anarchist theory
anti-imperialism
archaeology
assemblage theory
Category=JBSL
Category=JHM
Category=JHMC
Daoist metaphysics
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forthcoming
Han China
Hittites
Incas
materiality
multiplicities
new materialism
non-western ontologies
nonhuman agency
object agency
Post colonial studies
power
Proto colonial India
Teotihuacan
Travancore
vibrant matter
Xiongnu
Product details
- ISBN 9780826369888
- Weight: 199g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 06 Oct 2026
- Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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 and metaphysics intertwined to both enable and constrain imperial ambitions. The contributors examine how assemblages of artifacts, resources, animals, and landscapes actively shaped power relations across diverse imperial formations, while sometimes facilitating resistance to them. Moving beyond conventional political histories, the volume illuminates how things helped constitute imperial authority. In examining these material-political assemblages, the authors provide new theoretical frameworks for understanding empire-building as an emergent process involving both human and non-human actors, while raising crucial questions about archaeology’s ethical obligations in studying imperial power.
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 and metaphysics intertwined to both enable and constrain imperial ambitions. The contributors examine how assemblages of artifacts, resources, animals, and landscapes actively shaped power relations across diverse imperial formations, while sometimes facilitating resistance to them. Moving beyond conventional political histories, the volume illuminates how things helped constitute imperial authority. In examining these material-political assemblages, the authors provide new theoretical frameworks for understanding empire-building as an emergent process involving both human and non-human actors, while raising crucial questions about archaeology’s ethical obligations in studying imperial power.
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, and 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.
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.
