The Cultural Foundations of Early South American Societies examines the remarkable transformation of the Central Andes and the tropical Amazon beginning around 7000 BCE, when the Indigenous inhabitants began to develop food production, permanent settlements, monumental architecture, and complex social organizations. Moving beyond traditional chronological categories of "Archaic" and "Formative," the fourteen essays in this volume reveal how early South American societies followed diverse trajectories, especially in the development of agro-maritime lifestyles on the Pacific coast, animal domestication in the Andean highlands, and plant cultivation in the Amazonian lowlands.
Through regional case studies spanning from southern Ecuador to northern Argentina and the eastern tropical lowlands, the contributors-primarily archaeologists-trace early community formation, technological innovation, landscape transformation, and the emergence of elaborate symbolism and craft production; these analyses offer fresh perspectives on how such developments established the foundations for later state-level societies, providing essential insights into the deep cultural history and varied pathways to social complexity in the ancient Americas.
| ISBN: | 9780884025344 |
| Publication date: | 31st July 2026 |
| Author: | PreColumbian Studies Symposium Out of the Shadows the Beginnings of South American Civilization, Dumbarton Oaks |
| Publisher: | Dumbarton Oaks an imprint of Harvard University Press |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 378 pages |
| Series: | Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Symposia and Colloquia |
| Genres: |
History of the Americas Social and cultural history Archaeology Indigenous peoples Social and cultural anthropology |
The Cultural Foundations of Early South American Societies examines the remarkable transformation of the Central Andes and the tropical Amazon beginning around 7000 BCE, when the Indigenous inhabitants began to develop food production, permanent settlements, monumental architecture, and complex social organizations. Moving beyond traditional chronological categories of "Archaic" and "Formative," the fourteen essays in this volume reveal how early South American societies followed diverse trajectories, especially in the development of agro-maritime lifestyles on the Pacific coast, animal domestication in the Andean highlands, and plant cultivation in the Amazonian lowlands.
Through regional case studies spanning from southern Ecuador to northern Argentina and the eastern tropical lowlands, the contributors-primarily archaeologists-trace early community formation, technological innovation, landscape transformation, and the emergence of elaborate symbolism and craft production; these analyses offer fresh perspectives on how such developments established the foundations for later state-level societies, providing essential insights into the deep cultural history and varied pathways to social complexity in the ancient Americas.
The Cultural Foundations of Early South American Societies features in the following genres: History of the Americas, Social and cultural history, Archaeology, Indigenous peoples, Social and cultural anthropology
The Cultural Foundations of Early South American Societies is available in Hardback
The Cultural Foundations of Early South American Societies was written by PreColumbian Studies Symposium Out of the Shadows the Beginnings of South American Civilization, Dumbarton Oaks and published by Dumbarton Oaks an imprint of Harvard University Press
The Cultural Foundations of Early South American Societies has 378 pages
Yes it is part of Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Symposia and Colloquia series
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