Stone Masters

“Stone Masters provides an extended examination of the widespread phenomenon of stone veneration across mainland Southeast Asia, the first such systematic treatment of the subject…. The volume will primarily interest scholars and students of religion and ritual in Southeast Asia [though] the book can be profitably ready by those studying similar phenomena in other regions. This need not be limited to questions of stone veneration, or even ritual; I could easily imagine the concept of ‘power encounters’ being taken up in a wide range of fields.”

– “Social Anthropology”“This is an inspiring foray into comparative ethnology and socio-historical analysis centering on stone monuments and their etiological interpretations. The individual studies are detailed and compelling, and Holly High, the book’s editor, has done an excellent job in pulling the essays together. Readers can sense the multiple connections between areas included in Stone Masters and realize that the analysis of stone objects is a vital part of the enterprise the contributors have created.”– “Nova Religio””[Stone Masters] is best seen as an exercise in comparative ethnology of regional similarities in cosmology, ritual practices, materiality, and myth across the region. The book helps in identifying universal patterns as well as unique cultural traits across mainland Southeast Asia, by examining cases from Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.“– “Rising Asia Journal”“A rare book: an organically integrated collection, with a strong theme. While is unapologetically ethnological, Stone Masters engages cosmopolitan anthropological theories with great effect. It has a depth which anthropologists of other areas, working on analogous themes, can feed on.”– “Luiz Costa, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro”