Agent of Change: The Deposition and Manipulation of Ash in the Past

Published by Berghahn Books 2021

Agent of Change

The Deposition and Manipulation of Ash in the Past

Edited by: Barbara Roth and E. Charles Adams

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781800730373

Overview
Contents

About this book

Ash is an important and yet understudied aspect of ritual deposition in the archaeological record of North America. Ash has been found in a wide variety of contexts across many regions and often it is associated with rare or unusual objects or in contexts that suggest its use in the transition or transformation of houses and ritual features. Drawn from across the U.S. and Mesoamerica, the chapters in this volume explore the use, meanings, and cross-cultural patterns present in the use of ash. and highlight the importance of ash in ritual closure, social memory, and cultural transformation.

Author / Editor information

Barbara Roth is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her recent research has focused on changes in household and community organization that occur as groups become more sedentary and dependent on agriculture and move from pithouses to pueblos in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico.

E. Charles Adams is Emeritus Curator of Archaeology, Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona. Prior to retiring in 2020, Adams taught in the School of Anthropology in addition to being museum curator for 35 years. Adams directed a 30-year research program in the ancestral Hopi villages of Homol’ovi in northeastern Arizona and has sole-authored or edited more than a dozen books/monographs describing this research.

Barbara Roth is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her recent research has focused on changes in household and community organization that occur as groups become more sedentary and dependent on agriculture and move from pithouses to pueblos in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico.

Reviews

“The combination of solid methodology and sophisticated theory places the works in this volume within the broader movement of understanding social action and meaning in archaeology and provide a path researchers can follow in other areas as research in this area continues in the future.”  From the Afterword, Tammy Stone, University of Colorado, Denver

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: The Deposition and Manipulation of Ash in the Past E. Charles Adams and Barbara J. Roth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I ASH AS A TRANSFORMATIVE AGENT
CHAPTER 1 Ash Matters: The Ritual Closing of Domestic Structures in the Mimbres Mogollon Region Barbara J. Roth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
CHAPTER 2 Complex Closure Practices Involving Ash at a Small Pueblo in Northeastern Arizona E. Charles Adams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
CHAPTER 3 Sequencing Termination Events: Preparing Hearths for the Ritual Decommissioning of Ancestral Pueblo Pit Structures in the Northern U.S. Southwest Susan C. Ryan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
CHAPTER 4 Symbolic Associations: Assessing the Co-occurrence of Turquoise and Ash in the Ancient U.S. Southwest Samantha G. Fladd, Saul L. Hedquist, E. Charles Adams and Stewart B. Koyiyumptewa Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
CHAPTER 5 Fire, Ash, and Sanctuary: Pyrotechnology as Protection in the Precolonial Northern Rio Grande Michael A. Adler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
CHAPTER 6 Burned Roofs and Cultural Traditions: Renewing and Closing Houses in the Ancient Villages of the Middle Fraser Canyon, British Columbia Anna Marie Prentiss, Alysha Edwards, Ashley Hampton, Ethan Ryan, Kathryn Bobolinski and Emma Vance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
CHAPTER 7 Agentive Ash and Dispersed Power in the Cahokia Mississippian World Melissa R. Baltus and Sarah E. Baires Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
CHAPTER 8 Townhouses, Hearths, Fire, Smoke, Ash, and Cherokee Towns in Western North Carolina Christopher B. Rodning Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
CHAPTER 9 Ash as an Agent of Transformation in Iroquoian Society William Fox Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	156
PART II ASH AND RITUAL
CHAPTER 10 Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust in Caddoan Mortuary Ritual Marvin Kay Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
CHAPTER 11 Ashes for Fertility Cheryl Claassen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	186
CHAPTER 12 Ashes, Arrows, and Sorcerers William H. Walker and Judy Berryman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	196
CHAPTER 13 Divine Food and Fiery Covenants: The Significance of Ash in Ancient Maya Religion James L. Fitzsimmons Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Afterword Tammy Stone Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233