Iconographic Method in New World Prehistory

by Vernon James Knight, Jr

Overview

This book offers an overview of iconographic methods and their application to archaeological analysis. It offers a truly interdisciplinary approach that draws equally from art history and anthropology. Vernon James Knight, Jr begins with an historiographical overview, addressing the methodologies and theories that underpin both archaeology and art history. He then demonstrates how iconographic methods can be integrated with the scientific methods that are at the core of much archaeological inquiry. Focusing on artifacts from the pre-Columbian civilizations of North and Meso-American sites, Knight shows how the use of iconographic analysis yields new insights into these objects and civilizations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139854092
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	10/29/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	11 MB
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About the Author

Vernon James Knight, Jr, is Professor of Anthropology and College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Board Fellow at the University of Alabama. He is a recipient of research grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society and the Wenner–Gren Foundation, among others. The author of numerous books and articles, his book Mound Excavations at Moundville: Architecture, Elites, and Social Order was the winner of the 2011 Society for American Archaeology scholarly book prize.

Table of Contents

1. Preliminaries: an iconography of prehistoric images; 2. Style; 3. Form and referent; 4. Configurational analysis; 5. Ethnographic analogy; 6. The logic of iconographic method in prehistory.

Editorial Reviews

"Knight offers a revolutionary departure from earlier studies, and at the same time advances an extraordinary and timely contribution forged from the best that art history and archaeology have to offer the iconographic study of American Indian symbolic forms. Significantly, the author advances 18 essential principles or propositions critical to the rigorous analysis and interpretation of iconographic forms, and these alone will undoubtedly prompt new directions and revolutionary new interpretations in New World prehistory. Essential." —Choice

From the Publisher