
Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
From Figurines to Sculpture
Julia Guernsey(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 27. February 2020
Book
Hardback
278 pages
978-1-108-47899-1 (ISBN)
Description
In this book, Julia Guernsey examines the relationship between human figuration, fragmentation, bodily divisibility, personhood, and community in ancient Mesoamerica. Contending that representation of the human body in the pre-classic period gradually became a privileged act, she argues that human figuration as well as the fragmentation of both human representations and human bodies reveals ancient conceptualizations of personhood and the relationship of individual to the community. Considering ceramic figurines and stone sculpture together with archaeological data, Guernsey weaves together evidence and ideas drawn from art history, archaeology, and anthropology to construct a rich, cultural history of Mesoamerican practices of figuration and fragmentation. A methodologically innovative study, her book has ramifications for scholars working in Mesoamerica and, more generally, those interested in the significance of human representation.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 1 Maps; 166 Halftones, black and white; 37 Line drawings, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 279 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
948 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-47899-1 (9781108478991)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Julia Guernsey
Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
From Figurines to Sculpture
E-Book
02/2020
Cambridge University Press
€73.99
Available for download

Julia Guernsey
Human Figuration and Fragmentation in Preclassic Mesoamerica
From Figurines to Sculpture
E-Book
02/2020
Cambridge University Press
€111.99
Available for download
Person
Julia Guernsey is D. J. Sibley Family Centennial Faculty Fellow in Prehistoric Art at the University of Texas, Austin. She is the author of The Place of Stone Monuments (2010) and Sculpture and Social Dynamics in Preclassic Mesoamerica (2012).
Content
1. Preclassic figuration: epistemological premises and problems; 2. Monumental sculpture and the human form during the Early and Middle Preclassic periods; 3. Early and Middle Preclassic figuration in clay; 4. Figurines at Middle Preclassic La Blanca; 5. Figurines, fragmentation, and social ties; 6. Changing discourses of human representation in Late Preclassic Mesoamerica; 7. High culture and human representation in Late preclassic Mesoamerica.