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Handbook of South American Archaeology

  • Book
  • © 2008

Overview

Editors:
  1. Helaine Silverman

    1. Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA

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  2. William H. Isbell

    1. Department of Anthropology, State University of New York Binghamton, Binghamton, USA

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    You can also search for this editor in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • The most comprehensive coverage of the South American continent
  • The biggest names in South American archaeology and anthropology from around the globe
  • Organized to bring researchers of specific areas to awareness of other cultures and histories of the continent

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About this book

Perhaps the contributions of South American archaeology to the larger field of world archaeology have been inadequately recognized. If so, this is probably because there have been relatively few archaeologists working in South America outside of Peru and recent advances in knowledge in other parts of the continent are only beginning to enter larger archaeological discourse. Many ideas of and about South American archaeology held by scholars from outside the area are going to change irrevocably with the appearance of the present volume. Not only does the Handbook of South American Archaeology (HSAA) provide immense and broad information about ancient South America, the volume also showcases the contributions made by South Americans to social theory. Moreover, one of the merits of this volume is that about half the authors (30) are South Americans, and the bibliographies in their chapters will be especially useful guides to Spanish and Portuguese literature as well as to the latest research. It is inevitable that the HSAA will be compared with the multi-volume Handbook of South American Indians (HSAI), with its detailed descriptions of indigenous peoples of South America, that was organized and edited by Julian Steward. Although there are heroic archaeological essays in the HSAI, by the likes of Junius Bird, Gordon Willey, John Rowe, and John Murra, Steward states frankly in his introduction to Volume Two that “arch- ology is included by way of background” to the ethnographic chapters.

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Table of contents (59 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
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  2. Introduction

    1. Continental Introduction

      • Helaine Silverman
      Pages 3-26

  3. Early Occupations Of South America

    1. Profiles in Pleistocene History

      • Tom D. Dillehay
      Pages 29-43

    2. Chinchorro Culture: Pioneers of the Coast of the Atacama Desert

      • Bernardo T. Arriaza, Vivien G. Standen, Vicki Cassman, Calogero M. Santoro
      Pages 45-58

    3. Early Occupations in the Southern Cone

      • Luis Alberto Borrero
      Pages 59-77

    4. The Process of Sedentism in Northwestern South America

      • J. Scott Raymond
      Pages 79-90

  4. Environment And Subsistence

    1. Central Andean Environments

      • Daniel H. Sandweiss, James B. Richardson III
      Pages 93-104

    2. Plant Domestication and the Shift to Agriculture in the Andes

      • Deborah M. Pearsall
      Pages 105-120

    3. Animal Domestication in South America

      • Peter W. Stahl
      Pages 121-130

    4. High Elevation Foraging Societies

      • Mark S. Aldenderfer
      Pages 131-143

    5. Early Fishing Societies in Western South America

      • Daniel H. Sandweiss
      Pages 145-156

    6. Amazonia: The Historical Ecology of a Domesticated Landscape

      • Clark L. Erickson
      Pages 157-183

    7. The Archaeology of Agriculture in Ancient Amazonia

      • José R. Oliver
      Pages 185-216

    8. Agricultural Earthworks on the French Guiana Coast

      • Stéphen Rostain
      Pages 217-233

    9. The Pampas and Campos of South America

      • Gustavo Politis
      Pages 235-260

  5. Lowland Moundbuilders

    1. Pre-Columbian Mound Complexes in the Upano River Valley, Lowland Ecuador

      • Ernesto Salazar
      Pages 263-278

    2. The Archaeology of the Guianas: An Overview

      • Stéphen Rostain
      Pages 279-302

    3. Barrancoid and Arauquinoid Mound Builders in Coastal Suriname

      • Aad H. Versteeg
      Pages 303-318

    4. Sambaqui (Shell Mound) Societies of Coastal Brazil

      • Maria Dulce Gaspar, Paulo DeBlasis, Suzanne K. Fish, Paul R. Fish
      Pages 319-335

  6. Continental Variations In Non-State Complexity

    1. The Nonagricultural Chiefdoms of Marajó Island

      • Denise Pahl Schaan
      Pages 339-357
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Reviews

Aus den Rezensionen: “Mit dem vorliegenden Handbuch (HSAA) bekommt der Leser nicht nur ein besonders umfangreiches und schweres Werk in die Hand. Auch inhaltlich hat das Buch eine Menge zu bieten. ... Eine umfangreiche Bibliografie am Ende jedes Beitrages zeigt dem Leser, wo er weitere und ausführliche Informationen finden kann. ... Ziel ist eine fundierte archäologische Information für ausgewählte Gesellschaften und Regionen. ... Die einzelnen Beiträge selbst sind sehr informativ, bieten einen aktuellen Forschungsstand und weisen zahlreiche Abbildungen, Karten und Fotos ...“ (in: Amerindian Research, 2009, Vol. 474, Issue 14, S. 258 f.)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois, Urbana, USA

    Helaine Silverman

  • Department of Anthropology, State University of New York Binghamton, Binghamton, USA

    William H. Isbell

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Handbook of South American Archaeology

  • Editors: Helaine Silverman, William H. Isbell

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74907-5

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag New York 2008

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-387-74906-8Published: 04 April 2008

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-0-387-75228-0Published: 04 April 2008

  • eBook ISBN: 978-0-387-74907-5Published: 06 April 2008

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXVI, 1192

  • Topics: Archaeology, Anthropology

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