
Maya Figurines
Intersections Between State and Household
Christina T. Halperin(Author)
University of Texas Press
Published on 1. May 2014
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-0-292-77130-7 (ISBN)
Description
Rather than view the contours of Late Classic Maya social life solely from towering temple pyramids or elite sculptural forms, this book considers a suite of small anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and supernatural figurative remains excavated from household refuse deposits. Maya Figurines examines these often neglected objects and uses them to draw out relationships between the Maya state and its subjects.
These figurines provide a unique perspective for understanding Maya social and political relations; Christina T. Halperin argues that state politics work on the microscale of everyday routines, localized rituals, and small-scale representations. Her comprehensive study brings together archeology, anthropology, and art history with theories of material culture, performance, political economy, ritual humor, and mimesis to make a fascinating case for the role politics plays in daily life. What she finds is that, by comparing small-scale figurines with state-sponsored, often large-scale iconography and elite material culture, one can understand how different social realms relate to and represent one another. In Maya Figurines, Halperin compares objects from diverse households, archeological sites, and regions, focusing especially on figurines from PetEn, Guatemala, and comparing them to material culture from Belize, the northern highlands of Guatemala, the Usumacinta River, the Campeche coastal area, and Mesoamerican sites outside the Maya zone. Ultimately, she argues, ordinary objects are not simply passive backdrops for important social and political phenomena. Instead, they function as significant mechanisms through which power and social life are intertwined.
These figurines provide a unique perspective for understanding Maya social and political relations; Christina T. Halperin argues that state politics work on the microscale of everyday routines, localized rituals, and small-scale representations. Her comprehensive study brings together archeology, anthropology, and art history with theories of material culture, performance, political economy, ritual humor, and mimesis to make a fascinating case for the role politics plays in daily life. What she finds is that, by comparing small-scale figurines with state-sponsored, often large-scale iconography and elite material culture, one can understand how different social realms relate to and represent one another. In Maya Figurines, Halperin compares objects from diverse households, archeological sites, and regions, focusing especially on figurines from PetEn, Guatemala, and comparing them to material culture from Belize, the northern highlands of Guatemala, the Usumacinta River, the Campeche coastal area, and Mesoamerican sites outside the Maya zone. Ultimately, she argues, ordinary objects are not simply passive backdrops for important social and political phenomena. Instead, they function as significant mechanisms through which power and social life are intertwined.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
With dust jacket
Illustrations
10 color and 99 b&w illus., 3 maps, 6 graphs
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 41 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-292-77130-7 (9780292771307)
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
Person
Christina Halperin is Lecturer at Princeton University in the Department of Art and Archeology. She coedited Mesoamerican Figurines: Small-Scale Indices of Large-Scale Social Phenomena.
Content
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1. State and Household: Articulating Relations
Chapter 2. Materiality and Mimesis
Chapter 3. State Pomp and Ceremony Writ Small
Chapter 4. From Oral Narrative to Festival and Back: Tricksters, Spirit Companions, Ritual Clowns, and Deities
Chapter 5. Figurine Political Economies
Chapter 6. Figurative Performances
Chapter 7. Comments on Maya State and Household
Appendices
Notes
References
Index
Introduction
Chapter 1. State and Household: Articulating Relations
Chapter 2. Materiality and Mimesis
Chapter 3. State Pomp and Ceremony Writ Small
Chapter 4. From Oral Narrative to Festival and Back: Tricksters, Spirit Companions, Ritual Clowns, and Deities
Chapter 5. Figurine Political Economies
Chapter 6. Figurative Performances
Chapter 7. Comments on Maya State and Household
Appendices
Notes
References
Index