The Role of Shamanism in Mesoamerican Art

Klein, Cecelia F.; Guzmán, Eulogio; Mandell, Elisa C.; Stanfield‐Mazzi, Maya

doi:10.1086/339529

Cited by 90 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The fact that political complexity shows a latitudinal gradient provides support for hypotheses that stress environmental factors in the emergence and maintenance of such societies, in contrast to explanations that place an emphasis on nonmaterial explanations such as ideology (36,37). There are a number of potential reasons why political complexity may be more common at higher latitudes.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups

Currie

Mace²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Human languages show a remarkable degree of variation in the area they cover. However, the factors governing the distribution of human cultural groups such as languages are not well understood. While previous studies have examined the role of a number of environmental variables the importance of cultural factors has not been systematically addressed. Here we use a geographical information system (GIS) to integrate information about languages with environmental, ecological, and ethnographic data to test a number of hypotheses that have been proposed to explain the global distribution of languages. We show that the degree of political complexity and type of subsistence strategy exhibited by societies are important predictors of the area covered by a language. Political complexity is also strongly associated with the latitudinal gradient in language area, whereas subsistence strategy is not. We argue that a process of cultural group selection favoring more complex societies may have been important in shaping the present-day global distribution of language diversity.cultural diversity ͉ cultural evolution ͉ cultural group selection ͉ language diversity ͉ latitudinal gradient

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups

Currie

Mace²

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…As such, terms such as "chieftains" or "chiefs" may be less appropriate than "shamans" or "priests," however problematic the latter may be (Klein et al, 2002). It is premature to privilege presumptions of network over corporate modes in what may have been a process of religious routinization in the absence of better data.…”

Section: Theoretical Approaches To the Chibchan Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The differences between "shamans" and "priests" are more than semantic (Klein et al, 2002). Priests are considered to be intermediaries between individuals and the supernatural in the context of a formalized, institutionalized, routinized set of beliefs and practices.…”

Section: Internal Stimuli For Culture Changementioning

confidence: 99%

The Emergence of Social Complexity in the Chibchan World of Southern Central America and Northern Colombia, AD 300?600

Hoopes

2005

J Archaeol Res

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The societies of southern Central America and northern South America, a region historically occupied by Chibchan-speaking peoples, have long been acknowledged as valuable sources of information on chiefdoms and other forms of prestate social organization. Most studies, however, have focused on chiefdoms that are known ethnographically or ethnohistorically with an emphasis on the sixteenth century and the immediate precontact period. This paper reviews archaeological evidence from an earlier period in an attempt to elucidate general patterns associated with the earliest appearance of social inequality. The centuries between AD 300 and 600 are characterized by the first widespread use of prestige goods manufactured from gold and jade, special cemeteries for the interment of elites, and a rich iconography. Detailed consideration of recent research relevant to the events of this period highlights some of the problems inherent in the archaeological identification of hierarchy, chiefdoms, leadership, and other features of prestate complex societies.

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“…He also questions the transposition of this term outside of its original northern Eurasian context. More broadly, in their discussion of Mesoamerican art, Klein et al (2002) argue against a growing practice of referring to any religious oYcial dealing with the spirit world as shaman.…”

Section: Modern Forager Cosmologies and Practices Of Shamanismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Add shamans and stir? A critical review of the shamanism model of forager rock art production

McCall

2007

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

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The Role of Shamanism in Mesoamerican Art

Cited by 90 publications

References 19 publications

Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups

Political complexity predicts the spread of ethnolinguistic groups

The Emergence of Social Complexity in the Chibchan World of Southern Central America and Northern Colombia, AD 300?600

Add shamans and stir? A critical review of the shamanism model of forager rock art production

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