Full Description
This student-friendly textbook introduces the archaeological past from approximately seven million years ago through later politically complex societies. Archaeology and Humanity's Story: A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory does not attempt to discuss every archaeologically important site and development in prehistory and early history. Rather, it presents key issues from earlier prehistory and then organizes the chapters on politically complexsocieties using a similar framework. This allows students to easily compare and contrast different geographical regions. Each of these chapters also highlights a specific case study in which similar themes areexamined, such as the written word; resource networks, trade, and exchange; social life; ritual and religion; and warfare and violence. Each chapter includes several sidebar boxes, a timeline showing the chronology relevant to that chapter, and "The Big Picture," "Peopling the Past," and "Evolutionary Processes" features.
Contents
PrefacePart 1: The Basics of ArchaeologyChapter 1: Acquiring and Interpreting Data in ArchaeologyWhy Archaeology is ImportantSurvey and Excavation MethodsResearch DesignFinding and Recording Sites--The Big Picture: Archaeological Survey in PracticeExcavating Sites--The Big Picture: Archaeological Excavation in PracticeMultidisciplinary Data SetsHow Old is It?Relative Dating MethodsAbsolute Dating MethodsTime Scales in DatingTheories and Interpretations--Timeline: The Development of ArchaeologyWho Owns the Past?--Peopling the Past: Indigenous ArchaeologySummaryEndnotesPart 2: Prehistory before Political ComplexityChapter 2: Humanity's RootsA Word about Classification--Timeline: Early HomininsBipedalism and the Earliest HomininsWhy Is Bipedalism Important?--Advantages of Bipedalism--Origins of BipedalismEvolutionary Processes"Cousins" in the Early Hominin LineageTool Use and ManufactureStone Tools--Peopling the Past: Culture in the Prehistoric RecordWhich Hominins Made and Used Stone Tools?--The Big Picture: Oldowan Industrial ComplexEarly Hominin Culture--Peopling the Past: Hunting versus ScavengingSummaryEndnotesChapter 3: Becoming HumanPleistocene Ice AgesEarly Waves of Out of AfricaThe Earliest Movement Out of AfricaMeanwhile, Back in Africa--Timeline: Later Hominins--The Big Picture; Acheulian, Middle Stone Age, and Middle Paleolithic TraditionsLater Movement Out of AfricaModern Humans, Neandertals, and Homo floresiensisMultiregional and Recent Single Origin Models--Skeletal Anatomy--Genetics--Isolation and a New Species--Peopling the Past: Genetics, Neandertals, and Modern HumansThe Origins of Modern Behaviors--Peopling the Past: Defining and Identifying Modern BehaviorMiddle Stone Age AfricaLanguageMiddle Paleolithic and Chatelperronian EuropeDisappearance of the NeandertalsSummaryEndnotesChapter 4: A World of Modern HumansModern Humans as Hunter-Gatherer-ForagersLater Stone Age Africa--Timeline: Hunter-Gatherer-Foragers--The Big Picture: Later Stone Age and Upper Paleolithic Technologies and ToolsUpper Paleolithic Europe--Early Upper Paleolithic--Mid-Upper Paleolithic--Peopling the Past: The Role of Art in Late Pleistocene Cultures--Late Upper Paleolithic--Interpreting Upper Paleolithic Cave ArtWorld-Wide ExpansionAustralia/New GuineaThe Americas--Peopling the Past: Megafaunal ExtinctionsPaleoamericansSummaryEndnotesChapter 5: Hunting, Gathering, Foraging, and FarmingThe End of the Ice Ages--Timelines: Late Hunter-Gatherer-ForagersThe Old WorldMiddle East--Early Epipaleolithic--Middle Epipaleolithic--Late Epipaleolithic--Peopling the Past: Aggregation Sites in the Levantine EpipaleolithicTransition to Food Production in the Middle East--Pre-Pottery Neolithic A--Pre-Pottery Neolithic BAsia--Peopling the Past: Ritual in the Pre-Pottery NeolithicAfricaEuropeThe New WorldNorth AmericaMexico/Central AmericaSouth AmericaWhy Food Production?Early IdeasCurrent Ideas--The Big Picture: Niche Construction Theory and the Origins of Food ProductionComplexity in the Archaeological RecordSocial ComplexityPolitical ComplexitySummaryEndnotesPart 3: On the Threshold of Political ComplexityChapter 6: The North American SouthwestEarly Food Production--Timeline: The North American SouthwestThe Late Archaic PeriodThe Basketmaker Phases of Ancestral Pueblo--Basketmaker II--Basketmaker IIIPithouse to Pueblo TransitionThe Chaco PhenomenonResource Networks, Trade, and ExchangeSocial Life--Peopling the Past: Chaco Canyon and Mesoamerican Connections--Peopling the Past: The Roles of Men and Women in Chaco CanyonWarfare and ViolenceThe Late Bonito Phase in Chaco CanyonAncestral Pueblo after the Chaco PhenomenonPueblo IV and Later--Peopling the Past: Oral Traditions and Archaeology in the North American SouthwestHohokam and Mogollon: Contemporaries of the Ancestral PuebloHohokamMogollonSummaryEndnotesChapter 7: Eastern North AmericaEarly Food Production--Timeline: Eastern North AmericaPoverty Point CultureShell Ring ComplexesWoodland PeriodEarly WoodlandMiddle Woodland--Hopewell Interaction SphereLate WoodlandCahokia and the Early Mississippian PeriodResource Networks, Trade, and ExchangeSocial Life--Peopling the Past: Resources, Trade, and Exchange at Cahokia--Peopling the Past: High-Status Burials at CahokiaWarfare and ViolenceThe Mississippian After CahokiaThe Late Mississippian--Peopling the Past: Symbols in the Southeastern Ceremonial ComplexSummaryEndnotesPart 4: Early Politically Complex SocietiesChapter 8: Early Dynastic MesopotamiaEarly Food ProductionPre-Pottery Neolithic--Timeline: Mesopotamia Pottery NeolithicBefore the Early DynasticThe Uruk PeriodEarly Dynastic Mesopotamia--The Big Picture: Early Dynastic Political OrganizationThe Written WordResource Networks, Trade, and Exchange--Supply, Demand, and WealthSocial Life--Peopling the Past: Roles of Women and Men in MesopotamiaRitual and Religion--The Big Picture: Ideology and Art in the Early DynasticWarfare and ViolenceLater MesopotamiaSummaryEndnotesChapter 9: Pharaonic State and Old Kingdom Egypt--Timeline: EgyptEarly Food ProductionThe Nabta PlayaPredynasticPharaonic StateOld Kingdom EgyptThe Written WordResource Networks, Trade, and Exchange--Supply, Demand, and WealthSocial Life--Peopling the Past: Building the Pyramids of Egypt--The Big Picture: Political Organization in Old Kingdom EgyptRitual and Religion--The Big Picture: Art and Ideology in Old Kingdom EgyptWarfare and ViolenceAfter the Old KingdomSummaryEndnotesChapter 10: Shang ChinaEarly Food Production--Timeline: ChinaBefore ShangYangshao CultureLongshan CultureErlitou CultureShang China--The Big Picture: Political Organization in the Shang PeriodThe Written WordResource Networks, Trade, and Exchange--Peopling the Past: Oracle Bones, Divination, and the Origins of WritingSocial LifeRitual and Religion--The Big Picture: Art and Ideology in Shang ChinaWarfare and ViolenceAfter ShangSummaryEndnotesChapter 11: The Indus ValleyEarly Food Production--Timeline: The HarappanEarly HarappanThe Mature Harappan--Peopling the Past: Deciphering the Indus ScriptThe Written WordResource Networks, Trade, and Exchange--The Big Picture: Trade and Exchange in the Mature HarappanIdeologyUrbanization and Its Consequences--The Big Picture: Urbanism in the Mature HarappanAfter the Mature HarappanSummaryEndnotesChapter 12: Mesoamerica and the Classic Maya--Timeline: MesoamericaEarly Food ProductionFormative MesoamericaThe Olmec in the South Gulf Coast LowlandsEarly and Middle Preclassic MayaThe Valley of OaxacaThe Basin of MexicoLate Preclassic MayaThe Lowlands Classic MayaThe Written WordResource Networks, Trade, and ExchangeSocial LifeRitual and Religion--The Big Picture: Political Organization in the Classic MayaWarfare and Violence--The Big Picture: Art and Ideology in the Classic MayaAfter the Classic Maya--Peopling the Past: Politics and WarfareTerminal Classic and Postclassic MayaArrival of the SpanishSummaryEndnotesPart 5: Later Politically Complex SocietiesChapter 13: Andean South America and the Inka EmpireEarly Food ProductionLate Preceramic Period--Timeline: The Andean RegionInitial PeriodBefore the InkaEarly HorizonEarly Intermediate Period/Early Middle HorizonMiddle Horizon--Wari Empire--Tiwanaku Empire--Late Intermediate PeriodThe Inka EmpireThe Nonwritten WordResource Networks, Trade, and Exchange--Peopling the Past: The Inka Road SystemSocial Life--The Big Picture: Political Organization in the Inka EmpireRitual and Religion--The Big Picture: Art and Ideology in the Inka EmpireWarfare and ViolenceAfter the InkaSummaryEndnotesChapter 14: Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe in AfricaFood Production--Timeline: Southeast AfricaMetallurgyThe Rise of Mapungubwe and Great ZimbabweResource Networks, Trade, and Exchange--The Big Picture: Trade and Exchange in the Shashe-Limpopo and Plateau RegionSocial LifeRitual and Religion--The Big Picture: Art and Ideology at Great ZimbabweOral Traditions--Peopling the Past: The Role of Oral History and Historical DocumentsAfter Great ZimbabweSummaryEndnotesChapter 15: Politically Complex Societies in PerspectiveSocial Complexity in Pre-Contact Hawai'i The Rise of Political ComplexityThe Agency and Ecodynamics FrameworksThe Networks and Boundaries FrameworkThemes in Politically Complex SocietiesThe Individual and the GroupCornering the MarketIdeologyAll Good Things Come to an EndLessons From the Past?SummaryEndnotesGlossaryReferencesCreditsIndex
