An Archaeology of Materials: Substantial Transformations in Early Prehistoric Europe

by Conneller; Chantal

• ISBN13: 9780415881302
• ISBN10: 0415881307
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-09
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Social approaches to technology have become increasingly important in the field of archaeology, yet less consideration has been given to the social significance of the raw materials from which artefacts were made. Author Chantal Conneller argues that we need to take materials more seriously, that substances were caught up in significant historical relationships with people prior to and as a result of their participation in technical actions. Tracing these relationships is vital for understanding how things were made, used and discarded.This book formulates a systematic approach to the study of raw materials; one that builds on detailed technological studies of mechanical properties, but encompasses people's broader ontologies to produce a holistic understanding of materials. Exploring how even materials in mundane, daily usage are caught up in broader understandings of the world, this volume demonstrates through case studies that the properties of materials are not fixed, but change according to context. This book builds on previous studies to coalesce a systematic approach to materials at a time when there has been a call for a greater focus on materials in material culture studies. Case studies from the western European Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic, periods that have been unjustly neglected in recent archaeological theory building, are included. This book will establish a new perspective on the meaning and significance of materials, particularly those involved in mundane, daily usage, and will be a timely addition to the literature on technologies and materials.