Palaces and Power in the Americas: From Peru to the Northwest Coast

Published by University of Texas Press 2006

Palaces and Power in the Americas

From Peru to the Northwest Coast

Edited by: Jessica Joyce Christie and Patricia Joan Sarro

https://doi.org/10.7560/709843

Overview
Contents

About this book

Ancient American palaces still captivate those who stand before them. Even in their fallen and ruined condition, the palaces project such power that, according to the editors of this new collection, it must have been deliberately drawn into their formal designs, spatial layouts, and choice of locations. Such messages separated palaces from other elite architecture and reinforced the power and privilege of those residing in them. Indeed, as Christie and Sarro write, "the relation between political power and architecture is a pervasive and intriguing theme in the Americas."

Given the variety of cultures, time periods, and geographical locations examined within, the editors of this book have grouped the articles into four sections. The first looks at palaces in cultures where they have not previously been identified, including the Huaca of Moche Site, the Wari of Peru, and Chaco Canyon in the U.S. Southwest. The second section discusses palaces as "stage sets" that express power, such as those found among the Maya, among the Coast Salish of the Pacific Northwest, and at El Tajín on the Mexican Gulf Coast. The third part of the volume presents cases in which differences in elite residences imply differences in social status, with examples from Pasado de la Amada, the Valley of Oaxaca, Teotihuacan, and the Aztecs. The final section compares architectural strategies between cultures; the models here are Farfán, Peru, under both the Chimú and the Inka, and the separate states of the Maya and the Inka.

Such scope, and the quality of the scholarship, make Palaces and Power in the Americas a must-have work on the subject.

Author / Editor information

Jessica Joyce Christie is Assistant Professor of Art History at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Patricia Joan Sarro is Associate Professor of Art History at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio.

Reviews

This book is a major contribution to American archaeology and related fields, such as art history, architectural theory, and social anthropology.... The wide range of different societies included—from the powerful Inka empire to the small Northwest Coast chiefdoms—will make this volume a standard reference for everybody interested in elite residential architecture of the Ancient New World.

— Nikolai Grube

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface and acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Note on orthography Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Jessica Joyce Christie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part 1 Identification of Palaces
Chapter 1 Looking for Moche Palaces in the Elite Residences of the Huacas of Moche Site Claude Chapdelaine Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
Chapter 2 Landscape of Power a network of palaces in middle horizon Peru William H. Isbell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	44
Chapter 3 Lords of the Great House pueblo bonito as a palace Stephen H. Lekson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
Part 2 Palaces as Active Stage Sets of Political Ideology
Chapter 4 Sacred and Profane Mountains of the Pasión contrasting architectural paths to power Arthur A. Demarest Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
chapter 5 Political Dimensions of Monumental Residences on the Northwest Coast of North America Colin Grier Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
Chapter 6 Rising Above the elite acropolis of El Tajín Patricia Joan Sarro Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
Part 3 Correspondences between Material Aspects of Elite Residences and Social Status
Chapter 7 The Residence of Power at Paso de la Amada, Mexico Michael Blake, Richard G. Lesure, Warren D. Hill, Luis Barba and John E. Clark Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Chapter 8 When Is a House a Palace? elite residences in the valley of Oaxaca Sarah B. Barber and Arthur A. Joyce Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Chapter 9 Rulership and Palaces at Teotihuacan William T. Sanders and Susan Toby Evans Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	256
Chapter 10 Antecedents of the Aztec Palace palaces and political Susan Toby Evans Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
Part 4 Comparison of Palaces across Cultures
Chapter 11 Elite Residences at Farfán a comparison of the Chimú and Inka occupations Carol Mackey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Chapter 12 Houses of Political Power among the Ancient Maya and Inka Jessica Joyce Christie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	353
Conclusions William T. Sanders Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	397
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	403
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	407

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 432

eBook

Published: January 1, 2010
ISBN: 9780292796102