Andrea Urton's Books

The Archaeology of Communities develops a critical evaluation of community and shows that it represents more than a mere aggregation of households. This collection bridges the gap between studies of ancient societies and ancient households. The community is taken to represent more than a mere aggregation of households, it exists in part through shared identities, as well as frequent interaction and inter-household integration. Drawing on case studies which range in location from the Mississippi Valley to New Mexico, from the Southern Andes to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Madison County, Virginia, the book explores and discusses communities from a whole range of periods, from Pre-Columbian to the late Classic. Discussions of actual communities are reinforced by strong debate on, for example, the distinction between 'Imagined Community' and 'Natural Community.

A collection of stories that are mysteriously strange and bizarre.

The Quechua people of southern Peru are both agriculturalists and herders who maintain large herds of alpacas and llamas. But they are also weavers, and it is through weaving that their cultural traditions are passed down over the generations. Owing to the region's isolation, the textile symbols, forms of clothing, and technical processes remain strongly linked to the people's environment and their ancestors. Heckman's photographs convey the warmth and vitality of the Quechua people and illustrate how the land is intricately woven into their lives and their beliefs. Quechua weavers in the mountainous regions near Cuzco, Peru, produce certain textile forms and designs not found elsewhere in the Andes. Their textiles are a legacy of their Andean ancestors. Andrea Heckman has devoted more than twenty years to documenting and analyzing the ways Andean beliefs persist over time in visual symbols embedded in textiles and portrayed in rituals. Her primary focus is the area around the sacred peak of Ausangate, in southern Peru, some eighty-five miles southeast of the former Inca capital of Cuzco. The core of this book is an ethnographic account of the textiles and their place in daily life that considers how the form and content of Quechua patterns and designs pass stories down and preserve traditions as well as how the ritual use of textiles sustain a sense of community and a connection to the past. Heckman concludes by assessing the influences of the global economy on indigenous Quechua, who maintain their own worldview within the larger fabric of twentieth-century cultural values and hence have survived everything from Latin American militarism to a tidal wave of post-modern change.

A collection of puzzles and brain teasers, including optical illusions, math puzzles, curious customs, and strange facts.

Provides step-by-step instructions for creating craft objects through the ancient oriental art of origami.

Challenges the idea that Plato is a secular thinker, exploring the interaction of philosophy and Greek religion in the dialogues.

Provides accounts of a variety of unusual happenings, including ghostly apparations, historical hoaxes, curious customs, and other strange phenomena.

Stick 'N' Learn storybooks make learning fun with over 300 reusable stickers of bugs and animals. Illustrations.

Provides instructions for making a variety of crafts involving paper, paint, wood, and papier-m.

Provides accounts of a variety of unusual happenings, including ghostly apparations, historical hoaxes, curious customs, and other strange phenomena.

A collection of stories that are mysteriously strange and bizarre.

Book's by Andrea Urton

Archaeology of Communities

Archaeology of Communities

Now Entering Weirdsville!

Now Entering Weirdsville!

Woven Stories

Woven Stories

Mind Boggles

Mind Boggles

Super Nifty Origami Crafts

Super Nifty Origami Crafts

Philosophy and Religion in Plato's Dialogues

Philosophy and Religion in Plato's Dialogues

Super Weird

Super Weird

Bugs and Animals

Bugs and Animals

150 Nifty Super Crafts

150 Nifty Super Crafts

Super Weird

Super Weird

Now Entering Weirdsville!

Now Entering Weirdsville!

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