Learning from Things : Methods and Theory of Material Culture Studies

Learning from Things presents the methods and theories underlying the many ways in which material objects can reconstruct and interpret lifeways of the past. Thirteen contributors examine processes from microwear analysis of Paleolithic stone tool surfaces to mechanized metal cutting in nineteenth-century gun production to show how such processes influence, and even distort, conclusions made by scholars. The book also discusses the role of optical and electron microscopy, radiocarbon dating, and other tools of materials science in material culture studies. Bringing together the approaches of both "hard" systematic scholars and "soft" humanists, the contributors argue the importance of multidisciplinary participation for accurately analyzing objects.