| Traditional
High Cultures |
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| Oral and Written
Traditions and Rock Art as the Histories of Both Ancient and Living Peoples,
Especially of the Americas before the Arrival of Europeans |
The 5th World Archaeological Congress will be held 21-26 June 2003 in Washington DC. Ecological Linguistics is supporting several sessions under a Theme “Ways of Remembering History”. Here are titles and abstracts. The intention for this theme and its sessions is to showcase the best examples of mutual support integrating archaeology and various modes of remembering history in different cultures, whether oral, rock-art, or others not usually considered "writing". We look for ways each source of information can supplement the other and make the other more precise. One aim is to push back the boundaries between what we consider "pre-history" and "history", to expand the domain of what we consider at least moderately reliable history. We seek the best examples where we can affirm some reliability of these various historical traditions, and the links between them and archaeology. But we do not assume that any particular "reader" knows how to read any of them perfectly, nor that any particular "reading" of them is true, just as we do not assume that any particular "reading" of archaeological finds is true. Rather, these sessions aim to find the best matches of oral traditions and archaeology, by learning how to read each of them better. For the WAC5 web site please click here. For the field trips on 24 June for which WAC5 attendees can register, click "At WAC5" on that web site. Please note that the Dumbarton Oaks pre-columbian exhibits are closed until late autumn of 2003. There is an exhibit at The Walters art gallery in downtown Baltimore. |
| Nahua Phonetic Writing Workshop 21 June 9:00 to 5:00 Details | This workshop precedes the formal opening of WAC5 (at 6pm, 21 June). It is led by Alfonso Lacadena and Søren Wichman with the assistance of Marc Zender. It will lead participants through important new ways of understanding Nahua writing. |
| Written History and Geography in Central Mexico -- Codices, Lienzos, and Mapas Linked to the Ground Co-Chairs: John Pohl (USA) and Søren Wichman (Denmark) Program | Often regarded as pictorial, the linearly read codices can be minimally read as particular written languages. This may also be true, more than we have known, of the glyphic elements in the more geographical Mapas and Lienzos, and in Aztec documents. These histories and geographies stretch from north of Mexico City to the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, and substantial histories begin at least before 900. A major purpose of this session is to make it clear just how reliable they are, and as much as possible, specific implications they have for doing archaeology. |
| Mayan and Mespotamian Written Records - Confirmations and Checks on Validity -- Co-Chairs: Manuel Gerber (Switzerland) and Marc Zender (Canada) Program | With ancient written records, there are of course multiple problems of interpretation in cultures foreign to us. This session presents successes and problems in two parts of the world, with particular emphasis on the level of detail which can and cannot be filled in, and questions of reliability of interpretation. The goal is to be able to use more of the information which has been preserved down to our times, to recover parts of history. |
Oral Tradition, Language, and Archaeology in Mutual Support -- Southwestern USA and Northern Mexico ----- Co-chairs: Lynn S. Teague (Tucson) and Hartman Lomawaima (Hopi) Program |
When we learn how to "read" or interpret oral traditions in the light of the cultures which created them, and to "read" the testimony of archaeology, there is much more consistency between these two kinds of information. Learning how to "read" oral traditions also in the best cases leads to finding mutual supports among them, strengthening the case for the validity of each. This session focuses on O'odham and Hopi (& Zuni?) oral traditions, along with those of some of their neighbors, and on the archaeological Hohokam, Hopi, and Zuni and some of their neighbors. |
| Legend Motif Distributions on a Continental Scale -- Tools for Analysis, Links with Archaeology & Iconography Co-Chairs: Yuri Berezkin (Russia) and Lloyd Anderson (USA) Program, Online Papers | The Distribution of Traditional Narratives can be studied on a continental scale. In some cases, entire tales are shared between distinct peoples, which must imply common inheritance or borrowing. When only motifs are shared, explanations are more difficult. But multivariate analysis of the distributions of hundreds of motifs can be a basis for drawing some conclusions. We compare hypotheses derived in this way with results from other fields such as archaeology, linguistics, anthropology, and biogeography. |
| Andean History from Non-Cuzco-Centric Sources Co-Chairs: Juha Hiltunen, Finland, and Lloyd Anderson, USA Program |
Though relatively less studied, there are numerous sources for history of the Andes independent of the Inca capital in Cuzco. Our goal is to make some progress in linking or validating parts of these sources. Materials include parts of Blas Valera's work, Montesinos book II (source possibly from Quito), and various "provincial" documents. Chanca history is still in archives. There are continuing discoveries in coastal archaeology such as the Moche which can be linked with records from early chroniclers. |