The Ceramics and Chronology of Cholula, Mexico

1996 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 299-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey G. McCafferty
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
New World ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Culture History ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Middle Formative

AbstractChronology is a fundamental prerequisite for problem-oriented, anthropologically relevant archaeology. It is also the shaky foundation that has hampered attempts to reconstruct the culture history of Cholula, Mexico. Cholula is among the oldest continuously occupied urban centers of the New World, yet it remains one of the most enigmatic. This paper evaluates previous cultural sequences for the site, and summarizes recent evidence to construct a chronology using absolute dates and ceramic assemblages from primary depositional contexts. This revised sequence features a clearer understanding of Middle Formative settlement and the definition of ritual and domestic contexts from the Classic period. In addition, there is now evidence for a gradual transition between Late Classic and Early Postclassic material culture; and for the evolution of the Postclassic polychrome tradition within a sequence of short, clearly defined phases.

Linguistic Divergence and the Collapse of Preclassic Civilization in Southern Mesoamerica

1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce H. Dahlin ◽  
Robin Quizar ◽  
Andrea Dahlin
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Communication Networks ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
Proximate Cause ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Ultimate Cause ◽  
Early Classic Period

Based on published lexicostatistical dates, two intervals in the prehistory of southern Mesoamerica stand out as fertile periods in terms of the generation of new languages: the Terminal Preclassic/early Early Classic Periods, and the Early Postclassic Period. After comparing archaeological evidence with language distributions within the subregions of southern Mesoamerica during the first of these periods, we conclude that the cultural processes during both periods had the same potential for producing rapid rates of linguistic divergences. Just as rapid proliferation of linguistic divisions was symptomatic of the well-known collapse of Late Classic Maya civilization, so it can be taken as a sign of a collapse of Terminal Preclassic civilization. Both collapses were characterized by severe population reductions, site abandonments, an increasing balkanization in material culture, and disruption of interregional communication networks, conditions that were contributory to the kind of linguistic isolation that allows language divergences. Unlike in the Terminal Classic collapse episode, small refuge zones persisted in the Early Classic Period that served as sources of an evolving classicism; these refuge zones were exceptions, however, not the rule. Although the collapse of each site had its own proximate cause, we suggest that the enormous geographical range covered by these Early Classic Period site failures points to a single ultimate cause affecting the area as a whole, such as the onset of a prolonged and devastating climatic change.

Rock art as a source of the history of prehistory (An account to promote the understanding of prehistoric rock art)

Abgadiyat ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-35
Author(s):  
Hamdi Abbas Ahmed Abd-EI-Moniem
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Rock Art ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Archaeological Material ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Remote Past

Abstract Some may believe that the history of mankind begins with the appearance of writing only a few several thousands of years ago (cf. 4000-3000 BCE). Our history, however, extends beyond that date millions of years. The history of mankind, indeed, is deeply rooted in the remote past which is called 'prehistory'. With the lacking of any form of writing, this 'prehistoric' period can be examined directly solely by recourse to the study of archaeological remains. The purpose of this account is to introduce rock art to the readers and show the significant role of this sort of archaeological material in studying the history of mankind before the appearance of written records. The current work, therefore, is divided into three main sections: the first deals with definition of rock art and its nature; the second section is devoted to showing the significance of this aspect of material culture in exploring a long and mysterious period of the early history of man characterized by the complete absence of written records or historical documents; the third and last section, which is a vital and integral part of this work, comprises an explanatory pictorial record to promote the understanding of prehistoric rock art as a source of information needed for writing the history of prehistory.

Benedict XIV’s donation of Amazonian objects to the Istituto delle Scienze of Bologna (1751) Origins and history

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuele Tacconi
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
New World ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Jesuit Missions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Jesuit Missionary ◽  
The City

Abstract In 1751 Pope Benedict XIV made a donation of Amazonian objects to the Istituto delle Scienze in Bologna, a scientific academy located in the city of his birth. This article reconstructs the history of this group of objects back to its origins in the Jesuit missions of the upper Amazon basin, by presenting and examining new documentary evidence. The encounter between a Jesuit missionary and Pope Benedict XIV is analysed in the context of the early modern reception of the New World and its peoples in Catholic Europe. Finally, an overview is presented of the items in this collection, which represent some of the scarcest and oldest known examples of native material culture from the region.

A Possible Focus of Asiatic Influence in the Late Classic Cultures of Mesoamerica

1953 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 72-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon F. Ekholm
Keyword(s):  
American Indian ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theoretical Interest ◽  
Late Classic ◽  
Culture History ◽  
Local Areas ◽  
History Of

There is a Growing trend, I believe, for American archaeologists to look beyond the limits of their specialized and local areas of research and to take more interest in some of the basic problems of culture history — of the processes of origin and growth of cultures and civilizations. The Americanist looks at these problems in terms of the American Indian cultures, but in doing so, to be logically consistent, he must make some judgment on the old question as to whether or not influences from the civilizations of Asia had anything to do with the growth of those in America.This problem, or what turns out to be a great series of problems when one looks into it at all, is of great practical and theoretical interest, and will, I am convinced, receive much attention in future years. Such attention is somewhat slow in coming, however, because of the uncompromisingly isolationist point of view held up to now by most Americanists and reflected in the almost complete lack of research on the problems of Asiatic-American cultural relationships.

Columbia Plateau Prehistory: Some Observations

1972 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-548
Author(s):  
David L. Browman ◽  
David A. Munsell
Keyword(s):  
Columbia Plateau ◽  
Culture History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractIn an earlier article, we presented a model for the culture history of the Columbia Plateau. In response to comment about this model, we have clarified our definition of the emergence of Plateau culture and have elaborated on the appearance of both blade and microblade industries in the area.

The Earliest Lowland Maya? Definition of the Swasey Phase

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Hammond ◽  
Duncan Pring ◽  
Richard Wilk ◽  
Sara Donaghey ◽  
Frank P. Saul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Maya Lowlands ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Burial Practice ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Middle Formative ◽  
Lowland Maya

Recent excavations in Belize have resulted in the discovery of an earlier period of sedentary occupation than has hitherto been documented in the Maya Lowlands. The Swasey phase is stratigraphically antecedent to occupations of the early Middle Formative, the earliest horizon located until now, and associated radiocarbon dates suggest a persistence from 2000–1000 b.c./2500–1300 B.C. The ceramic and lithic material culture of the phase are described, together with architectural construction and burial practice, and the overall cultural identity is recognized as ancestral to the known Maya Lowland Formative. External contacts of the Cuello site are documented by exotic minerals, and the possible external antecedents for the Swasey ceramic tradition are canvassed.

scholarly journals The Taman Expedition of the State Academy of the History of Material Culture: history of the foundation

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 312-329
Author(s):  
Vinogradov Yu. ◽  
◽  
Medvedeva M. ◽  
Pankratova E. ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
The State ◽  
Culture History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Number Of Publications

This paper discusses the questions concerned with the Taman Expedition of the State Academy of the History of Material Culture (GAIMK) headed by Aleksandr A. Miller. Notwithstanding the ever-increasing number of publications devoted to the history of the national archaeology during the 1920s–1930s, many of its moments still remain unknown. This is true, inter alia, concerning the history of the organization and activities of the Taman Expedi- tion in 1930.

scholarly journals A materialidade de uma cultura imaterial: aspectos da cultura material da Capoeira no Rio de Janeiro no século XIX

Horizontes ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Martins Porto Lussac
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Rio De Janeiro ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Play Fighting ◽  
Educational Processes ◽  
Culture History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
Determining Factor

ResumoA História da Educação cada vez mais debruça seu olhar sobre práticas não escolares da educação, entendendo que esta é realizada dentro de um mosaico de interações sociais. Compreender as utilidades e os significados dos aspectos materiais envolvidos na transmissão de práticas culturais é um fator fundamental e determinante para se conhecer os processos educativos envolvidos em qualquer fenômeno sociocultural em que habite uma relação de ensino-aprendizagem. Este artigo objetivou investigar a cultura material do patrimônio cultural imaterial que é a Capoeira, e seus processos pedagógicos no Rio de Janeiro no século XIX. Este estudo ilumina parcialmente acomplexa relação dos sujeitos que desenvolveram o modo de fazer a Capoeira – cultura imaterial – com os objetos, materiais e ambientes que compuseram a cultura material do jogo-luta, e suas respectivas simbologias, bem como o seu modo de transmissão e aprendizagem no período estudado.Palavras-chave: Capoeira; Cultura Material; História. The materiality of an immaterial culture: aspects of material culture of Capoeira in Rio de Janeiro in the nineteenth centuryAbstractThe history of education increasingly focuses on non-school education practices, understanding that this is done within a mosaic of social interactions. Understanding the uses and meanings of the material aspects involved in the transmission of cultural practices is an essential and determining factor to know the educational processes involved in any sociocultural phenomenon that inhabits a relationship of teaching and learning. This article aimed to investigate the material culture of the intangible cultural heritage that is Capoeira, and its pedagogical processes in Rio de Janeiro in the nineteenth century. This study partially illuminates the complex relationship of individuals who developed the way of doing Capoeira - immaterial culture - with objects, materials and environments that formed the material culture of the play-fighting, its symbols, and its mode of transmission and learning during the studied time.Keywords: Capoeira; Material Culture; History. 

6 Culture History of the Site

1970 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Lewis R. Binford ◽  
Sally R. Binford ◽  
Robert Whallon ◽  
Margaret Ann Hardin
Keyword(s):  
Projectile Points ◽  
Number Of Components ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Rigorous Definition ◽  
Stone Materials ◽  
Culture History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cursory Examination ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Range Of Variation

In this section we move from the analysis of various formal classes of data defined by non-historical criteria to an anlysis of categories of artifacts treated historically, i.e., their spatial and formal characteristics within the remains of single communities.The discussion of these occupations, although suspected of being rather numerous, must by virtue of the nature of the data be very skimpy. The relevant data are amost exclusively obtained from the surface collections. Their manner of clustering suggests that there was some range of variation in the activities carried out.Even a cursory examination of the projectile points recovered in the surface collection indicates the presence of multiple preceramic occupations. Types represented include Dalton points, Modoc Expanding Stem points, Faulkner Side-Notched points, and points of the Saratoga and Boaz type clusters. The detailed typological analysis of these points, as well as of other chipped stone materials, should make possible a more rigorous definition of the number of components. At present our understanding is limited by the nature of the data thus far analyzed.

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