Wendy Ashmore | University of California, Riverside (original) (raw)

Papers by Wendy Ashmore

Encyclopedia of Archaeology, 2010

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2002

This article presents the chronological framework used to reconstruct the political history of th... more This article presents the chronological framework used to reconstruct the political history of the ancient Lowland Maya site of Xunantunich in the upper Belize River valley. Extensive excavations from 1991 to 1997 by the Xunantunich Archaeological Project produced the ceramic. architectural, and epigraphic data needed to place the site within a temporal context. Refinement of the Barton Ramie ceramic chronology was the first step toward clarifying the Xunantunich chronology. Seriation of well-known Spanish Lookout types and modes from stratified deposits established a framework for understanding Late and Terminal Classic assemblages. Twenty-two radiocarbon samples place these ceramic complexes in absolute time. Obsidian hydration and masonry techniques were found to be less reliable chronological markers. The results indicate that Xunantunich emerged as a regional center during the Samal (A.D. 600-670) and Hats' Chaak (A.D. 670-780) phases of the Late Classic period. Arguably, this rapid growth and florescence was initiated under the auspices of nearby Naranjo. Although the polity achieved political autonomy in the following Tsak' phase (A.D. 780-890) of the Terminal Classic period, civic construction diminished and rural populations declined until the site collapsed sometime during the late ninth or early tenth century.

Interacting with the Dead: Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology for the New Millennium

... Typeset in 11 on 12.6 pt Garamond by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, India Ptinted and bound ... more ... Typeset in 11 on 12.6 pt Garamond by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, India Ptinted and bound in Great Britain by Marston ... Ideational 1 A. Bernard Knapp and Wendy Ashmore Part I Ethnographic and Historical Cases 2 Identifying Ancient Sacred Landscapes in Australia ...

Archaeologies of landscape: …, Jan 1, 1999

... often associated with religious or other monumental structures, and Cleere (1995: 65) cites V... more ... often associated with religious or other monumental structures, and Cleere (1995: 65) cites Versailles in France or the Garden Tomb of Humayun (India) as examples. ... Finally," associative cultural" landscapes are identified by such fea-tures as sacred promontories, or ...

Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 2008

American Anthropologist, 2004

well known for his wide-ranging scholarship, including studies of kinship, aesthetics, eco-

American Antiquity 49 (1): 147-153., 1984

Studies of ancient Maya water management tend to emphasize consideration offeatures related eithe... more Studies of ancient Maya water management tend to emphasize consideration offeatures related either to agriculture or to the provision of communal water supplies in water-poor sellings. Ceramic-lined wells in eighth century Quiriguti. however. constituted household facilities of standardized form. distributed widely in a com munity where water supplies were always readily available. These wells both expand our knowledge o/specialized Maya hydraulic technology and remind us that such inventions are not always the result of threats to survival.

Journal of Field Archaeology 11: 365-386. , 1984

After 1977, archaeological field research at Quirigua, Guatemala, was to have constituted primari... more After 1977, archaeological field research at Quirigua, Guatemala, was to have constituted primarily finishing touches for programs nearly completed in prior seasons. Instead, the unanticipated solution of what had been an enduring data-collection problem provided a wealth of new information that has substantially broadened knowledge of the nature and development of this Classic Maya center. The article presented here outlines the new findings, in the context of earlier published accounts, and discusses their implications for understanding both Quirigua and Classic Maya centers more generally.

Interaction on the Southeast Mesoamerican Frontier: Prehistoric and Historic Honduras and El Salvador, edited by Eugenia J. Robinson, pp. 28-48. BAR International Series 327. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford., 1987

Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by Richard R. Wilk and Wendy Ashmore, pp. 1-27. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque., 1988

Households are fundamenral elemenrs of human society, and their main physical manifestations are ... more Households are fundamenral elemenrs of human society, and their main physical manifestations are the houses their members occupy. Households embody and underlie the organization of a society at its most basic level; they can therefore serve as sensitive indicators of evolutionary change in social organization. The remains of houses are among the most common and ob trusive of archaeological sites. It is for these reasons, we believe, that some thing called household archaeology has begun to emerge as an area of research in various parts of the world. Prominent examples of this growing interest in household organization among archaeologists are the work of Tringham (1983, in Europe, Bawden (1982) in South America, and Kent (1983) in North America. At the same time, there is a resurgence of interest in the household as a unit of study and analysis in sociology (e.g., Elder 1981), history (Laslect 1972), economics (Becker 1981; Folbre 1984), and cultural anthropology (Netring et al. 1984).

Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by Richard R. Wilk and Wendy Ashmore, pp. 153-169. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque., 1988

Word and Image in Maya Culture: Explorations in Language, Writing, and Representation, edited by William F. Hanks and Don S. Rice, pp. 272-286. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City., 1989

Latin American Antiquity 2 (3), pp. 199-226, 1991

Many societies use architecture for symbolic expression, and often buildings or other constructio... more Many societies use architecture for symbolic expression, and often buildings or other constructions constitute maps of a culture's worldview. Archaeological identification of such ideational expressions is receiving renewed attention, in the Maya area as in many other regions. Excavations in 1988 to examine a particular model ofancient Maya site planning and spatial organization, in which the principles ofarchitectural arrangement and their directional associations derive from Maya cosmology. This paper describes the model and its archaeological evaluation at Copan and discusses interpretive implications of the specific results obtained, in the context of other ongoing studies in epigraphy, iconography, and archaeology.

New Theories on the Ancient Maya,edited by Elin C. Danien and Robert J. Sharer, pp. 173-184. University Museum Monograph 77. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. , 1992

Anatomía de una Civilización: Aproximaciones Interdisciplinarias a la Cultura Maya, edited by Andrés Ciudad Ruiz, et al. (site limits # of characters), pp. 161-183. Publicaciones de la S.E.E.M, Num.4. Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas, Madrid., 1998

Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by Wendy Ashmore and A. Bernard Knapp, pp. 1-30. Blackwell, Oxford., 1999

Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by Wendy Ashmore and A. Bernard Knapp, pp. 124-3145. Blackwell, Oxford., 1999

Archaeology at the Millennium: A Sourcebook, edited by Gary M. Feinman and T. Douglas Price, pp. 11-32. Kluwer/Plenum, New York., 2001

Settlement pattern studies are continuing to help form the methodologi cal, and occasionally the ... more Settlement pattern studies are continuing to help form the methodologi cal, and occasionally the theoretical. basis for examining ancient culture as a whole. including social structure, ideology, iconograp~y, and economy.

Encyclopedia of Archaeology, 2010

Ancient Mesoamerica, 2002

This article presents the chronological framework used to reconstruct the political history of th... more This article presents the chronological framework used to reconstruct the political history of the ancient Lowland Maya site of Xunantunich in the upper Belize River valley. Extensive excavations from 1991 to 1997 by the Xunantunich Archaeological Project produced the ceramic. architectural, and epigraphic data needed to place the site within a temporal context. Refinement of the Barton Ramie ceramic chronology was the first step toward clarifying the Xunantunich chronology. Seriation of well-known Spanish Lookout types and modes from stratified deposits established a framework for understanding Late and Terminal Classic assemblages. Twenty-two radiocarbon samples place these ceramic complexes in absolute time. Obsidian hydration and masonry techniques were found to be less reliable chronological markers. The results indicate that Xunantunich emerged as a regional center during the Samal (A.D. 600-670) and Hats' Chaak (A.D. 670-780) phases of the Late Classic period. Arguably, this rapid growth and florescence was initiated under the auspices of nearby Naranjo. Although the polity achieved political autonomy in the following Tsak' phase (A.D. 780-890) of the Terminal Classic period, civic construction diminished and rural populations declined until the site collapsed sometime during the late ninth or early tenth century.

Interacting with the Dead: Perspectives on Mortuary Archaeology for the New Millennium

... Typeset in 11 on 12.6 pt Garamond by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, India Ptinted and bound ... more ... Typeset in 11 on 12.6 pt Garamond by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, India Ptinted and bound in Great Britain by Marston ... Ideational 1 A. Bernard Knapp and Wendy Ashmore Part I Ethnographic and Historical Cases 2 Identifying Ancient Sacred Landscapes in Australia ...

Archaeologies of landscape: …, Jan 1, 1999

... often associated with religious or other monumental structures, and Cleere (1995: 65) cites V... more ... often associated with religious or other monumental structures, and Cleere (1995: 65) cites Versailles in France or the Garden Tomb of Humayun (India) as examples. ... Finally," associative cultural" landscapes are identified by such fea-tures as sacred promontories, or ...

Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 2008

American Anthropologist, 2004

well known for his wide-ranging scholarship, including studies of kinship, aesthetics, eco-

American Antiquity 49 (1): 147-153., 1984

Studies of ancient Maya water management tend to emphasize consideration offeatures related eithe... more Studies of ancient Maya water management tend to emphasize consideration offeatures related either to agriculture or to the provision of communal water supplies in water-poor sellings. Ceramic-lined wells in eighth century Quiriguti. however. constituted household facilities of standardized form. distributed widely in a com munity where water supplies were always readily available. These wells both expand our knowledge o/specialized Maya hydraulic technology and remind us that such inventions are not always the result of threats to survival.

Journal of Field Archaeology 11: 365-386. , 1984

After 1977, archaeological field research at Quirigua, Guatemala, was to have constituted primari... more After 1977, archaeological field research at Quirigua, Guatemala, was to have constituted primarily finishing touches for programs nearly completed in prior seasons. Instead, the unanticipated solution of what had been an enduring data-collection problem provided a wealth of new information that has substantially broadened knowledge of the nature and development of this Classic Maya center. The article presented here outlines the new findings, in the context of earlier published accounts, and discusses their implications for understanding both Quirigua and Classic Maya centers more generally.

Interaction on the Southeast Mesoamerican Frontier: Prehistoric and Historic Honduras and El Salvador, edited by Eugenia J. Robinson, pp. 28-48. BAR International Series 327. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford., 1987

Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by Richard R. Wilk and Wendy Ashmore, pp. 1-27. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque., 1988

Households are fundamenral elemenrs of human society, and their main physical manifestations are ... more Households are fundamenral elemenrs of human society, and their main physical manifestations are the houses their members occupy. Households embody and underlie the organization of a society at its most basic level; they can therefore serve as sensitive indicators of evolutionary change in social organization. The remains of houses are among the most common and ob trusive of archaeological sites. It is for these reasons, we believe, that some thing called household archaeology has begun to emerge as an area of research in various parts of the world. Prominent examples of this growing interest in household organization among archaeologists are the work of Tringham (1983, in Europe, Bawden (1982) in South America, and Kent (1983) in North America. At the same time, there is a resurgence of interest in the household as a unit of study and analysis in sociology (e.g., Elder 1981), history (Laslect 1972), economics (Becker 1981; Folbre 1984), and cultural anthropology (Netring et al. 1984).

Household and Community in the Mesoamerican Past, edited by Richard R. Wilk and Wendy Ashmore, pp. 153-169. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque., 1988

Word and Image in Maya Culture: Explorations in Language, Writing, and Representation, edited by William F. Hanks and Don S. Rice, pp. 272-286. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City., 1989

Latin American Antiquity 2 (3), pp. 199-226, 1991

Many societies use architecture for symbolic expression, and often buildings or other constructio... more Many societies use architecture for symbolic expression, and often buildings or other constructions constitute maps of a culture's worldview. Archaeological identification of such ideational expressions is receiving renewed attention, in the Maya area as in many other regions. Excavations in 1988 to examine a particular model ofancient Maya site planning and spatial organization, in which the principles ofarchitectural arrangement and their directional associations derive from Maya cosmology. This paper describes the model and its archaeological evaluation at Copan and discusses interpretive implications of the specific results obtained, in the context of other ongoing studies in epigraphy, iconography, and archaeology.

New Theories on the Ancient Maya,edited by Elin C. Danien and Robert J. Sharer, pp. 173-184. University Museum Monograph 77. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. , 1992

Anatomía de una Civilización: Aproximaciones Interdisciplinarias a la Cultura Maya, edited by Andrés Ciudad Ruiz, et al. (site limits # of characters), pp. 161-183. Publicaciones de la S.E.E.M, Num.4. Sociedad Española de Estudios Mayas, Madrid., 1998

Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by Wendy Ashmore and A. Bernard Knapp, pp. 1-30. Blackwell, Oxford., 1999

Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by Wendy Ashmore and A. Bernard Knapp, pp. 124-3145. Blackwell, Oxford., 1999

Archaeology at the Millennium: A Sourcebook, edited by Gary M. Feinman and T. Douglas Price, pp. 11-32. Kluwer/Plenum, New York., 2001

Settlement pattern studies are continuing to help form the methodologi cal, and occasionally the ... more Settlement pattern studies are continuing to help form the methodologi cal, and occasionally the theoretical. basis for examining ancient culture as a whole. including social structure, ideology, iconograp~y, and economy.

This presentation is about sexed and gendered individuals in contexts of social relations and mor... more This presentation is about sexed and gendered individuals in contexts of social relations and mortuary practices. More specifically, we consider women who were interred with seeming respect in several burial chambers in the Late Classic Maya elite residential compound of Copan Groups 8L-10 and 8L-12, nicknamed the Copan North Group. We reflect on whom they might have been, why they were laid to rest in this particular location, and in the manner they were. Newly available bioarchaeological findings contribute invaluable evidence about origins of individuals. Interpretations based on material culture remain more ambiguous. While our combined inferences must thereby remain more elusive than firm, we consider their potential implications for Classic Maya women in life and death. We eagerly join the growing voices seeking to bring such women into a clearer light of understanding.

(Presented at the 13th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium and Workshop, on "Ixiktaak: Ancient Maya Women," March 3-6, 2016, Tulane University, New Orleans LA)

This presentation is about sexed and gendered individuals in contexts of social relations and mor... more This presentation is about sexed and gendered individuals in contexts of social relations and mortuary practices. More specifically, we consider women who were interred with seeming respect in several burial chambers in the Late Classic Maya elite residential compound of Copan Groups 8L-10 and 8L-12, nicknamed the Copan North Group. We reflect on whom they might have been, why they were laid to rest in this particular location, and in the manner they were. Newly available bioarchaeological findings contribute invaluable evidence about origins of individuals. Interpretations based on material culture remain more ambiguous. While our combined inferences must thereby remain more elusive than firm, we consider their potential implications for Classic Maya women in life and death. We eagerly join the growing voices seeking to bring such women into a clearer light of understanding.