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Books in Arts and humanities

Elsevier's Arts and Humanities titles encompass a rich spectrum of scholarship that explores human culture, history, philosophy, and creative expression. These works offer deep insights into language, literature, visual arts, and critical theory, supporting the academic community in understanding diverse perspectives and cultural legacies. Designed for scholars, educators, and students, this collection bridges classic studies with contemporary issues, fostering a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the human experience.

  • Mississippian Settlement Patterns

    Studies in Archeology
    • 1st Edition
    • Bruce D. Smith
    • English
    Studies in Archeology: Mississippian Settlement Patterns explains the cultural organization of many of the prehistoric societies in the Eastern United States during the last 1000 years of their existence. This book emphasizes the difference between the central core of Mississippian societies and those peripheral societies that preceded its development. Readers are advised to begin the examination of this compilation by reading Chapter 16 first, followed by Chapters 8 to 13 and 15, in order to understand the variations of patterning among societies that are commonly regarded as nascent or developed Mississippian. The rest of the chapters analyze cultural groups on the West, North, and Northeast that are not Mississippian societies, including a discussion of late prehistoric societies that are in some ways divergent but are sometimes regarded as Mississippian. This publication is valuable to archeologists, historians, and researchers conducting work on Mississippian societies.

  • Regional Analysis

    Economic Systems
    • 1st Edition
    • Carol A. Smith
    • English
    Regional Analysis, Volume I: Economic Systems explores the interconnectedness of economic and social systems as they exist and develop in territorial-environm... systems. This volume concentrates on developing and refining models of trade and urban evolution, emphasizing evolutionary models and relationship between economic and political subsystems in the developmental process. Topics include the regional approach to economic systems; trade, markets, and urban centers in developing regions; spatio-economic organization in complex regional systems; and economic consequences of regional system organization. This publication is valuable to social and regional scientists, geographers, economists, social anthropologists, archeologists, sociologists, and political scientists interested in the implications of rural-urban relations and regional settlement patterns.

  • Friends in School

    Patterns of Selection and Influence in Secondary Schools
    • 1st Edition
    • Joyce Levy Epstein + 1 more
    • English
    Friends in School: Patterns of Selection and Influence in Secondary Schools is a collection of research and commentaries that focuses on the connections between the social organization of schools and classrooms, the social processes of peer association, friendship selection, as well as the social development of students. The papers center around the topic on simultaneous influence of developmental and environmental factors on adolescent friendships. One paper examines the various theories of adolescent friendships: that differences exist between theories applied to, and theories generated from the experiences of different age groups. Another paper discusses the patterns of selection of friends and the characteristics of selected friends in high- and low-participatory schools. One paper explains the components of a contact theory and of cooperative learning methods in terms of their impact on intergroup relations. Another paper reviews sex differences in forming and maintaining friendships based on earlier studies made on the subject. The paper focuses on environmental and developmental points on how sex differences and school organization can interact on the student's adjustment to transition or growth. One paper notes that peer and friendship groups can be positive forces in the classroom to advance the goals of the teachers, students, and school, but the decision should depend on the teacher's knowledge of organizational structure, group processes, and on the desired outcome of the educational activity. The collection is suitable for teachers, child educators, school counselors, school administrators, psychologists and sociologists.

  • Archaeological Hammers and Theories

    • 1st Edition
    • James A. Moore + 1 more
    • English
    Studies in Archaeology: Archaeological Hammers and Theories provides information pertinent to the archeological method, with emphasis on the interaction of data and technique with theory and problems. This book describes the nature of archeological data, the range of archeological theories, and the scope of archeological problems. Organized into three parts encompassing 13 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the products of the archeological record. This text then examines survey sampling, site formation studies, and lithic and ceramic analysis. Other chapters consider the behavioral concepts that are implicit in the notions of special behavior, optimization, decision making, and population dynamics. This book discusses as well the analysis of pottery, which plays a leading part in the reconstruction of culture histories in archeology. The final chapter suggests an alternative set of philosophical issues that might serve to focus a philosophy or archeology. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists.

  • The Shanidar Neandertals

    • 1st Edition
    • Erik Trinkaus
    • English
    The Shanidar Neandertals describes the functional morphology of the Neanderthals and their place in human evolution based on a paleontological study of fossils discovered at Shanidar Cave in northeastern Iraq. Functional interpretations are provided that describe and discuss the individual fossils. The phylogenetic implications of the Shanidar specimens are also discussed. Comprised of 14 chapters, this book begins with an overview of the Neanderthal remains from the Shanidar Cave and the paleontological data obtained from the fossils. The discussion then turns to the history of the excavations in Shanidar Cave and the discoveries of the Neanderthals; morphometrics of the Shanidar remains; and determination of the age and sex of the Shanidar Neanderthals. Subsequent chapters focus on various aspects of the Neanderthal fossils, including the cranial and mandibular remains; the dental remains; the axial skeleton; and the upper and lower limb remains. The immature remains are also described, along with bodily proportions and the estimation of stature. This monograph will be of interest to archaeologists, anthropologists, paleontologists, and paleopathologists.

  • Guitarrero Cave

    Early Man in the Andes
    • 1st Edition
    • Thomas F. Lynch
    • English
    Guitarrero Cave: Early Man in the Andes is a product of the environmental approach to archeology that had its beginnings in postwar Britain. Guitarrero Cave is a key site for reconstructing the way of life of the early inhabitants of South America and the survey results about the cave demonstrate the long history, continuity, and even conservatism that characterize Andean culture. This book is organized into four parts encompassing 12 chapters. Part I describes the stratigraphy, chronology, setting, and excavation activities of the cave. This part also presents the results of pollen and paleoenthnobotanical analysis, along with the vegetation and land use near Guitarrero Cave. The subsequent parts explore the plant and faunal remains, as well as the archaeological findings, specifically the bone, wood tools, cordage, basketry, and textiles of ancient Andes settlers. The last part examines Guitarrero cave in its Andean Context. This book will be of value to archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and researchers.

  • Symbolic Play

    The Development of Social Understanding
    • 1st Edition
    • Inge Bretherton
    • English
    Symbolic Play: The Development of Social Understanding describes the development of symbolic play from infancy through the preschool years. This text is divided into 12 chapters that focus on make-believe as an activity within which young children spontaneously represent and practice their understanding of the social world. The first chapter introduces the development of event schemata produced in symbolic play, about children's management of the playframe, and about the development of subjunctive, or "what if" thought. The next chapters are devoted to the development of joint pretending, specifically the use if shared scripts in the organization of make-believe play and the subtleties of metacommunication. These chapters also emphasize the supporting role of the mother in early collaborative make-believe. These topics are followed by discussions of the child's growing ability to represent the internal states of the inanimate figures whose doing can vicariously enacts. The remaining chapters focus on social interaction through symbolic play with dolls, toy animals, object props, and language. This book will prove useful to psychologists and researchers in the fields of human development, society, and family.

  • Perceptual Coding

    • 1st Edition
    • Edward C. Carterette + 1 more
    • English
    Handbook of Perception, Volume VIII: Perceptual Coding covers perceptual coding of space, time, and objects, including sensory memory systems and the relations between verbal and perceptual codes. This volume contains contributions that focus on such subjects as the compound eye; the problems of the perceptual constancies and of intersensory coordination in perceptual development; the visual perception of objects in space; and perception of motion. Topics on the perception of color, the representation of temporal, auditory, and haptic perception; and the relationship between verbal and perceptual codes are discussed in detail as well. This book will be of use to psychologists, biologists, and those interested in the study of perceptual codes.

  • The Perception of Pictures

    Dürer's Devices: Beyond the Projective Model of Pictures
    • 1st Edition
    • Margaret A. Hagen
    • English
    Durer's Devices: Beyond the Projective Model of Pictures is a collection of papers that discusses the nature of picture making and perception. One paper presents a perceptual theory of pictorial representation in which cultural and historical options in styles of depiction that appear to be different are actually closely related perceptually. Another paper discusses pictorial functions and perceptual structures including pictorial representation, perceptual theory, flat canvass, and the deep world. One paper suggests that perception can be more a matter of information "make up" than "pick up." Light becomes somewhat informative and the eye, correspondingly, becomes less or more presumptive. Another paper notes that human vision is transformed by our modes of representation, that image formation can be essentially incomplete, false, or misleading (primarily as regards dramatic performance and pictorial representation). One paper makes three claims that: (1) the blind have untapped depiction abilities; (2) haptics, involving the sense of touch, have an intuitive sense of perspective; and (3) depiction is perceptual based on graphic elements and pictorial configurations. The collection is suitable for psychologists, physiologists, psychophysicists, and researchers in human perception or phenomenology.

  • Schools, Classrooms, and Pupils

    International Studies of Schooling from a Multilevel Perspective
    • 1st Edition
    • Stephen W. Raudenbush + 1 more
    • English
    Schools, Classrooms, and Pupils: International Studies of Schooling from a Multilevel Perspective examines "multilevel" or "hierarchical" linear models of research on schooling and the statistical and computational issues that arise in applying them. Some of the likely benefits of using multilevel methods to study schools and classrooms are also discussed, including the increased credibility of the statistical findings. Comprised of 15 chapters, this book begins by considering how the explicit modeling of the organizational structure of schooling creates new opportunities for research. After presenting a basic guide to the techniques of multilevel modeling, the effect of school, class, and individual variables on science achievement in Israeli elementary schools is analyzed using a two-level hierarchical model, with emphasis on reform in the science curriculum which began in the early 1970s. Subsequent chapters focus on the use of multilevel models to link educational progress with curriculum coverage; trends in attainment in Scottish secondary schools; the technical and vocational education initiative in Britain; and sex discrimination in teachers' salary. This monograph should be of considerable interest to students, teachers, school administrators, researchers, and educational policymakers.

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