Chronological Pollution: Potsherds, Mosques, and Broken Gods before and after the Conquest of Mexico

Mary Douglas defined “dirt” as matter out of place, but dirt can be matter out of time as well. This essay uses the concept of chronological pollution to interrelate times and places often categorized as separate: pre‐Hispanic Mesoamerica; medieval Europe; and the Muslim, Christian, and Native Ameri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current anthropology 2008-10, Vol.49 (5), p.803-836
Main Author: Hamann, Byron Ellsworth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
16th century
Americas
Anthropological theory
Cathedrals
Catholicism
Ceremonies
Christianity
Culture
Environmental pollution
Europe
Historiography
House fires
Identity
Medieval history
Mexico
Mosques
Muslims
Place
Pollution
Pre-Columbian history
Religious buildings
Statues
Time
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Mary Douglas defined “dirt” as matter out of place, but dirt can be matter out of time as well. This essay uses the concept of chronological pollution to interrelate times and places often categorized as separate: pre‐Hispanic Mesoamerica; medieval Europe; and the Muslim, Christian, and Native American worlds of the sixteenth‐century transatlantic.
ISSN:0011-3204
1537-5382
DOI:10.1086/591274