious agenda for the future. The chapters address a wide range of topics including, paradigms, practice, and relevance of the discipline; paleoanthropology; fully modern humans; holocene hunter-gatherers; the transition to food and craft production; social inequality; warfare; state and empire formation; and the uneasy relationship between classical and anthropological archaeology.
The Power of Ritual in Prehistory
Secret societies in tribal societies turn out to be key to understanding the origins of social inequalities and state religions.
The Life-Giving Stone
In The Life-Giving Stone, Michael Searcy provides a thought-provoking ethnoarchaeological account of metate and mano manufacture, marketing, and use among Guatemalan Maya for whom these stone implements are still essential equipment in everyday life and diet. Although many archaeologists have regarded these artifacts simply as common everyday tools and therefore unremarkable, Searcy’s methodology reveals how, for the ancient Maya, the manufacture and use of grinding stones significantly impacted their physical and economic welfare. In tracing the life cycle of these tools from production to discard for the modern Maya, Searcy discovers rich customs and traditions that indicate how metates ...
Text, Theology, and Trowel
Text, Theology, and Trowel consists of ten essays on the understanding and reception of the Hebrew Bible in Judaism and Christianity. Textual exegesis, historical contexts, and modern reception of the Hebrew text are placed side by side to encourage interdisciplinary study. Two theologically minded essays are included to help overcome the biblical studies/theology dichotomy. By placing such divergent approaches together, this volume will help expand ways of thinking about the Bible and its cognate fields.
Archaeology
Hayden introduces general readers to the real work of this captivating science, describes basic concepts and tools, and answers the questions that archaeology seeks to resolve: how did complex societies evolve? What caused them to change and collapse? What can our understanding of the past tell us about our society and its future? Illustrations.
