Religion and Politics in the Ancient Americas

You must be logged in to access this title.

Sign up now

Already a member? Log in

Synopsis

This exciting collection explores the interplay of religion and politics in the precolumbian Americas. Each thought-provoking contribution positions religion as a primary factor influencing political innovations in this period, reinterpreting major changes through an examination of how religion both facilitated and constrained transformations in political organization and status relations. Offering unparalleled geographic and temporal coverage of this subject, Religion and Politics in the Ancient Americas spans the entire precolumbian period, from Preceramic Peru to the Contact period in eastern North America, with case studies from North, Middle, and South America.
Religion and Politics in the Ancient Americas considers the ways in which religion itself generated political innovation and thus enabled political centralization to occur. It moves beyond a "Great Tradition" focus on elite religion to understand how local political authority was negotiated, contested, bolstered, and undermined within diverse constituencies, demonstrating how religion has transformed non-Western societies. As well as offering readers fresh perspectives on specific archaeological cases, this book breaks new ground in the archaeological examination of religion and society.

Book details

Series:
Routledge Archaeology of the Ancient Americas
Author:
Sarah Barber, Arthur A. Joyce
ISBN:
9781317440826
Related ISBNs:
9781138907881, 9781138907898, 9781315694856
Publisher:
Taylor and Francis
Pages:
308
Reading age:
Not specified
Includes images:
Yes
Date of addition:
2023-09-25
Usage restrictions:
Copyright
Copyright date:
2018
Copyright by:
Sarah B. Barber, Arthur A. Joyce 
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Categories:
Nonfiction, Social Studies