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This book examines ancient figurines from several world areas to address recurring challenges in the interpretation of prehistoric art. Sometimes figurines from one context are perceived to resemble those from another. Richard G. Lesure asks whether such resemblances play a role in our interpretations. Early interpreters seized on the idea that figurines were recurringly female and constructed the fanciful myth of a primordial Neolithic Goddess. Contemporary practice instead rejects interpretive leaps across contexts. Dr Lesure offers a middle path: a new framework for assessing the relevance of particular comparisons. He develops the argument in case studies that consider figurines from Paleolithic Europe, the Neolithic Near East and Formative Mesoamerica.

Figurines, Ancient. --- Art --- Art and anthropology. --- Art and society. --- Art and sociology --- Society and art --- Sociology and art --- Anthropology and art --- Anthropology --- Ancient figurines --- Historiography. --- Social aspects --- Social Sciences --- Archeology

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Between 3500 and 500 bc, the social landscape of ancient Mesoamerica was completely transformed. At the beginning of this period, the mobile lifeways of a sparse population were oriented toward hunting and gathering. Three millennia later, protourban communities teemed with people. These essays by leading Mesoamerican archaeologists examine developments of the era as they unfolded in the Soconusco region along the Pacific coast of Mexico and Guatemala, a region that has emerged as crucial for understanding the rise of ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica. The contributors explore topics including the gendered division of labor, changes in subsistence, the character of ceremonialism, the emergence of social inequality, and large-scale patterns of population distribution and social change. Together, they demonstrate the contribution of Soconusco to cultural evolution in Mesoamerica and challenge what we thought we knew about the path toward social complexity.

Indians of Mexico --- Indian pottery --- Excavations (Archaeology) --- Social archaeology --- Antiquities. --- Implements --- Soconusco Region (Mexico)

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Indians of Mexico --- Excavations (Archaeology) --- Salvage archaeology --- Indiens d'Amérique --- Antiquities. --- Antiquités --- Varal Site (Mexico) --- Soconusco Region (Mexico) --- Soconusco Region (Mexique) --- Indiens d'Amérique --- Antiquités

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Social sciences (general)