Mesoamerican Elites - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Mesoamerican Elites write by Diane Z. Chase. This book was released on 2003-03-01. Mesoamerican Elites available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. In Mesoamerican Elites, Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase present a wide variety of essays, all of which evaluate current archaeological knowledge of the privileged ruling classes, or elites, in Mesoamerica. Some experts argue that Mesoamerican societies consisted only of elites and peasants, while others argue that considerable intermediate social levels also existed. In light of such diverse opinions, this volume addresses problems in the interpretation of archaeological evidence regarding ancient Mesoamerican social structure.
Maya Palaces and Elite Residences
Maya Palaces and Elite Residences - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Maya Palaces and Elite Residences write by Jessica Joyce Christie. This book was released on 2010-01-01. Maya Palaces and Elite Residences available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Maya "palaces" have intrigued students of this ancient Mesoamerican culture since the early twentieth century, when scholars first applied the term "palace" to multi-room, gallery-like buildings set on low platforms in the centers of Maya cities. Who lived in these palaces? What types of ceremonial and residential activities took place there? How do the physical forms and spatial arrangement of the buildings embody Maya concepts of social organization and cosmology? This book brings together state-of-the-art data and analysis regarding the occupants, ritual and residential uses, and social and cosmological meanings of Maya palaces and elite residences. A multidisciplinary team of senior researchers reports on sites in Belize (Blue Creek), Western Honduras (Copan), the Peten (Tikal, Dos Pilas, Aguateca), and the Yucatan (Uxmal, Chichen-Itza, Dzibilchaltun, Yaxuna). Archaeologist contributors discuss the form of palace buildings and associated artifacts, their location within the city, and how some palaces related to landscape features. Their approach is complemented by art historical analyses of architectural sculpture, epigraphy, and ethnography. Jessica Joyce Christie concludes the volume by identifying patterns and commonalties that apply not only to the cited examples, but also to Maya architecture in general.
Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City
Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City write by Alexander Parmington. This book was released on 2011-03-31. Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. In this book, Alexander Parmington examines how images, texts and architectural form controlled and channelled movement of particular sets of people through various precincts in Classic Maya cities. Using Palenque as a case study, this book analyses specific building groups and corresponding sculptures to provide insight into the hierarchical distribution and use of ritual and administrative space in temple and palace architecture. Identifying which spaces were the most accessible and most public, and which spaces were segregated and highly private, Dr Parmington demonstrates how sculptural, iconographic and hieroglyphic content varies considerably when found in public/common or private/elite space. Drawing on specific examples from the Classic Maya and other early civilisations, he demonstrates that by examining the intent in the distribution of architecture and art, the variation and function of the artistic themes represented in sculpture and other monumental works of art can be better understood.
Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires
Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires write by Christina M. Elson. This book was released on 2006-02-09. Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. From the Mesoamerican highlands to the Colca Valley in Peru, pre-Columbian civilizations were bastions of power that have largely been viewed through the lens of rulership, or occasionally through bottom-up perspectives of resistance. Rather than focusing on rulers or peasants, this book examines how intermediate elitesÑboth men and womenÑhelped to develop, sustain, and resist state policies and institutions. Employing new archaeological and ethnohistorical data, its contributors trace a 2,000-year trajectory of elite social evolution in the Zapotec, Wari, Aztec, Inka, and Maya civilizations. This is the first volume to consider how individuals subordinate to imperial rulers helped to shape specific forms of state and imperial organization. Taking a broader scope than previous studies, it is one of the few works to systematically address these issues in both Mesoamerica and the Central Andes. It considers how these individuals influenced the long-term development of the largest civilizations of the ancient Americas, opening a new window on the role of intermediate elites in the rise and fall of ancient states and empires worldwide. The authors demonstrate how such evidence as settlement patterns, architecture, decorative items, and burial patterns reflect the roles of intermediate elites in their respective societies, arguing that they were influential actors whose interests were highly significant in shaping the specific forms of state and imperial organization. Their emphasis on provincial elites particularly shifts examination of early states away from royal capitals and imperial courts, explaining how local elites and royal bureaucrats had significant impact on the development and organization of premodern states. Together, these papers demonstrate that intricate networks of intermediate elites bound these ancient societies togetherÑand that competition between individuals and groups contributed to their decline and eventual collapse. By addressing current theoretical concerns with agency, resistance to state domination, and the co-option of local leadership by imperial administrators, it offers valuable new insight into the utility of studying intermediate elites.
Ancient Maya Commoners
Ancient Maya Commoners - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Ancient Maya Commoners write by Jon C. Lohse. This book was released on 2010-01-01. Ancient Maya Commoners available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Much of what we currently know about the ancient Maya concerns the activities of the elites who ruled the societies and left records of their deeds carved on the monumental buildings and sculptures that remain as silent testimony to their power and status. But what do we know of the common folk who labored to build the temple complexes and palaces and grew the food that fed all of Maya society? This pathfinding book marshals a wide array of archaeological, ethnohistorical, and ethnographic evidence to offer the fullest understanding to date of the lifeways of ancient Maya commoners. Senior and emerging scholars contribute case studies that examine such aspects of commoner life as settlement patterns, household organization, and subsistence practices. Their reports cover most of the Maya area and the entire time span from Preclassic to Postclassic. This broad range of data helps resolve Maya commoners from a faceless mass into individual actors who successfully adapted to their social environment and who also held primary responsibility for producing the food and many other goods on which the whole Maya society depended.
