Concepts of Collapse and Regeneration in Human History

Datos Bibliográficos

ID23604456
AutoresGeorge L Cowgill (Arizona State University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2012
Páginas301-308
Fecha de publicación2012-11-21
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoCHAPTER
RevistaThe Oxford Handbook of Mesoamerican Archaeology (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195390933.013.0021
OpenAlexW2621502552
ISBN9780195390933
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas8

This article focuses on the concepts of collapse and regeneration employed by Mesoamericanists. Much mischief is caused by ambiguities about what it is that is supposed to be collapsing or regenerating. Most often, what is at issue is either the fragmentation of a large polity or the termination of a major cultural tradition. Mesoamericanists have not always clearly distinguished the fragmentation of polities from the termination of major cultural traditions. In discussing collapses and regenerations in Mesoamerica, it seems best to focus on political alternations, although migrations, demographic changes, and alterations of ethnic identities must be also considered. Scholars can, and will discuss the fates of cultural traditions, but they should make themselves clear on the distinction between that and the histories of polities.

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Biology · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Fragmentation (computing) · Mesoamerica · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Regeneration (biology) · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Latin American history and culture · Law · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Philosophy