After Dark

The Nocturnal Urban Landscape and Lightscape of Ancient Cities

Nancy Gonlin,Meghan E Strong

• Publisher: University Press of Colorado
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781646422609
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Sociologia

After Dark explores the experience of nighttime within ancient urban settings. Contributors present material evidence related to how ancient people manipulated and confronted darkness and night in urban landscapes, advancing our knowledge of the archaeology of cities, the archaeology of darkness and night, and lychnology (the study of ancient lighting devices).Sensory archaeology focuses on the sensual experience of the nocturnal environment—the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feel of an ancient city—and the multi-faceted stimuli that diverse urban populations experienced in the dark. Contributors investigate night work—for example, standing guard or pursuing nocturnal trades—and nightlife, such as gambling at Chaco Canyon. They also examine how urban architecture, infrastructure, and the corresponding lighting were inextricably involved in enabling nighttime pursuits and signaling social status.The subjects of the night, darkness, and illumination taken together form a comprehensive framework for analyzing city life. After Dark embraces night as a conceptual lens through which to view the material and visual cultures of the ancient world and, in doing so, demonstrates a wealth of activities, behaviors, and beliefs that took place between dusk and dawn. This perspective greatly enriches the understanding of urban life and its evolution and has much to offer archaeologists in deepening an examination of complexity and inequality. This volume will be of interest to any scholar or student of the past who is interested in urban activities and the significance of the night in urban settings. Contributors: Susan M. Alt, J. Antonio Ochatoma Cabrera, Martha Cabrera Romero, Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, Kirby Farrah, Nancy Gonlin, Anna Guengerich, Christopher Hernandez, John Janusek, Kristin V. Landau, Maggie L. Popkin, Monica L. Smith, Meghan E. Strong, Susan Toby Evans, Robert S. Weiner

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Preface
• 1. City Nights: Archaeology of Night, Darkness, and Luminosity in Ancient Urban Environments
• 2. Looking for Light in Ancient Egyptian Urban Rituals
• 3. Danger in the Mesopotamian Night: Mitigating Peril in the Heartland of Cities
• 4. Illuminating the Mysteries of the Great Gods at Samothrace, Greece
• 5. Living Landscapes of Night in Tiwanaku, Bolivia
• 6. Lunar Power in Ancient Maya Cities
• 7. Every Day Hath a Night: Nightlife and Religion in the Wari Empire of Peru
• 8. Cahokia after Dark: Affect, Water, and the Moon
• 9. Notes on the Chacoan Nightscape: Astronomy, Fireboxes, and Gambling
• 10. The Aztec New Fire Ceremony and the Illumination of the Night
• 11. Nocturnal Urban Landscapes: From the First Cities to the Present
• Index
• List of Contributors