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The beginnings of Mesoamerican civilization : inter-regional interaction and the Olmec / Robert M. Rosenswig

Author
Rosenswig, Robert M.
Published
Cambridge, England ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2010.
Physical Description
1 online resource (xxi, 374 pages) : illustrations, maps
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Language Note
English.
Contents
Section I. An early formative Mesoamerican problem -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Knowledge in an archipelago of complexity -- a core / periphery perspective -- Gift exchange and social debt -- Conspicuous consumption and social capital -- Persuasive display and social power -- Local cohesion created through the production of gifts -- Knowledge Kula and social inequality -- An archipelago of complexity -- Trobriand Islanders -- Germanic Barbarians -- Early Bronze Age Cyclades -- Chavín Horizon Peru -- 3. Mesoamerica's first style horizons and the "Olmec problem" -- Early and middle formative Mesoamerican style -- Horizons and culture history of the Soconusco and the Gulf Coast -- Initial Ceramic Period -- Horizon I -- Horizon II -- Horizon III -- The "Olmec problem" -- Expected patterns for the three models of inter-regional interaction -- Creating mutually exclusive hypotheses., Section II. Archaeological data -- 4. Settlement patterns and architecture -- Early and middle formative settlement patterns inf the Cuauhtémoc Zone -- Comparisons between Soconusco and San Lorenzo settlements -- The Cuauhtémoc site -- Architectural development at Cuauhtémoc -- 5. Diet, food processing and feasting -- Cuauhtémoc diet -- Faunal remains -- Maize density -- bone isotopes -- Food preparation at Cuauhtémoc -- Ceramic data -- Proportion of undecorated tecomates -- Wall thickness of undecorated tecomates -- Fire-cracked rock density -- Ground stone density -- Ground stone form -- Conchas-phase grater bowls -- Obsidian density -- Feasting at Cuauhtémoc -- Proportion of serving-to-cooking vessels -- Wall thickness of decorated tecomates -- Proportion of decorated dishes -- 6. Representation and aesthetics -- The color of ceramics -- Black and white ceramics on the Gulf Coast -- Anthropomorphic figurines -- Effigy pots and ceramic iconography -- 7. Inter-regional exchange patterns -- Soconusco-Gulf Coast exchange routes and travel time -- Obsidian exchange -- Ceramic exchange -- Other exchanged objects -- Horizon I estuary sites., Section III. Deriving meaning from the archaeological record -- 8. Data and expectations -- Epistemology and data -- Evaluating the Soconusco data -- Initial Ceramic Period -- Horizon I -- Horizon II -- Elite emulation in diachronic perspective -- Causation, temporal resolution and the Horizon I to Horizon II transition -- 9. Conclusion -- Substantive contribution -- Settlement and architecture -- Domestic economy -- Ideology -- Exchange -- An early formative Mesoamerican archipelago of complexity -- Was San Lorenzo Mesoamerica's mother? -- Was San Lorenzo a chiefdom or a state? -- A more meaningful way to interpret cultural change -- Historical materialism and Mesoamerica's first Horizons., and Appendix 1: Temporally secure excavation contexts at Cuauhtémoc with detailed ceramic date -- Appendix 2: Temporally secure excavation contexts at Cuauhtémoc without detailed ceramic data.
Summary
Mesoamerica is one of several cradles of civilization in the world. In this book, Robert M. Rosenswig proposes that we understand Early Formative Mesoamerica as an archipelago of complex societies that interacted with one another over long distances and that were separated by less sedentary peoples. These early 'islands' of culture shared an Olmec artistic aesthetic, beginning approximately 1250 BCE (uncalibrated), that first defined Mesoamerica as a culture area. Rosenswig frames the Olmec world from the perspective of the Soconusco area on Pacifica Chiapas and Guatemala. The disagreements about Early Formative society that have raged over the past thirty years focus on the nature of inter-regional interaction between San Lorenzo and other Early Formative regions. He evaluates these debates from a fresh theoretical perspective and integrates new data into an assessment of Soconusco society before, during, and after the apogee of the San Lorenzo polity.
Subject(s)
Genre(s)
ISBN
9780511675591 (electronic bk.)
0511675593 (electronic bk.)
9780521111027 (hardback)
0521111021 (hardback)
9780511672347 (ebook)
0511672349 (ebook)
0511674821 (electronic book)
9780511674822 (electronic book)
0511739230
9780511739231
1107202655
9781107202658
1107428971
9781107428973
9786612486395
6612486392
0511674406
9780511674402
0511671067
9780511671067
0511673612
9780511673610
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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