Explorando por Autor "Martin, Alexander J."

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Acceso Abierto
Comparative perspectives : an introduction
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Fondo Editorial, 2010) Martin, Alexander J.
In the last several decades there has been a marked rise in archaeological inquiries and a resulting rapid increase in the information available about past societies. As is common in scientific inquiry, this information has traditionally been organized through the lens of multiple scholarly paradigms (we can cite, among others, the processual movement, cognltlve and behavioral archaeologies, structural Marxism, post-processual approaches such as agent and landscape theory, etc). The discussion generated by the evaluation of these paradigms has been critica! in advancing our understanding of the human behaviors that produced the material record. However, as the acquisition of archaeological data becomes increasingly prolific, systematic, and standardized, it also becomes increasingly necessary to set clearer comparative frameworks that facilitate our understanding of multiple datasets gathered at multiple locations. As we enter the second decade of the new millennium, it is clear that the synthesis and comparison of data gathered by different researchers working throughout the world is one of the most useful avenues to refine our understandings of social processes. In this respect, South America stands as a valuable example of how a comparative perspective is increasingly important and how it can usefully be employed.
Acceso Abierto
Comparative perspectives on the archaeology of coastal South America
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Fondo Editorial, 2010) Cutright, Robyn E.; López-Hurtado, Enrique; Martin, Alexander J.
The bilingual conference from which the present volume emerged was conceived as a response to this situation, and was held in Lima, Peru in August of 2007. Conference participants were drawn from universities in Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, and the United States to speak about their ongoing research along the Pacific coast of South America. By organizing sessions not by geographic zone but around common themes and questions, such as the mechanisms of state expansion or the emergence and maintenance of sociopolitical complexity, we hoped to facilitate a comparative approach to prehispanic coastal societies. We encouraged participants to emphasize not high theory or case-specific empirical details, but rather discuss concrete attempts to link research questions and methodology and place their work in broader comparative frameworks relevant to the coast. In addition to facilitating useful comparisons of diverse coastal cases and bringing to light fresh perspectives on the archaeology of the coast, we hoped that the conference would help build common ground for scholars working in different parts of the coast and contribute to lasting collaborative ventures between archaeologists working in Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. This volume contains eleven papers originally presented at the 2007 conference. In keeping with the original goals of the conference, papers are presented in both English and Spanish, and the volume is co-published by the University of Pittsburgh, the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and the Ministerio de Cultura del Ecuador.
Acceso Abierto
Comparing the role of the export sector in Prehistoric economies : the importance of shell manufacture to the livelihood of coastal Ecuadorian populations
(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. Fondo Editorial, 2010) Martin, Alexander J.
To understand the evolution of prehistoric economies it is essential to look at the development of specialized production. By looking at which types of prehistoric societies ailowed individuals, or groups of individuals, to withdraw from the subsistence economy and perform a single task exclusively and which ones did not, we can increase our understanding of the processes that lead to the formation of the highly specialized economies typical of the modern era.