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Rock Art and Sacred Landscapes pp 207–232Cite as

Religious Organization in the Late Ceramic Caribbean

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Part of the book series: One World Archaeology ((WORLDARCH,volume 8))

Abstract

Harvey Whitehouse has proposed a theoretical or an organizational framework for studying change and stability in religious systems. Its application in a Late Ceramic Caribbean context suggests an expansive and fluid character to religious or spiritual organization and expression. The physical characteristics and iconography of rock art and other material classes including ceramics and sculpted stone objects (stone collars, elbow stones, and three-pointers or cemís) coupled with ethnohistorical accounts indicate a shift from less structured organization in the Early Ceramic to a more structured one by the Late Ceramic. These data sets also indicate that it was the Taíno elite religious and political segments of societies that were involved in efforts to control ritual objects and places in order to augment their individual and collective influence.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Panamerican Consultants, Inc., 2390 Clinton Street, Buffalo, NY, 14227, USA

    Michele H. Hayward Ph.D., Frank J. Schieppati Ph.D. & Michael A. Cinquino Ph.D.

Authors
  1. Michele H. Hayward Ph.D.
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  2. Frank J. Schieppati Ph.D.
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  3. Michael A. Cinquino Ph.D.
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michele H. Hayward Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Archaeological Research Facility, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Donna L. Gillette

  2. Greer Services Archaeological Consultants, Casper, Wyoming, USA

    Mavis Greer

  3. Panamerican Consultants, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Michele Helene Hayward

  4. Social Sciences, University of Monterrey, San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo León, Mexico

    William Breen Murray

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Hayward, M.H., Schieppati, F.J., Cinquino, M.A. (2014). Religious Organization in the Late Ceramic Caribbean. In: Gillette, D., Greer, M., Helene Hayward, M., Breen Murray, W. (eds) Rock Art and Sacred Landscapes. One World Archaeology, vol 8. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8406-6_13

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