The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines
Figurines dating from prehistory have been found across the world but have never before been considered globally. The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines is the first book to offer a comparative survey of this kind, bringing together approaches from across the landscape of contemporary research into a definitive resource in the field. The volume is comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible, with dedicated and fully illustrated chapters covering figurines from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia and the Pacific laid out by geographical location and written by the foremost scholars in figurine studies; wherever prehistoric figurines are found they have been expertly described and examined in relation to their subject matter, form, function, context, chronology, meaning, and interpretation. Specific themes that are discussed by contributors include, for example, theories of figurine interpretation, meaning in processes and contexts of figurine production, use, destruction and disposal, and the cognitive and social implications of representation. Chronologically, the coverage ranges from the Middle Palaeolithic through to areas and periods where an absence of historical sources renders figurines 'prehistoric' even though they might have been produced in the mid-2nd millennium AD, as in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The result is a synthesis of invaluable insights into past thinking on the human body, gender, identity, and how the figurines might have been used, either practically, ritually, or even playfully.
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The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines
Figurines dating from prehistory have been found across the world but have never before been considered globally. The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines is the first book to offer a comparative survey of this kind, bringing together approaches from across the landscape of contemporary research into a definitive resource in the field. The volume is comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible, with dedicated and fully illustrated chapters covering figurines from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia and the Pacific laid out by geographical location and written by the foremost scholars in figurine studies; wherever prehistoric figurines are found they have been expertly described and examined in relation to their subject matter, form, function, context, chronology, meaning, and interpretation. Specific themes that are discussed by contributors include, for example, theories of figurine interpretation, meaning in processes and contexts of figurine production, use, destruction and disposal, and the cognitive and social implications of representation. Chronologically, the coverage ranges from the Middle Palaeolithic through to areas and periods where an absence of historical sources renders figurines 'prehistoric' even though they might have been produced in the mid-2nd millennium AD, as in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The result is a synthesis of invaluable insights into past thinking on the human body, gender, identity, and how the figurines might have been used, either practically, ritually, or even playfully.
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The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines

The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines

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$129.49 

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Overview

Figurines dating from prehistory have been found across the world but have never before been considered globally. The Oxford Handbook of Prehistoric Figurines is the first book to offer a comparative survey of this kind, bringing together approaches from across the landscape of contemporary research into a definitive resource in the field. The volume is comprehensive, authoritative, and accessible, with dedicated and fully illustrated chapters covering figurines from the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australasia and the Pacific laid out by geographical location and written by the foremost scholars in figurine studies; wherever prehistoric figurines are found they have been expertly described and examined in relation to their subject matter, form, function, context, chronology, meaning, and interpretation. Specific themes that are discussed by contributors include, for example, theories of figurine interpretation, meaning in processes and contexts of figurine production, use, destruction and disposal, and the cognitive and social implications of representation. Chronologically, the coverage ranges from the Middle Palaeolithic through to areas and periods where an absence of historical sources renders figurines 'prehistoric' even though they might have been produced in the mid-2nd millennium AD, as in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The result is a synthesis of invaluable insights into past thinking on the human body, gender, identity, and how the figurines might have been used, either practically, ritually, or even playfully.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780191663109
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication date: 04/13/2017
Series: Oxford Handbooks
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 928
File size: 48 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Timothy Insoll is a Professor of African and Islamic Archaeology at the University of Manchester. Educated at the Universities of Sheffield and Cambridge, he was initially awarded a Research Fellowship at St John's College, Cambridge before being appointed lecturer at the University of Manchester in 1998, where he was awarded a personal chair in 2005. He is the author or editor of 16 books, three special journal issues, and numerous articles and reviews on a wide range of research topics across the discipline of archaeology and has completed fieldwork in Mali, Ghana, western India, Bahrain, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Uganda.

Table of Contents

  • Part 1. Introduction
  • 1: Miniature Possibilities: An Introduction to the Varied Dimensions of Figurine Research
  • 2: Lynn Meskell: The Archaeology of Figurines and the Human Body in Prehistory
  • 3: Richard G. Lesure: Comparative Perspectives in the Interpretation of Prehistoric Figurines
  • Part 2. Africa
  • 4: Alice Stevenson: Predynastic Egyptian Figurines
  • 5: Gunnar Haaland and Randi Haaland: Prehistoric Figurines in Sudan
  • 6: Barbara E. Barich: The Sahara
  • 7: Alex Schoeman: Southern Africa
  • 8: Timothy Insoll: West Africa
  • 9: Pierre de Maret: Equatorial Africa
  • Part 3. The Americas
  • 10: Andrzej Antczak and Magdalena Antczak: Caribbean
  • 11: Erin L. Sears: Mesoamerica - Maya
  • 12: Christopher A. Pool: Mesoamerica - Olmec
  • 13: Jeffrey P. Blomster: Mesoamerica - Highland Formative (Early to Middle Formative) Figurines
  • 14: Lisa Overholtzer: Aztec Figurines
  • 15: Polly Schaafsma: North America - Southwest
  • 16: Roy L. Carlson: Figurines and Figural Art of the Northwest Coast
  • 17: William W. Fitzhugh and Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad: Inuguat: Prehistoric Human Figurines in the North American Arctic
  • 18: George F. Lau: South America - Andes
  • 19: Cristiana Barreto: Figurine Traditions from the Amazon
  • Part 4. Asia
  • 20: Ellen Belcher and Karina Croucher: Anatolia
  • 21: Sascha Priewe: Prehistoric Figurines in China: The Deep History of Figurative Imagery in China
  • 22: Sharri R. Clark and J. Mark Kenoyer: South Asia - Indus Civilization
  • 23: Koji Mizoguchi: Anthropomorphic Clay Figurines of the Jomon Period of Japan
  • 24: Ian Kuijt: Clay Ideas: Levantine Neolithic Figurine Trajectories and Intellectual Threads
  • 25: Stuart Campbell and Aurelie Daems: Figurines in Prehistoric Mesopotamia
  • 26: Aurelie Daems: From a Bird's Eye View: Prehistoric Human Figurines from Iran
  • Part 5. Australasia and the Pacific
  • 27: Catherine Orliac and Michel Orliac: Wooden Figurines of Easter Island
  • Part 6. Europe
  • 28: Colin Renfrew: Cycladic Figurines
  • 29: Christine Morris: Minoan and Mycenaean Figurines
  • 30: Rebecca Farbstein: Palaeolithic Central and Eastern Europe
  • 31: Eszter Bánffy: Neolithic Eastern and Central Europe
  • 32: Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddart: Figurines of Malta
  • 33: Daisy Knox: Mediterranean - Cyprus
  • 34: Robin Skeates: Prehistoric Figurines in Italy
  • 35: Isabelle Vella Gregory: Mediterranean - Sardinia
  • 36: Doug Bailey: Southeast European Neolithic Figurines: Beyond Context, Interpretation, and Meaning
  • 37: Paul Pettitt: Palaeolithic Western and North Central Europe
  • 38: Chris Scarre: Neolithic Figurines of Western Europe
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