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John Edward Staller Editor Pre-Columbian Landscapes of Creation and Origin CD-ROM INCLUDED

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Page 1: Edited by John Edward Staller,The Field Museum, Chicago, IL …extras.springer.com/2008/978-0-387-76909-7/Chapter_01.pdf · cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance

John Edward StallerEditor

Pre-ColumbianLandscapes of Creationand Origin

Pre-Columbian Landscapes

of Creation and OriginStaller Editor

EAN

9 780387 769097

ISBN-10: 0-387-76909-9

ISBN-13: 978-0-387-76909-7

› springer.com

S O C I A L S C I E N C E S /A N T H R O P O L O G Y

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Pre-Columbian Landscapes of Creation and OriginEdited by John Edward Staller, The Field Museum, Chicago, IL

This edited volume combines research on the cultures throughoutMesoamerica and South America, examining their natural environments,constructed monuments and ritual practices. It explores the foundationsof these cultures, through both the creation mythologies of ancientsocieties as well as the tangible results of those beliefs. It offers insight onspecific case studies, combining evidence from the archaeological recordwith sacred texts and modern ethnography. The patterns developedthroughout this work shed insight on the effect that perceivedsacredness can have on the development of culture and society. Thiscomprehensive and much-needed work will be of interest toarchaeologists and anthropologists focused on Pre-Columbian studies, aswell as those in the fields of cultural or religious studies with a broadergeographic focus.

Pre-Columbian Andean and Mesoamerican cultures have inspired aspecial fascination among historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, aswell as the general public. As two of the earliest known and studiedcivilizations, their origin and creation mythologies hold a special interest.The contemporary and Pre-Columbian cultures from these regions areparticularly known for having a strong connection with the naturallandscape, and weaving it into their mythologies. A landscape approachto archaeology in these areas is uniquely useful shedding insight intotheir cultural beliefs, practices, and values. The ways in which thesecultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance influencedthe settlement of the population, the construction of monuments, as wellas their rituals and practices.

CD-ROMINCLUDED

CD-ROMINCLUDED

Page 2: Edited by John Edward Staller,The Field Museum, Chicago, IL …extras.springer.com/2008/978-0-387-76909-7/Chapter_01.pdf · cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance

Chapter 1

Fig. 1.1 Ballcourt decapitation, El Tajín, South Ballcourt Panel 4, detail (after Kampen, 1972:Fig. 23)

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Page 3: Edited by John Edward Staller,The Field Museum, Chicago, IL …extras.springer.com/2008/978-0-387-76909-7/Chapter_01.pdf · cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance

Fig. 1.2 Decapitation sacrifice offering and donation of sash and baton, El Tajín, South Ballcourt Panel 6 (drawing courtesy of Daniela Koontz)

Fig. 1.3 Baton held after decapitation sacrifice, Palma, Coatepec (from Proskouriakoff, 1954:Fig. 6)

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Page 4: Edited by John Edward Staller,The Field Museum, Chicago, IL …extras.springer.com/2008/978-0-387-76909-7/Chapter_01.pdf · cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance

Fig. 1.4 Baton ceremony with cape, El Tajín, Mound of the Building Columns Sculpture 8, detail (after Ladrón de Guevara, 1999: 85, drawing courtesy Daniela Koontz)

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Page 5: Edited by John Edward Staller,The Field Museum, Chicago, IL …extras.springer.com/2008/978-0-387-76909-7/Chapter_01.pdf · cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance

Fig. 1.5 Creation of humans, El Tajín, South Ballcourt Panel 5, detail (drawing courtesy Daniela Koontz)

Fig. 1.6 Figure with flowering maguey and penis rite, El Tajín, Mound of the Building Columns Sculpture 5, detail (after Kampen, 1972:Fig. 33c, drawing courtesy Daniela Koontz)

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Page 6: Edited by John Edward Staller,The Field Museum, Chicago, IL …extras.springer.com/2008/978-0-387-76909-7/Chapter_01.pdf · cultures imbued their landscape with symbolic significance

Fig. 1.7 Figure with maguey and penis rite. Patio de los Glifos, La Ventilla, Teotihuacan (drawn after photograph in Zuñiga, 1995:184)

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