Research Catalog

Religion on the rocks : Hohokam rock art, ritual practice, and social transformation

Title
Religion on the rocks : Hohokam rock art, ritual practice, and social transformation / Aaron M. Wright.
Author
Wright, Aaron M. (Aaron Michael)
Publication
  • Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2014]
  • ©2014

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StatusFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
TextUse in library JFF 15-109Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315

Details

Description
xiii, 306 pages : illustrations, maps; 26 cm
Summary
"Intrigued by the petroglyphs and pictographs of the American Southwest, people commonly ask what these symbols mean. Religion on the Rocks redirects our attention to the equally important matter of what compelled ancient farmers to craft rock art in the first place. To answer this, Aaron Wright presents a case study from Arizona's South Mountains, an area once flanked by several densely populated Hohokam villages. Synthesizing results from recent archaeological surveys, he explores how the mountains' petroglyphs were woven into the broader cultural landscape and argues that the petroglyphs are relics of a bygone ritual system in which people vied for prestige and power by controlling religious knowledge. The features and strategic placement of the rock art suggest this dimension of Hohokam ritual was participatory and prominent in Hohokam life. Around AD 1100, however, petroglyph creation, along with other ritual practices began to wane, denoting a broad transformation of the Hohokam social world. Wright's examination of the South Mountains petroglyphs offers a novel narrative of how Hohokam villagers negotiated a concentration of politico-religious authority around platform mounds. Readers will come away with a fuller understanding of the Hohokam legacy and a greater appreciation for rock art's value to anthropology"--
Subject
  • Hohokam culture > Arizona > South Mountains
  • Petroglyphs > Arizona > South Mountains
  • Rock paintings > Arizona > South Mountains
  • Sacred space > Arizona > South Mountains
  • Religion, Prehistoric > Arizona > South Mountains
  • Social change > Arizona > South Mountains > History > To 1500
  • Social archaeology > Arizona > South Mountains
  • SOCIAL SCIENCE > Archaeology
  • SOCIAL SCIENCE > Anthropology > General
  • ART > History > Prehistoric & Primitive
  • South Mountains (Ariz.) > Social life and customs
  • South Mountains (Ariz.) > Antiquities
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-295) and index.
Contents
1. Introduction -- 2. Ritual practice, religious knowledge, and social reproduction -- 3. Ritual, religion, and society among the Hohokam -- 4. The South Mountains archaeological landscape -- 5. Chronicling Hohokam rock art -- 6. Ritualization of Hohokam rock art -- 7. Hohokam rock art as religious knowledge -- 8. Rock art and transformation of the Hohokam social world -- 9. Conclusion -- Appendix: Petroglyph typology.
Call Number
JFF 15-109
ISBN
  • 9781607813644
  • 1607813645
  • 9781607813651 (canceled/invalid)
LCCN
2014018329
OCLC
886878620
Author
Wright, Aaron M. (Aaron Michael)
Title
Religion on the rocks : Hohokam rock art, ritual practice, and social transformation / Aaron M. Wright.
Publisher
Salt Lake City : The University of Utah Press, [2014]
Copyright Date
©2014
Type of Content
text
Type of Medium
unmediated
Type of Carrier
volume
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-295) and index.
Research Call Number
JFF 15-109
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