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E-book
Author Malpass, Michael Andrew, author

Title Ancient people of the Andes / Michael A. Malpass
Published Ithaca ; London : Cornell University Press, 2016
©2016

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 291 pages)
Contents Learning about the past -- Geography of the Central and South Andes -- The time before temples: the early and middle preceramic periods -- Settling down and settling in: the late preceramic period -- Societal growth and differentiation: the initial period -- Of masks and monoliths: the early horizon -- Art and power: the early intermediate period -- Clash of the titans? Tiwanaku, Wari, and the middle horizon -- Auca runa, the epoch of warfare: the late intermediate period -- Expansion and empire: the Inkas and the late horizon
Summary "In Ancient People of the Andes, Michael A. Malpass describes the prehistory of western South America from initial colonization to the Spanish Conquest. All the major cultures of this region, from the Moche to the Inkas, receive thoughtful treatment, from their emergence to their demise or evolution. No South American culture that lived prior to the arrival of Europeans developed a writing system, making archaeology the only way we know about most of the prehispanic societies of the Andes. The earliest Spaniards on the continent provided first-person accounts of the latest of those societies, and, as descendants of the Inkas became literate, they too became a source of information. Both ethnohistory and archaeology have limitations in what they can tell us, but when we are able to use them together they are complementary ways to access knowledge of these fascinating cultures. Malpass focuses on large anthropological themes: why people settled down into agricultural communities, the origins of social inequalities, and the evolution of sociopolitical complexity. Ample illustrations, including eight color plates, visually document sites, societies, and cultural features. Introductory chapters cover archaeological concepts, dating issues, and the region's climate. The subsequent chapters, divided by time period, allow the reader to track changes in specific cultures over time"--Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed
Subject Indigenous peoples -- Andes Region
Indians of South America -- Andes Region.
HISTORY -- Latin America -- General.
HISTORY -- Latin America -- South America.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
Indians of South America
Indigenous peoples
Andes Region
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2021694386
ISBN 9781501703928
1501703927
9781501703935
1501703935