Anthropology Commons^™

Entangled Edens: Visions Of The Amazon, Robert L. Carneiro

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Book review of Entangled Edens: Visions of the Amazon. Candace Slater. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. 332 pp., chronology of key dates, glossary, notes, index. ISBN 0-520-22641-0.

Pacificando O Branco. Cosmologias Do Contato No Norte-Amazônico, John Hemming

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Book review of Pacificando o branco. Cosmologias do contato no Norte-Amazônico. Bruce Albert and Alcida Rita Ramos, editors. São Paulo:Editora UNESP, 2002.532 pp., maps, plates. ISBN 85-7139-355-9.

The Enigma Of The Great Cities: Body And State In Amazonia, Michael J. Heckenberger

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This paper discusses issues of political power in Amazonia, particularly with regard to traditional definitions of the State, in general, and the body or person in Amazonia. Using the historical ethnography of the Upper Xingu region of southern Amazonia as a point of departure, issues of inequality, hierarchy, and social complexity are briefly discussed. Specifically, it is suggested that Xinguano cultural patterns, considered over the long term (circa 800 C.E.–present), show evidence of social hierarchy and regional organization considered characteristic of so-called complex societies elsewhere. As is true in many ancient states and chiefdoms, power is based on strategic control …

The Birds Of Ecuador: Status, Taxonomy, And Distribution. Volume I. The Birds Of Ecuador: Field Guide. Volume Ii, Peter Yaukey

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Book review of:

The Birds of Ecuador: Status, Taxonomy, and Distribution. Volume I. Robert S. Ridgeley and Paul J. Greenfield (with the collaboration of Mark B. Robbins and Paul J. Greenfield). Ithaca: Cornell University Press (Comstock), 2001. xvii + 848 pp., foreword, bibliography, indexes. ISBN 0-8014-8720-X.

The Birds of Ecuador: Field Guide. Volume II. Robert S. Ridgeley and Paul J. Greenfield (with the collaboration of Paul Coopmans, and in association with The Academy of Natural Sciences). Ithaca: Cornell University Press (Comstock), 2001. xvii + 740 pp., foreword, bibliography, indexes, color plates. ISBN 0-8014-8721-8.

Viviendo Bien: Genero Y Fertilidad Entre Los Airo-Pai De La Amazonia Peruana, Steven Romanoff

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Various book reviews:

Viviendo Bien: Genero y Fertilidad entre los Airo-Pai de la Amazonia Peruana [Living Well: Gender and Fertility among the Airo-Pai of the Peruvian Amazon]. Luisa Elva Belaunde. Lima: Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica and Banco Central de Reserva del Perú, Fondo Editorial, 2001. 268 pp. ISBN: 9972-608-13-1.

Ver, Saber, Poder: Chamanismo de los Yagua de la Amazonía Peruana [Vision, Knowledge, Power: Shamanism of the Yagua of the Peruvian Amazon]. Jean- Pierre Chaumeil. Lima, Peru: Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica; Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos (IFEA); Centro Argentino de Etnología Americana (CAEA-CONIDET), 1998. …

Radiocarbon Dating Of Architectural Mortar: A Case Study In The Maya Region, Quintana Roo, Mexico, Jennifer P. Mathews

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

The use of radiocarbon dating to analyze mortar and charcoal inclusions within mortar or plaster is a useful way to date the construction of architecture, particularly when options for other chronometric methods are limited. In the Yalahau region of northern Quintana Roo, Mexico, members of the Yalahau Regional Human Ecology Project have faced challenges in dating buildings made of large blocks of stone in the Megalithic architectural style. The Megalithic style poses serious problems for any analysis, as excavating into structures with stones weighing several tons can be dangerous, expensive, and time consuming. Additionally, there are no associated sculptures, texts …

Wetland Manipulation In The Yalahau Region Of The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, Bethany A. Morrison, B. J. Andersen, S. Boucher, J. C. Acosta, Jennifer P. Mathews

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

Manipulation of wetlands for agricultural purposes by the ancient Maya of southern Mexico and Central America has been a subject of much research and debate since the 1970s. Evidence for wetland cultivation systems, in the form of drained or channelized fields, and raised planting platforms, has been restricted primarily to the southern Maya Lowlands. New research in the Yalahau region of Quintana Roo, Mexico, has recorded evidence for wetland manipulation in the far northern lowlands, in the form of rock alignments that apparently functioned to control water movement and soil accumulation in seasonally inundated areas. Nearby ancient settlements date primarily …

Religion And Healing The Mind/Body/Self, Meredith B. Mcguire

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

In order to understand the linkage between religion and healing, we must go well beyond the theme of body regulation. Although religion does involve body regulation and control, and although these functions are reflected in healing practices, there are many other ways by which religion is linked with human bodies. We will arrive at a far richer appreciation of this linkage if we start with a broad sociology of the human body, its illnesses and healing, and ask the expanded question: How is religion involved in these complex processes?

Preliminary Evidence For The Existence Of A Regional Sacbe Across The Northern Maya Lowlands, Scott L. Fedick, D. Reid, Jennifer P. Mathews

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

Ancient road systems have often been used by archaeologists to reconstruct interaction and political ties among prehistoric settlements. Roads built by the ancient Maya offer many insights into the political geography of the area, particularly in the northern lowlands where hieroglyphic texts are rare. This study examines ethnohistoric, historic, and archaeological data that suggest that a regional road, some 300 km in length, once spanned the northern lowlands from the modern location of Mérida to the east coast facing the island of Cozumel. The political implications of such a road, if it once existed, are discussed.

The Box Ni Group Of Naranjal, And Early Architecture Of The Maya Lowlands, Jennifer P. Mathews

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

The distinctive Early Classic megalithic style of the northern Maya Lowlands did not exist in isolation, but rather shared a number of features with monumental architecture of the central Petén. One particularly striking example is the triadic platform grouping, found at Naranjal as well as Uaxactún and other early sites of the northern and southern lowlands. The temporal and geographic distribution of Maya triadic platform groupings are reviewed in conjunction with such shared architectural features as rounded corners. These comparisons support the early dating ofmegalithic architecture and help define the special characteristics of this northern lowland style.

The Political Economy Of Responsibility In Health And Illness, John Donahue, Meredith B. Mcguire

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

This article addresses the question: to what extent do health care strategies in a given political economy increase people's perceptions of responsibility to take charge of their health, but do not structurally empower them to satisfy their health needs. In shaping health care policies, societies typically adopt one of three broad strategies, linking their larger political economy and modes of exercising power: a marketplace strategy, a state-managerial strategy or a national participatory strategy. Because of their different arrangements of structural power, these strategies result in three very different approaches to responsibility for health and illness. Changes in the political economy …

Religion And The Body: Rematerializing The Human Body In The Social Sciences Of Religion, Meredith B. Mcguire

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

The social sciences of religion could be transformed by taking seriously the fact that humans are embodied. A new conceptualization of a mindful body has the potential to lead to profound shifts in how we view our subjects and their worlds. Our research strategies need to take into account that believers (and nonbelievers) are not merely disembodied spirits, but that they experience a material world in and through their bodies. Greater awareness of the social and political uses of human bodies should guide our research and theory.

Belief Systems And Illness Experiences: The Case Of Non-Medical Healing Groups, Meredith B. Mcguire, D. J. Kantor

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

An important, and often neglected, aspect of the illness experience is meaning—that is, how affected persons make sense of their experiences. Responses to illness, coping strategies, and the healing process itself are all shaped by the meanings people apply to their illnesses. This chapter examines some of the nonmedical approaches to illness used by middle-class suburbanites in order to highlight the importance of meaning in all illness experiences. The particular interpretations applied in these alter-. native healing systems vary, but the way these interpretive frameworks shape the illness experience sheds light on the broader significance of meaning in health, …