In this Book

  • Mesoamerican Figurines: Small-Scale Indices of Large-Scale Social Phenomena
  • Book
  • Edited by Christina T. Halperin, Katherine A. Faust, Rhonda Taube, Aurore Giguet
  • 2009
  • Published by: University Press of Florida
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summary

Although figurines are among the most abundant class of artifacts known in the vast Mesoamerican culture, this is the premier single volume to examine these figurines from the Olmec to the Aztec civilizations.

These small, often ceramic objects are commonly found at many archaeological sites. They appear in the shape of humans, supernatural beings, animals, and buildings. Mesoamerican Figurines brings together many seasoned and respected scholars of art history, archaeology, ethnohistory, anthropology, and social theory to analyze these objects by their stylistic attributes, archaeological content, function, and meaning.

Because of their variety and number, figurines represent a rich dataset from which ancient Mesoamerican identity and practices can be ascertained, including human body symbolism, materiality, memory and human agency, trade and interaction, and religion.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. List of Figures
  2. pp. vii-xi
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  1. List of Tables
  2. p. xii
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. xiii-xiv
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  1. 1. Approaching Mesoamerican Figurines
  2. pp. 1-22
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  1. Part I. Context and Practice
  2. pp. 23-24
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  1. 2. Rethinking Figurines
  2. pp. 25-50
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  1. 3. Honduran Figurines and Whistles in Social Context: Production, Use, and Meaning in the UlĂșa Valley
  2. pp. 51-74
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  1. Part II. Social Identities
  2. pp. 75-76
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  1. 4. Formative Period Gulf Coast Ceramic Figurines: The Key to Identifying Sex, Gender, and Age Groups in Gulf Coast Olmec Imagery
  2. pp. 77-118
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  1. 5. Identity, Gender, and Power: Representational Juxtapositions in Early Formative Figurines from Oaxaca, Mexico
  2. pp. 119-148
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  1. 6. Early Olmec Figurines from Two Regions: Style as Cultural Imperative
  2. pp. 149-180
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  1. Part III. Cultural Aesthetics
  2. pp. 181-182
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  1. 7. Crafting the Body Beautiful: Performing Social Identity at Santa Isabel, Nicaragua
  2. pp. 183-204
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  1. 8. New Fire Figurines and the Iconography of Penitence in Huastec Art
  2. pp. 205-235
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  1. 9. The Beautiful, the Bad, and the Ugly: Aesthetics and Morality in Maya Figurines
  2. pp. 236-258
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  1. Part IV. Embodiment
  2. pp. 259-260
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  1. 10. The Weeping Baby and the Nahua Corn Spirit: The Human Body as Key Symbol in the Huasteca Veracruzana, Mexico
  2. pp. 261-296
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  1. 11. Alien Bodies, Everyday People, and Hollow Spaces: Embodiment, Figurines, and Social Discourse in Postclassic Mexico
  2. pp. 297-324
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  1. Part V. State and Household Relations
  2. pp. 325-326
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  1. 12. Sex in the City: A Comparison of Aztec Ceramic Figurines to Copal Figurines from the Templo Mayor
  2. pp. 327-377
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  1. 13. Figurines as Bearers of and Burdens in Late Classic Maya State Politics
  2. pp. 378-404
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  1. Part VI. Discussion
  2. pp. 405-406
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  1. 14. Making a World of Their Own: Mesoamerican Figurines and Mesoamerican Figurine Analysis
  2. pp. 407-426
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 427-428
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 429-440
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