The Archaeology of Measurement: Comprehending Heaven, Earth and Time in Ancient Societies
by Edited by Iain Morley , Colin RenfrewEdition: 1st
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2010-04-26
Publisher(s): Cambridge University Press
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Summary
The construction of formal measurement systems underlies the development of science, technology, economy and new ways of understanding and explaining the world. Human societies have developed such systems in different ways, in different places and at different times, and recent archaeological investigations highlight the importance of these activities for fundamental aspects of human life. Measurement systems have provided the structure for addressing key concerns of cosmological belief systems, as well as the means for articulating relationships between the human form, human action, and the world. The Archaeology of Measurement explores the archaeological evidence for the development of measuring activities in numerous ancient societies, as well as the implications of these discoveries for an understanding of their worlds and beliefs. Featuring contributions from a cast of internationally renowned scholars, it analyses the relationships between measurement, economy, architecture, symbolism, time, cosmology, ritual, and religion among prehistoric and early historic societies.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | |
| Number: Counting, Mathematics, and Measure: | |
| Conceptualising quantification before settlement: activities and issues underlying the conception and use of measurement | |
| Measurement in navigation: conceiving distance and time in the Neolithic | |
| The token system of the ancient Near East: its role in counting, writing, the economy and cognition Denise | |
| Grasping the concept of number: how did the sapient mind move beyond approximation? | |
| Numerical cognition and the development of 'zero' in Mesoamerica | |
| Recording measure(ment)s in the Inka Khipu | |
| Materialising the Economy: | |
| Measuring by weight in the late Bronze Age Aegean: the people behind the measuring tools | |
| The concept of weighing during the Bronze Age in the Aegean, the Near East and Europe | |
| Measuring the Harappan world: insights into the Indus order and cosmology | |
| Dimensions and Belief: | |
| Architectural measurements in the Indus cities: the case study of Mohenjo-Daro | |
| Teothuacan City layout as a cosmogram: preliminary results of the 2007 measurement unit study | |
| Aztec dimensions of holiness | |
| Establishing direction in early Egyptian burials and monumental architecture: measurement and the spatial link with the 'other' | |
| Calendar and Cosmology: | |
| The measurement of time and distance in the heavens above Mesopotamia, with brief reference made to other ancient astral sciences | |
| Evolution of the calendar in Shang China | |
| The measure of time in Meso-America: from Teotihuacan to the Maya | |
| Measuring time, sacred space, and social place in the Inca Empire | |
| Measuring time in the European Neolithic? The function and meaning of Central European circular enclosures | |
| The Spirituality of Measure: 19. The roots of spirituality and the limits of human mensuration | |
| Worldview, measurement and 'the roots of spirituality' | |
| Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved. |
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