三民網路書店 / 搜尋結果

The study of chiefdoms has moved from a preoccupation with their formal characteristics to a concern with their dynamics as political institutions. The contributors to this volume are interested in how ruling elites retain power through control over production and exchange, and then legitimize that control through an elaborate ideology. The eleven case studies look at particular chiefdoms, originating in specific historical conditions. Despite obvious differences between the chiefdoms, certain common underlying processes are revealed. The collection recognizes how complex and interdependent the sources of power in society are, as well as the forces of instability that constantly threaten to tear the society apart. Chiefdoms offers a rich and varied interpretation of sociopolitical power.

Ancient Maya civilization once flourished in the rainforests of what is today southern Mexico and Central America. It possessed the only full system of writing ever to be developed in the Americas. The pace of decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing has accelerated, and within the last decade half of the inscriptions from the sites of the Classic Period (AD 250–900) have been translated. Much of the newly available information consists of historical records of the careers of Maya rulers of the time. This volume is the first to present in detail the results of decipherment and to consider the implications of a Classic Maya written history. Contributors examine the way in which the Maya elite created the kinship, alliance, warfare and ceremonial networks on which the civilisation was founded. Drawing upon important material recently made available, they have transformed our understanding of the Maya.

The book brings together a group of authors who are addressing the nature and causes of warfare in simpler, tribal societies. The authors represent a range of different opinions about why humans engage in warfare, why wars start, and the role of war in human evolution. Warfare in cultures from several different world areas is considered, ranging from the Amazon, the Caribbean, the Andes, the Southwestern US, Southeast Asia, Polynesia, and Malaysia. To explain the origins and maintenance of war in tribal societies, different authors appeal to a broad spectrum of demographic, environmental, historical and biological variables. Competing explanatory model of warfare are presented with overlapping bodies of data offered in support of each model.