Asia

The Faunas of Hayonim Cave, Israel: A 200,000-Year Record of Paleolithic Diet, Demography, and Society
Mary C. Stiner. 2/28/2006. The Faunas of Hayonim Cave, Israel: A 200,000-Year Record of Paleolithic Diet, Demography, and Society, Pp. 330. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

A decade of zooarchaeological fieldwork (1992-2001) went into Mary Stiner’s pathbreaking analysis of changes in human ecology from the early Mousterian period through the end of Paleolithic cultures in the Levant. Stiner employs a comparative approach to understanding early human behavioral and environmental change, based on a detailed study of fourteen bone assemblages from Hayonim Cave and Meged Rockshelter in Israel’s Galilee. Principally anthropological in outlook, Stiner’s analysis also integrates chemistry, foraging and population ecology, vertebrate paleontology, and biogeography. Her research focuses first on the formation history, or taphonomy, of bone accumulations, and second on questions about the economic behaviors of early humans, including the early development of human adaptations for hunting large prey and the relative "footprint" of humans in Pleistocene ecosystems of the Levant.

Holon: A Lower Paleolithic Site in Israel
1/30/2008. Holon: A Lower Paleolithic Site in Israel, Pp. 214. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

Excavations at the open-air site of Holon, Israel, have provided a unique perspective on hominin behavior, technology, and subsistence strategies in the Middle East at the end of the Lower Paleolithic. This excavation, carried out by Tamar Noy between 1963 and 1970, was one of the first successful salvage projects in the region. This ASPR volume is the first integrated monograph on a Lower Paleolithic site to be published from the region. It brings together the results of interdisciplinary research on the site of Holon—geology, dating, archaeology, paleontology, taphonomy, and spatial analysis—by a team of leading international researchers. The results are synthesized to address fundamental questions of human evolution, including whether early hominins hunted or scavenged very large animals, and the nature of culture change in the Lower Paleolithic. The lithic analysis documents the final stage of the Lower Paleolithic before the transition to Middle Paleolithic technology. This book will be an essential point of reference for students and specialists working in the archaeology of human evolution, as well as all archaeologists working in the region of the Levant.

Kebara Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel, Part I: The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Archaeology
Liliane Meignen. 3/30/2008. Kebara Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel, Part I: The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Archaeology. Edited by Ofer Bar-Yosef, Pp. 352. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

The Levantine corridor sits at the continental crossroads of Africa and Eurasia, making it a focal point for scientific inquiry into the emergence of modern humans and their relations with Neanderthals. The recent excavations at Kebara Cave in Israel, undertaken by an international, interdisciplinary team of researchers, has provided data crucial for understanding the cognitive and behavioral differences between archaic and modern humans.

In this first of two volumes, the authors discuss site formation processes, subsistence strategies, land-use patterns, and intrasite organization. Hearths and faunal remains reveal a dynamic and changing settlement system during the late Mousterian period, when Kebara Cave served as a major encampment. The research at Kebara Cave allows archaeologists to document the variability observed in settlement, subsistence, and technological strategies of the Late Middle and early Upper Paleolithic periods in the Levant.

Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975, Volume IV: The Iron Age Settlement
Peter Magee. 7/26/2004. Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975, Volume IV: The Iron Age Settlement, Pp. 108. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

Tepe Yahya provides a stratigraphic sequence that stretches some 6,000 years, from the Neolithic period to the early centuries AD. As a result, the site is critical for understanding cultural processes in southeastern Iran. In this fifth volume of results of the excavations at Tepe Yahya, Peter Magee presents evidence from the Iron Age occupation of the site. Looking beyond the epigraphic and historical data and examining the insights provided by the artifactual record, Magee describes how a small settlement, located some distance from the main centers of power, came into being and was affected by the emergence of the Achaemenid imperial system, which stretched from Pakistan to Libya.

Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975, Volume III: The Third Millennium
D. T. by Potts. 11/14/2001. Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975, Volume III: The Third Millennium. Edited by C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, Pp. 388. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

Situated roughly midway between the great cities of the Indus Valley and those of the Mesopotamian plains, Tepe Yahya occupies a special place in our conceptions of relations between these distant territories during the early Bronze Age. Its third-millennium levels, dating from 3000 to 2100 B.C., are particularly important.

In this definitive study, D. T. Potts describes the stratigraphy, architecture, ceramics, and chronology of the site and presents a full inventory of the small finds. Holly Pittman contributes comprehensive illustrations and a discussion of the seals and sealings, and Philip Kohl provides an analysis of the carved chlorite industry. In a foreword and afterword, project director C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky tells the story of the archaeological expedition and reflects on the contributions of the Tepe Yahya project.

Origins of the Bronze Age Oasis Civilization in Central Asia
Fred Hiebert. 11/28/1994. Origins of the Bronze Age Oasis Civilization in Central Asia, Pp. 240. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

The Murghad River delta, the site of ancient Margiana, was extensively settled during at least part of the Bronze Age, between 2200 and 1750 B.C. Oases in an otherwise desert region, settlements were situated along deltaic branches of the river or canals dug from those branches. Excavations at one of the largest and most complex of these sites, Gonur depe, have been ongoing for many years under the direction of Victor Sarianidi. During the 1988–89 field season, Fred Hiebert excavated part of Gonur in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan and the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow.

Published here, the results provide a key to understanding the large corpus of material of the Bactro-Margiana Archaeological Complex extracted over the past 30 years from this and neighboring sites of the Oxus civilization.

An Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan Valley, Part II: The Fauna of Netiv Hagdud
Eitan Tchernov. 9/15/1994. An Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan Valley, Part II: The Fauna of Netiv Hagdud, Pp. 112. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

The “Neolithic Revolution” in Southwestern Asia involved major transformations of economy and society that began during the Natufian period in the southern Levant and continued through Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) and into Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). The authors describe that process at Netiv Hagdud, with additional material from the Natufian site of Salibiya IX. Includes reports on the archaeology, lithics, bone tools, lithic use-wear, marine shells, burials, and plant remains.

An Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan Valley, Part I: The Archaeology of Netiv Hagdud
Ofer Bar-Yosef and Avi Gopher. 5/21/1997. An Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan Valley, Part I: The Archaeology of Netiv Hagdud, Pp. 280. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

The "Neolithic Revolution" in Southwestern Asia involved major transformations of economy and society that began during the Natufian period in the southern Levant and continued through Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) and into Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB). The authors describe that process at Netiv Hagdud, with additional material from the Natufian site of Salibiya IX. Includes reports on the archaeology, lithics, bone tools, lithic use-wear, marine shells, burials, and plant remains.

Kebara Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel, Part II: The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Archaeology
12/31/2019. Kebara Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel, Part II: The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Archaeology, Pp. 456. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

The remains from Skhul, Qafzeh, Amud, and Kebara caves in Israel provide evidence for the possible contemporaneity and eventual replacement of several distinct hominin populations over time: early Archaic-Modern humans by Neanderthals, and Neanderthals by Modern humans. Kebara Cave, which dates to 65,000 to 48,000 years ago, is well known for its Neanderthal remains and marvelously preserved archaeological record. Dense concentrations of fireplaces and ash lenses and rich assemblages of stone tools, animal bones, and charred plant remains testify to repeated and intensive use of the cave by late Middle Paleolithic foragers.

This second and final volume of the Kebara Cave site report presents findings from nine years of excavation and analysis of the archaeology, paleontology, human remains, and lithic industries from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic periods. Its full documentation of the daily activities of the cave’s Neanderthal inhabitants clearly indicates behavioral patterns generally attributed only to Modern humans. The two volumes on Kebara Cave provide a cornerstone for the story of humankind in a critical geographic region: the continental crossroads between Africa and Eurasia in the Levant.

Sacred Spaces: A Journey with the Sufis of the Indus
Samina Quraeshi. 3/31/2010. Sacred Spaces: A Journey with the Sufis of the Indus, Pp. 296. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

Winner, 2009 New England Book Show (General Trade, Illustrated)

Silver Medal, 2010 IPPY Awards (Multicultural Non-Fiction Adult)

Silver Medal, 2010 IPPY Awards (Religion & Multi-Cultural)

Bronze Medal, 2009 Foreword Magazine Awards (Religion)

With essays by Ali S. AsaniCarl W. Ernst, and Kamil Khan Mumtaz

Sufism, the mystical path of Islam, is a key feature of the complex Islamic culture of South Asia today. Influenced by philosophies and traditions from other Muslim lands and by pre-Islamic rites and practices, Sufism offers a corrective to the image of Islam as monolithic and uniform.

In Sacred Spaces, Pakistani artist and educator Samina Quraeshi provides a locally inflected vision of Islam in South Asia that is enriched by art and by a female perspective on the diversity of Islamic expressions of faith. A unique account of a journey through the author’s childhood homeland in search of the wisdom of the Sufis, the book reveals the deeply spiritual nature of major centers of Sufism in the central and northwestern heartlands of South Asia. Illuminating essays by Ali S. AsaniCarl W. Ernst, and Kamil Khan Mumtaz provide context to the journey, discussing aspects of Sufi music and dance, the role of Sufism in current South Asian culture and politics, and the spiritual geometry of Sufi architecture.

Quraeshi relies on memory, storytelling, and image making to create an imaginative personal history using a rich body of photographs and works of art to reflect the seeking heart of the Sufi way and to demonstrate the diversity of this global religion. Her vision builds on the centuries-old Sufi tradition of mystical messages of love, freedom, and tolerance that continue to offer the promise of building cultural and spiritual bridges between peoples of different faiths.

Samina Quraeshi is Gardner Fellow and Visiting Artist, Peabody Museum, Harvard University.

Ali S. Asani is Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures and Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, with a joint appointment in the Committee on the Study of Religion and the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations; Sanskrit and Indian Studies; and African and African-American Studies, at Harvard University.

Carl W. Ernst is William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kamil Khan Mumtaz is an architect living in Pakistan.

NEPAL: 1975–2011
Kevin Bubriski. 9/30/2014. NEPAL: 1975–2011, Pp. 224. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press and Radius Books. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

Preface by Robert Gardner

Essay by Charles Ramble

Third Place, 2015 New England Book Show (Cover)

Photographer Kevin Bubriski has been visually documenting the country and people of Nepal since his first visit in 1975. Sent as a young Peace Corps volunteer to the northwest Karnali Zone, the country’s remotest and most economically depressed region, he spent three years walking the length and breadth of the Karnali, planning and overseeing construction of gravity flow drinking water pipelines. He also photographed the local villagers, producing an extraordinary series of 35mm and large format black-and-white images. For nearly four decades, Bubriski has maintained his close association with Nepal and its people. Both visual anthropology and cultural history, this remarkable body of photographic work documents Nepal’s evolution from a traditional Himalayan kingdom to a rapidly changing, globalized society. Nepal: 1975–2011 also offers an incisive and comprehensive look at the aesthetic evolution of an important contemporary photographer.

Kevin Bubriski is Assistant Professor of Photography at Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont, and was the 2010 recipient of the Robert Gardner Visiting Artist Fellowship at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.

Co-published with Radius Books.

The Resolution of the Suspect
Miki Kratsman Ariella & Azoulay. 6/28/2016. The Resolution of the Suspect, Pp. 216. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press and Radius Books. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

First Place, 2017 New England Book Show (General Trade, Illustrated)

First Place, 2017 NEMA Awards (Books)

Miki Kratsman has worked as a photojournalist in the Palestinian Occupied Territories for over three decades. Originally created in the context of daily news, his tens of thousands of photographs have, in retrospect, taken on fascinating new meanings, as bystanders become protagonists and peripheral details move to the center. Isolated from the original frame, cropped, enlarged, and redisplayed, the reimagined images ask us to explore the limits of the observer’s gaze under conditions of occupation.

Kratsman’s photographs look at both “wanted men”—individuals sought by the Israeli state—and the everyman and everywoman on the street who, by virtue of being Palestinian in a particular time and place, can be seen as a “suspect.” The work is both transgressive and banal, crossing boundaries between Israel and Palestine, “wanted” and “innocent,” street photography and surveillance imagery. Kratsman has also provoked vital, long-term interaction around the images on social media, creating a Facebook page on which viewers are invited to identify the individuals portrayed and comment on their “fate.” His complex project is chronicled in this book in more than 300 images that powerfully implicate the viewer as we follow the gaze of both occupier and occupied within a complex web of power relations around issues of life and death.

A thought-provoking text by Ariella Azoulay engages intimately with Kratsman’s images. Looking at various models of historical and civil construction of the gaze, Azoulay explores the ways in which the shadow of death is an actual threat that hovers over Kratsman’s photographed persons and frames both individuals and the borrowed time within which they exist.

A supplemental booklet contains hundreds of portraits and evocative messages from Kratsman’s Facebook proj

House of Love
Dayanita Singh. 6/30/2011. House of Love, Pp. 198. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Peabody Museum Press. BUY THIS BOOKAbstract

by Dayanita Singh

Finalist, 2012 New England Book Show (Pictorial)

House of Love is a work of photo fiction by Dayanita Singh. Working closely with the writer, Aveek Sen, whose prose follows a journey of its own, Singh explores the relationships among photography, memory, and writing. House of Love, designed to blur the lines between an art book of photographic images and a work of literary fiction, is a book whose images demand to be read, not just seen, and whose texts create their own sensory worlds. The combination creates a new vocabulary for the visual book.

The “House of Love” itself is the Taj Mahal, but the Taj Mahal is a recurring motif that stands for a range of meanings — meanings made up of the truths and lies of night and day, love and illusion, attachment and detachment. Through images of cities both visible and invisible, of people real and surreal, Singh creates her own mysterious and ineffable, strange yet familiar language, using her trademark black-and-white photography and her newer nocturnal color work.

Dayanita Singh was born in New Delhi in 1961. She studied at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and later concentrated on photojournalism and documentary photography at the International Center of Photography in New York. Her photos have been exhibited many times, most recently at the Venice Biennale 2011. Singh’s books include, Myself Mona Ahmed, Privacy, Go Away CloserSent a Letter, Blue book, Dream Villa and Dayanita Singh. She lives in New Delhi.

Aveek Sen is a senior assistant editor (editorial pages) of The Telegraph, Calcutta, where he has written extensively on photography. He was a Rhodes Scholar at University College, Oxford, where he studied English literature, before going on to teach English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. He is the winner of the 2009 International Center for Photography Infinity Award for Writing on Photography.

Zhang Xiao Named 2018 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography

April 9, 2018

The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, is pleased to announce the selection of the 2018 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography. Following an international search, the Gardner Fellowship committee awarded the Fellowship to photographer Zhang Xiao (China). The Fellowship carries a $50,000 stipend to begin or complete a proposed project followed by the publication of a book.

Zhang’s work, deeply rooted in fieldwork and interactions with local communities, focuses on the impact of rapid economic change and urbanization on Chinese rural landscape and...

Read more about Zhang Xiao Named 2018 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography

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