2000 The use of ethnoarchaeology for the archaeological study of ceramic production (original) (raw)
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2007
The contributions to this volume are introduced via a critical review of terms and concepts used in craft production studies today. Recent detailed contextual and technological analyses of artifacts from all aspects of complex societies have revealed interesting patterns that are difficult to conceptualize using a purely economic framework. Furthermore, interest in practice theory, and sociocultural theory in general, has shifted some foci of archaeological investigation toward the social aspects of production and specialization. New data, methods, and theories require a rethinking of what is meant by specialized production, and this chapter represents an introduction to this endeavor.
In archaeological studies of past societies and peoples, the material remains of these groups offer valuable insight into the subtle intricacies of historical social, political, economic and even ideological systems. Objects and tools have been created and utilized by every human group, regardless of their social complexity or historic period: this has lead some to emphasize the importance of the conceptual homo faber, man the creator, in attempts to access a better understanding of ancient systems and people. It has also been recognized that the fashioning of objects is not entirely a utilitarian endeavor; people’s identities are shaped by and reflected in the items which they create, consume, interact with, and use, and as such, these fashioned objects potentially offer a window into the ancient mind. Studies of craft-specialization, prominent in archaeological research throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, have continually attempted to make use of this notion, using archaeologically visible skillfully crafted goods to address wider theoretical questions of social change, political centralization, economic development, and other such complex issues. This essay will attempt to address the varying approaches archaeologists have taken towards the study of craft specialization in past societies.
Artisans Rule: Product Standardization and Craft Specialization in Prehistoric Society
Craft production and its significance for understanding social relations are one of the essential topics in prehistoric archaeology. Standardization of raw materials, products, and manufacturing procedures, and the presence or absence of specialized artisans still challenge scholars engaged in the studies of technology, social archaeology, exchange and distribution networks and economy in the past. In this volume, seven case studies covering a chronological span from the Neolithic to La Tène Europe explore the notions of standardization and specialization, the nature of their interrelationship, the methods for assessing their presence in the archaeological record, and their significance for the reconstruction of social relations and emergence of social complexity, while two ethnoarchaeological studies focus on the organization of production and methods of estimation of a number of artisans. This volume brings together research from prominent scholars, based on different theoretical perspectives, thus giving new insight into the fundamental issues related to artisans and their crafts.
Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites
Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites, 2020
Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites presents the proceedings of an international and interdisciplinary workshop held in Berlin in 2018, which brought together scholars whose work focusses on manufacturing activities identified at archaeological sites. The various approaches presented here include new excavation techniques, ethnographic research, archaeometric approaches, GIS and experimental archaeology as well as theoretical issues associated with how researchers understand production in the past. These approaches are applied to research questions related to various technological and socio-economic aspects of production, including the organisation and setting of manufacturing activities, the access to and use of raw materials, firing structures and other production-related installations. The chapters discuss production activities in various domestic and institutional contexts throughout the ancient world, together with the production and use of tools and other items made of stone, bone, ceramics, glass and faience. Since manufacturing activities are encountered at archaeological sites on a regular basis, the wide range of materials and approaches presented in this volume provides a useful reference for scholars and students studying technologies and production activities in the past.
While economic approaches are becoming generally more important and even mainstream topics, this is not necessarily the case for research into Pre-Roman Italy, defined as the area of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia during the Iron Age. Until recently, there was almost no research into Pre-Roman Italy focused on economic studies, and the existing research has been mostly dedicated to very specific contexts: (1) specialization of crafts and production in the context of urbanization processes; (2) specific production areas, such as agriculture, metal processing, and salt production; (3) studies focusing on Greek Colonies and Greek Colonial encounters with indigenous populations; (4) analyses of consumption patterns, mainly in the case of Greek pottery consumption. Recent excavations and investigations devoted to the study of workshop structures, such as those at Gabii, Pithekoussai, Kroton, Lokroi Epizephyrioi, Naxos, Selinunt and Kyme / Cumae, have provided a range of new data that is stimulating a valuable and highly constructive discussion on the organization of production and crafts in Pre-Roman Italy. Against this background, four members of the study group ‘Etruscans and Italic Cultures’ from the ‘German Association of Archaeologists’ (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Etrusker und Italiker des DArV e.V.) formed a panel to discuss the economic aspects of Pre-Roman Italy on the basis of their ongoing research projects: all of these focus on the field of production and crafts. The aim is to contribute to an intensified debate on geographical, chronological and functional patterns in the organization of crafts and productions by discussing current case studies and methods.
Investigations of Craft and Industrial Enterprise (Perspectives in Historical Archaeology)
The Society for Historical Archaeology’s “Perspectives from Historical Archaeology” publication series provides subject and regional readers on a variety of topics of interest to archaeologists and scholars in related fields. Each volume includes an introduction by the compiler that reviews historical archaeology’s work on the topic. Perspectives volumes are available in both perfect bound and pdf formats, and sales proceeds benefit the Society’s educational and research missions. "Investigations of Craft and Industrial Enterprise," compiled by Christopher C. Fennell, includes his introduction chapter that reviews the field and 23 articles selected from the Historical Archaeology Journal.