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Title:Commoner Ritual & Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica
Author:Nancy Gonlin & Jon C Lohse (eds)
ISBN:0870818457 : 9780870818455
Illustrations:42 b/w photos, 26 illus, 14 maps, 10 tab
Format:Hardback
Size:155x230mm
Pages:304
Weight: .588 Kg.
Published:University Press of Colorado - January 2007
List Price: 43.5 Pounds Sterling
Availability:In Print
Subjects:Central American & Caribbean archaeology: Anthropology: Central America


Were most commoners in ancient Mesoamerica poor? In a material sense, yes, probably so. Were they poor in their beliefs and culture? Certainly not, as "Commoner Ritual and Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica" demonstrates. This volume explores the ritual life of Mesoamerica’s common citizens, inside and outside of the domestic sphere, from Formative through Postclassic periods. Building from the premise that ritual and ideological expression inhered at all levels of society in Mesoamerica, the contributors demonstrate that ideology did not emanate solely from exalted individuals and that commoner ritual expression was not limited to household contexts. Taking an empirical approach to this under-studied and under-theorised area, contributors use material evidence to discover how commoner status conditioned the expression of ideas and values. Revealing complex social hierarchies that varied across time and region, this volume offers theoretical approaches to commoner ideology, religious practice, and socio-political organisation and builds a framework for future study of the correlation of ritual and ideological expression with social position for Mesoamericanists and archaeologists worldwide.

Commoner Ritual, Commoner Ideology: (Sub-)Alternate Views of Social Complexity in Hispanic Mesoamerica; Tradition and Transformation: Village Ritual at Tetimpa as a Template for Early Teotihuacan; Commoner Ritual at Teotihuacan, Central Mexico: Methodological Considerations; Ritual and Ideology Among Classic Maya Rural Commoners at Copán, Honduras; Smoke, Soot, and Censers: A Perspective on Ancient Commoner Household Ritual Behaviour from the Naco Valley, Honduras; Commoner Rituals, Resistance, and the Classic-to-Post-classic Transition in Ancient Mesoamenca; Shrines , Offerings, and Post-classic Continuity in Zapotec Religion; Altar Egos: Domestic Ritual and Social Identity in Post-classic Cholula, Mexico; A Socioeconomic Interpretation of Figurine Assemblages from Late Post-classic Morelos, Mexico; Steps to a Holistic Household Archaeology.