
Rethinking Empire
Materiality, Metaphysics, and Imperial Politics
$68.00
- Paperback
210 pages
- Release Date
10 November 2026
Summary
A new and characteristically innovative work from the School for Advanced Research’s Seminar Series.
This groundbreaking volume explores how dynamic interactions between human actors, material objects, and metaphysical beliefs shaped and sustained empires. From Han Chinese water management to Xiongnu drinking vessels, from Hittite royal imagery to Teotihuacan animal sacrifices, from Andean anti-imperial resistance to ritual rebirth in Travancore, the case studies reveal how materials …
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780826369888 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 082636988X |
| Author: | Tamara L. Bray, Lori Khatchadourian |
| Publisher: | University of New Mexico Press |
| Imprint: | University of New Mexico Press |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 210 |
| Release Date: | 10 November 2026 |
| Weight: | 199g |
| Dimensions: | 229mm x 152mm x 19mm |
| Series: | School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series |
About The Author
Tamara L. Bray
Tamara L. Bray is a professor of anthropology at Wayne State University. She is internationally recognized for her contributions to the study of Inca imperialism and the archaeology of food. Her archaeological field investigations and comparative research have yielded important insights into Inca iconography, architecture, ceramic production, and alternative ontologies. She is the author of several books and edited volumes, including Objects of Empire: The Ceramic Tradition of the Imperial Inca State, as well as numerous journal articles and book chapters.
Lori Khatchadourian is an associate professor of Near Eastern studies and anthropology at Cornell University and the cofounder and codirector of Caucasus Heritage Watch. Her research uses the methods of archaeology and anthropology to study heritage politics, empires, state violence, and the ruins of modernity, with a particular focus on Armenia and the South Caucasus. She is the author of Imperial Matter: Ancient Persia and the Archaeology of Empires. Her articles have appeared in many journals including Cultural Anthropology, American Journal of Archaeology, Antiquity, and Near Eastern Archaeology.
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