Before the volcano erupted : the ancient Ceren village in Central America / edited by Payson Sheets.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Sheets, Payson D.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mayas--Antiquities.

Mayas.

Mayas--Urban residence--El Salvador--Zapotitan Valley.

Volcanic ash, tuff, etc--El Salvador--Zapotitan Valley.

Volcanic ash, tuff, etc.

Social archaeology--El Salvador--Zapotitan Valley.

Social archaeology.

Plant remains (Archaeology)--El Salvador--Zapotitan Valley.

Plant remains (Archaeology).

Animal remains (Archaeology)--El Salvador--Zapotitan Valley.

Animal remains (Archaeology).

Ceren Site (El Salvador).

Zapotitán Valley (El Salvador)--Antiquities.

Zapotitán Valley (El Salvador).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (239 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

On an August evening around AD 600, residents of the Cerén village in the Zapotitán Valley of what is now El Salvador were sitting down to their nightly meal when ground tremors and loud steam emissions warned of an impending volcanic eruption. The villagers fled, leaving their town to be buried under five meters of volcanic ash and forgotten until a bulldozer uncovered evidence of the extraordinarily preserved town in 1976. The most intact Precolumbian village in Latin America, Cerén has been called the "Pompeii of the New World." This book and its accompanying CD-ROM and website (ceren.colorado.edu) present complete and detailed reports of the excavations carried out at Cerén since 1978 by a multidisciplinary team of archaeologists, ethnographers, volcanologists, geophysicists, botanists, conservators, and others. The book is divided into sections that discuss the physical environment and resources, household structures and economy, special buildings and their uses, artifact analysis, and topical and theoretical issues. As the authors present and analyze Cerén's houses and their goods, workshops, civic and religious buildings, kitchen gardens, planted fields, and garbage dumps, a new and much clearer picture of how commoners lived during the Maya Classic Period emerges. These findings constitute landmark contributions to the anthropology and archaeology of Central America.

Contents:

""Contents""; ""Preface by Payson Sheets""; ""Chapter 1: Introduction by Payson Sheets, with an Appendix by Brian R. McKee""; ""PART ONE: Multidisciplinary Research""; ""Chapter 2: Volcanology, Stratigraphy, and Effects on Structures, by C. Dan Miller""; ""Chapter 3: Geophysical Exploration at Cerén, by Lawrence B. Conyers and Hartmut Spetzler""; ""Chapter 4: Cerén Plant Resources: Abundance and Diversity, by David L. Lentz and Carlos R. Ramírez-Sosa""; ""PART TWO: Household Archaeology""

""Chapter 5: Ancient Home and Garden: The View from Household 1 at Cerén, by Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett, Scott E. Simmons, and David B. Tucker""""Chapter 6 Household 2 at Cerén: The Remains of an Agrarian and Craft-Oriented Corporate Group, by Brian R. McKee""; ""Chapter 7: Structure 16: The Kitchen of Household 3, by Inga Calvin""; ""Chapter 8: Structure 4: A Storehouse-Workshop for Household 4, by Andrea I. Gerstle and Payson Sheets""; ""PART THREE: Special Buildings""; ""Chapter 9: The Civic Complex, by Andrea I. Gerstle""

""Chapter 10: Structure 9: A Precolumbian Sweat Bath at Cerén, by Brian R. McKee""""Chapter 11: Structure 10: Feasting and Village Festivals, by Linda A. Brown and Andrea I. Gerstle""; ""Chapter 12: Divination at Cerén: The Evidence from Structure 12, by Scott E. Simmons and Payson Sheets""; ""PART FOUR: Artifacts""; ""Chapter 13: Ceramics and Their Use at Cerén, by Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett, with contributions by Ronald L. Bishop""; ""Chapter 14: The Chipped Stone Artifacts of Cerén, by Payson Sheets""; ""Chapter 15: Groundstone Artifacts in the Cerén Village, by Payson Sheets""

""Chapter 16: Household and Community Animal Use at Cerén, by Linda A. Brown""""Chapter 17: Artifacts Made from Plant Materials, by Harriet F. Beaubien and Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett""; ""PART FIVE: Topics and Issues of Cerén Research""; ""Chapter 18 The Conservation Program at Cerén , by Harriet F. Beaubien""; ""Chapter 19: Household Production and Specialization at Cerén, by Payson Sheets and Scott E. Simmons""; ""Chapter 20: Cultivating Biodiversity: Milpas, Gardens, and the Classic Period Landscape, by""

""Chapter 21: Continuity and Change in the Contemporary Community of Joya de Cerén, by Carlos Benjamín Lara M. and Sarah B. Barber""""Chapter 22: Summary and Conclusions, by Payson Sheets""; ""Glossary""; ""References""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [209]-219) and index.

ISBN:

0-292-79878-4

OCLC:

55670326