figurines (Other Keyword)
1-25 (32 Records)
Craft specialization and exchange feature prominently in explanations for the development of the first complex societies in Mesoamerica. It is clear from analyses of surface collections at Altica that during the Early and early Middle Formative periods (c. 1300-850 B.C.) its inhabitants exported obsidian tools and imported pottery from long distances, including the southern Gulf Coast. Altica is one of the few early agricultural settlements located in the northern Basin of Mexico from which we...
Basketmaker Caves in the Prayer Rock District, Northeastern Arizona (1980)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
The BISC 2 Cargo Part II--Prestige Cargo or Evidence of Colonial Dumping? An Exploration of What Key Items in BISC 2's Cargo of Ceramics May say About center/periphery trade relations in the Late North American British Empire (2013)
This paper will focus on what a set of very specific items documented in the BISC-2 cargo may indicate about relations between the Bristih imperial center and amongst various levels of its periphery--including Jamaica and North America--during the last third of the 18th century. We will focus in particular on: 1) a coloration pattern that is ubiquitous on the site that has been documented as having a limited production life and as destined for dumping in a colobial market considered less...
Building a Typology: The Formative Period Figurine Assemblage from Cahal Pech, Cayo, Belize (2016)
Nearly every excavation at the site of Cahal Pech has recovered ceramic figurines. The ubiquitous nature of these figurines in a multitude of stratigraphic levels illustrate the importance of a figurine industry during the Formative Period. A comparative analysis of figurine attributes in this collection, in addition to collections found at neighboring sites in the Belize River Valley, reveals a unique style of figurine representation not found in any other regional figurine style in...
Ceramic Assemblage from Wadi Breamaker (1975)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Child Burials and Figurines at a Terminal Classic Maya Household, Ceibal, Guatemala (2017)
The ancient Maya center of Ceibal is known for a florescence during the Terminal Classic period (c. AD 800-900), a time when most cities in the region were in decline. Excavations at the Karinel Group, a residential complex, have focused on the site’s Preclassic origins. However, an elite household also occupied the area during the Terminal Classic period. The residents built four house platforms around a patio, had access to high-status goods, and took part in crafting activities. Along the...
Clay Objects from Near Eastern Village Sites (1991)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Cosmology in the New World
This project consists of articles written by members of Santa Fe Institute’s cosmology research group. Overall, the goal of this group is to understand the larger relationships between cosmology and society through a theoretically open-ended, comparative examination of the ancient American Southwest, Southeast, and Mesoamerica.
Figurines and Farmagers (2015)
Two temporally-sensitive fired clay figurine styles were identified among the 282 fragments recovered from the Early Agricultural period archaeological site known as Las Capas, located in Tucson, Arizona. The earlier style was only recovered from the 1220-1000 B.C. stratum, while the later style was just recovered from the 930-730 B.C. strata. Virtually all fragments were found in domestic trash deposits. Previous interpretations of similar figurines relied on the assumption that they represent...
Figurines, Households, and Social Identities at La Blanca during the Middle Preclassic Period (2016)
The development of social complexity in Ancient Mesoamerica during the Preclassic period is marked by ideological change, economic intensification, and increasing political and social inequality. Performing household rituals allowed the people of Ancient Mesoamerica to negotiate their social identities and to contest or conform to dominant public ideologies that emerged with increasing social complexity. In Pacific Guatemala, La Blanca was one of two major regional centers during the Middle...
Figurines, Households, and Social Identities at La Blanca during the Middle Preclassic Period (900-600 B.C.E.) (2017)
La Blanca was one of two major regional centers during the Conchas phase (900-600 B.C.E.) of the Middle Preclassic period in the Soconusco region of Pacific Guatemala. Household differentiation and social stratification at Preclassic sites in this region can be explored by analyzing the distribution of ceramic figurines across elite and commoner households at La Blanca. Through an analysis of typological distributions of figurines from La Blanca, I provide insight into the production and...
Formative Settlements on the Pinaleno Mountains Bajada: Results of Phased Archaeological Treatment of Sites AZ CC:6:40 and AZ CC:6:43 (ASM) within the U.S. Highway 191 Right-of-Way between Mileposts 110.40 and 117.60 south of Safford, Graham County, Arizona (2004)
Data recovery at two prehistoric archaeological sites along U.S. Highway 191 south of Safford in Graham County, southeastern Arizona.
From A Forest of Kings to the Forests of Petén: The Mirador Group at El Perú-Waka’ (2015)
More than 10 years of research at El Perú-Waka’, carried out under the co-direction of David Freidel and several Guatemalan collaborators, has resulted in a wealth of information about this ancient city and the role its rulers and residents played in the Classic Maya world. Enhanced through his work with Linda Schele, Freidel’s persistent focus on the interplay between ancient history and archaeology—on stelae, buildings, and people—has shaped research at Waka’, located in Guatemala’s Laguna del...
From Goddesses to Zoomorphs: Figuring Out Figurines at Çatalhöyük (2017)
The infamous seated goddess, flanked by two leopards, is perhaps the most sensationalized figurine to have been unearthed at Çatalhöyük, prompting narratives of prehistoric cults and religion. Yet research conducted since its discovery by James Mellaart has shown that zoomorphic, rather than anthropomorphic, types are predominant in the figurine assemblage. In this paper, I trace the history of changing recording systems, analytical methodologies, and interpretations of figurines at Çatalhöyük....
Hand modeled Preclassic figurines and early expression of concepts of replication (2017)
This paper concentrates on the vast corpus of hand modeled ceramic figurines from Preclassic Pacific slope of Mesoamerica, in particular those from Middle Preclassic La Blanca, Guatemala. We argue that, within this collection of figurines and related ones from elsewhere in Middle Preclassic Mesoamerica, one can find evidence for the concept of replication – or an emphasis on a recurring "type" or "character" – that pre-dates the invention of the mold. Although Preclassic figurine assemblages are...
Historic Figurines from Florida and Mexico (1972)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Historic Figurines from Mexico and Florida (1972)
This resource is a citation record only, the Center for Digital Antiquity does not have a copy of this document. The information in this record has been migrated into tDAR from the National Archaeological Database Reports Module (NADB-R) and updated. Most NADB-R records consist of a document citation and other metadata but do not have the documents themselves uploaded. If you have a digital copy of the document and would like to have it curated in tDAR, please contact us at comments@tdar.org.
Jaina Figurines: a text without a text? (2016)
Most Maya figurines have traditionally been evaluated on the basis of style and facture, and more recently, on the basis of archaeological context, where possible, as at Motul de San José, Guatemala. But what about the dozens of Jaina figurines in the Mexican national collections? Is there a way to examine the figurines typically considered to be mothers, lovers, weavers, wanderers, or warriors, almost none of which bear inscriptions, in such a way as to reevaluate the sort of assumptions made...
Making sense of a Holy Trinity: the Dioses Narigudos of Classic period Central Veracruz (2018)
Dioses Narigudos are a series of ceramic figurines that are extremely frequent during the Classic period in a very restricted area of South Central Veracruz. They occur generally in ritual deposits under floors of major and minor buildings, combining female and male representations of different hierarchy. Current interpretations relate them to a solar deity or a water deity, none of which identifications apply to all three main figurine types. Their attributes and the contexts in which they are...
Masking Practices and Layered Identities in Offering 1 from Los Horcones, Chiapas, Mexico (2015)
Discovered in 2006, Offering 1 from Los Horcones, Chiapas represents a unique grouping of figurines deposited perhaps to commemorate the construction of Mound B1 from this site. Previous publication of this offering focused on deriving meaning from this cache based on its context and stylistic attributes. During the summer of 2014, the offering was reconstructed and new layers of meaning perhaps representing a more emic perspective on its meaning emerged. The offering, made up of masks and...
Mirrors of Time: Figurines in the New World Order (2019)
This is an abstract from the "After Cortés: Archaeological Legacies of the European Invasion in Mesoamerica" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Small ceramic figurines are ubiquitous in the preconquest central highlands of Mexico and are seemingly tied to household ritual. The arrival of the Spanish caused immense change at some levels, some reflected in these small objects. Archaeological evidence shows figurines briefly transitioning, but their...
New Approaches to Jomon Dogu: Case Studies from Eastern and Western Japan (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Current Issues in Japanese Archaeology (2019 Archaeological Research in Asia Symposium)" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents a study of the clays used in the manufacture of ceramic figurines, or dogu, from the Jomon period of Japanese archaeology. Analyses of clays in dogu from sites in Niigata (eastern Honshu) and Okayama (western Honshu) using a handheld XRF machine will be discussed in the context of...
New perspectives on the identities and ideologies of localized ancient Andean communities through the examination of figurines. (2016)
This paper explores the quotidian use of figurines by the inhabitants of the village of Ak’awillay in the Cusco region. Most scholars have defined figurines as political tools used to support state ideologies. This research expands on this effort and focuses on the use of figurines in domestic contexts among non-state societies. The study of figurines from Ak’awillay and comparative data from archaeological and ethnographic contexts suggest that figurines had multiple uses and included ancestor...
Night and the Underworld in the Classic Period Ulúa Valley, Honduras (2017)
As the sun set and the light dimmed in the Classic Period Ulúa Valley, Honduras, the nighttime sky and a soundscape of nocturnal animals emerged. The transition between day and night was marked not only by the shifting sensory experience of the nightscape but also by the passage of the sun through the underworld, as the realm of death and the ancestors came alive. The night was inhabited and animated by liminal animals and ancestors that moved between the world of the living and the dead. The...
Postconquest Figurines from Central Mexico: Aspects of Phenotype and Artifice (2015)
This analysis focuses on figurines made after the Spanish conquest (1521 CE) of Mexico, based on the collections from three museums: the Hearst Museum, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Field Museum. The central questions address figurines as media that could potentially negotiate issues of racial (or casta) categorization, phenotype, and artifice. The figurines were collected and accessioned in the early 20th century, before the development of archaeological methodologies that pay...