Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia : Reconstructing Past Identities From Archaeology, Linguistics, and Ethnohistory

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Title: Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia : Reconstructing Past Identities From Archaeology, Linguistics, and Ethnohistory
Description: A transdisciplinary collaboration among ethnologists, linguists, and archaeologists, Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia traces the emergence, expansion, and decline of cultural identities in indigenous Amazonia. Hornborg and Hill argue that the tendency to link language, culture, and biology--essentialist notions of ethnic identities--is a Eurocentric bias that has characterized largely inaccurate explanations of the distribution of ethnic groups and languages in Amazonia. The evidence, however, suggests a much more fluid relationship among geography, language use, ethnic identity, and genetics. In Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia, leading linguists, ethnographers, ethnohistorians, and archaeologists interpret their research from a unique nonessentialist perspective to form a more accurate picture of the ethnolinguistic diversity in this area. Revealing how ethnic identity construction is constantly in flux, contributors show how such processes can be traced through different ethnic markers such as pottery styles and languages. Scholars and students studying lowland South America will be especially interested, as will anthropologists intrigued by its cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approach.
Authors: Alf Hornborg, Jonathan D. Hill
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Anthropological linguistics--Amazon River Region, Ethnicity--Amazon River Region, Indians of South America--Amazon River Region--Antiquities, Indians of South America--Amazon River Region--Ethnic identity, Indians of South America--Amazon River Region--Languages, Ethnohistory--Amazon River Region
Categories: SOCIAL SCIENCE / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Archaeology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
Description
Abstract:A transdisciplinary collaboration among ethnologists, linguists, and archaeologists, Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia traces the emergence, expansion, and decline of cultural identities in indigenous Amazonia. Hornborg and Hill argue that the tendency to link language, culture, and biology--essentialist notions of ethnic identities--is a Eurocentric bias that has characterized largely inaccurate explanations of the distribution of ethnic groups and languages in Amazonia. The evidence, however, suggests a much more fluid relationship among geography, language use, ethnic identity, and genetics. In Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia, leading linguists, ethnographers, ethnohistorians, and archaeologists interpret their research from a unique nonessentialist perspective to form a more accurate picture of the ethnolinguistic diversity in this area. Revealing how ethnic identity construction is constantly in flux, contributors show how such processes can be traced through different ethnic markers such as pottery styles and languages. Scholars and students studying lowland South America will be especially interested, as will anthropologists intrigued by its cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approach.
ISBN:9781607320944
9781607321965
9781607320951
9781457116834