This is a decolonial study about Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) pictorial manuscripts (codices), Mexico. The aim is the understanding of their cultural values through a holistic and diachronic way, studying... Show moreThis is a decolonial study about Ñuu Savi (Mixtec) pictorial manuscripts (codices), Mexico. The aim is the understanding of their cultural values through a holistic and diachronic way, studying living and historical-cultural heritage of Mixtec People, based on the re-integration of cultural memory and cultural continuity, linking the past and the present through the Mixtec language (or Sahan Savi) and from its own perspective. The final aim is the re-appropriation of this knowledge by the Ñuu Savi communities themselves. Show less
The creation of new capital cities are watershed moments in the lives of ancient empires. Assyria, arguably the most successful imperial state of the ancient Near East, repeatedly engaged in... Show moreThe creation of new capital cities are watershed moments in the lives of ancient empires. Assyria, arguably the most successful imperial state of the ancient Near East, repeatedly engaged in capital creation. Capital creation denotes the development of a monumental capital, either in a new location or through the profound transformation of a pre-existing settlement. This dissertation focusses on the rationale, construction, and function of the imperial capitals of Assyria: Kār-Tukultī-Ninurta, Kalḫu, Dur-Šarrukēn, and Nineveh.By exploring three key questions – why was a capital created, how was a capital created, and what were the functions of the capital – this study presents a comparative analysis of these four urban centers and presents a new perspective on their creation, as well as an innovative framework for the study of capital creation from antiquity to today. Show less
The work of Fernand Braudel (1949) should have revolutionized the way archaeology conceptualizes temporal scales and builds chronological narratives. Even though Braudel’s general views did impact... Show moreThe work of Fernand Braudel (1949) should have revolutionized the way archaeology conceptualizes temporal scales and builds chronological narratives. Even though Braudel’s general views did impact archaeological theory deeply, his three different time-scales, together with insights into duration as the inner dialectic between different temporalities, remain neglected in archaeological practice.Nowadays, ceramic chronology building in archaeology still relies on two main variables: time-space and pottery styles. This book aims to challenge this paradigm and propose a new way for narrating vital chronologies. The point of departure for this endeavor consists of a longue durée geographical unit, the valley of Juigalpa, in central Nicaragua. Through a view of materials—and especially ceramics—as complex and embodied palimpsests, as the bundling of unfolding traces; a chronology including five different intervals based on ceramic technologies is presented, from the first traces of human practices in 300 CE through to the present. Show less
This work summarizes six years of archaeological research at the site where the first European city was founded on the continental land of America, Santa María de la Antigua del Darién. An... Show moreThis work summarizes six years of archaeological research at the site where the first European city was founded on the continental land of America, Santa María de la Antigua del Darién. An experience in the Colombian northwest that, through a rigorous archaeological investigation conducted with the stratigraphic method, unites extensive work with the community and a multidisciplinary approach.Santa María de la Antigua del Darién was the first city that the Spanish founded in the "Tierra Firme" of America in 1510. It became the capital of the territory of Castilla del Oro until the founding of Panama City. A few years after the transfer of the capital to Panama, Santa María de La Antigua was gradually abandoned until in 1524 it was assaulted and burned by the indigenous people.The archaeological project in the place where Santa María de la Antigua del Darién was located, promoted by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (Icanh), since 2013, has allowed to delimit the space of the city and it has brought to light housing floors, cobbled courtyards, streets, a blacksmith's workshop and fragments of indigenous and European material culture.It has also revealed an important pre-Hispanic phase prior to the founding of the Spanish city. Based on these investigations, Santa María de la Antigua del Darién has been declared a site of cultural interest in 2015 and a National Archaeological Park in 2016. Show less
This book focuses on the practical challenges of managing a World Heritage listed historic city in a South Asian context. The Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka’s Galle Fort, a walled town,... Show moreThis book focuses on the practical challenges of managing a World Heritage listed historic city in a South Asian context. The Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka’s Galle Fort, a walled town, identified as the best-preserved colonial fort in South Asia, is the subject of this study. The book analyses the costs and benefits of the fort’s World Heritage recognition to its local urban community and to the colonial fort itself, as a monument. It shows how thirty years of the World Heritage project at Galle Fort changed a once small seaside walled town with dilapidated colonial buildings into a tourist hot-spot and prime real estate, also changing the lives of its inhabitants. The work addresses the range of impacts of this process such as gentrification, real estate pressures, and urban regeneration in a balanced way. It argues that the best practises of participatory and people-centred approaches of managing urban heritage at the global level are slow to progress at the local level. While seeing the World Heritage listing of Galle Fort optimistically, the book encourages the use of the World Heritage emblem for the well-being of local residents, who bring life to these landscapes. Show less
