Since 1992, when the World Heritage Committee established its category of "cultural landscapes", scholarly debates have ensued on how they could best be managed. One approach, which appears to have gained significance over the past two decades or so, considers using traditional conservation practices as well as engaging local indigenous communities in the stewardship of these exemplary sites.

To examine the efficacy of this recent approach, this book explores the concept of indigenous communi...

This work analyzes ritual practices and knowledge related to the Mesoamerican calendar with the aim of contributing to the understanding of the use and conceptualization of this calendar system in the contemporary K'iche' community of Momostenango, in the Highlands of Guatemala. The research presented here discusses the indigenous calendar system, forms of synergy between the Christian and the Highland Guatemalan calendar, the indigenous perception of history and continuity in time-related sy...

The creation of new capital cities are watershed moments in the lives of ancient empires. Assyria, arguably the most successful imperial state of the ancient Near East, repeatedly engaged in capital creation. Capital creation denotes the development of a monumental capital, either in a new location or through the profound transformation of a pre-existing settlement. This volume focusses on the rationale, construction, and function of the imperial capitals of Assyria: Kār-Tukultī-Ninurta, Ka...