Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2020.1735095
A. Hirshman
ABSTRACT Eight decades of ethnographic research provide a rich dataset for studying the changing organization of labor in households involved in specialized pottery production in the Purépecha region of Michoacán, Mexico. Relevant ethnographies are examined to identify the contributions of household members who might be considered “the potter” and the “hidden producers” who are integral to production. This study finds task differentiation, flexibility in task allocation by age and gender, innovation in response to market demand, and changing household composition, together with persistence of household-level pottery production across eight decades. The task-based division of labor and flexible allocation of tasks to different household members facilitates intensification of production, when necessary, and its persistence through political instability, shifting markets, population increase, state-level intervention in pottery production, and wage labor migration out of the region. This approach provides a dynamic, longitudinal model for understanding the organization of household pottery production in the past.
{"title":"“They Too Can Help”: Hidden Producers and Flexibility in the Organization of Collaborative Labor in Pottery-Making Households in Michoacán, México From the 1940s to 2020","authors":"A. Hirshman","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2020.1735095","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2020.1735095","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Eight decades of ethnographic research provide a rich dataset for studying the changing organization of labor in households involved in specialized pottery production in the Purépecha region of Michoacán, Mexico. Relevant ethnographies are examined to identify the contributions of household members who might be considered “the potter” and the “hidden producers” who are integral to production. This study finds task differentiation, flexibility in task allocation by age and gender, innovation in response to market demand, and changing household composition, together with persistence of household-level pottery production across eight decades. The task-based division of labor and flexible allocation of tasks to different household members facilitates intensification of production, when necessary, and its persistence through political instability, shifting markets, population increase, state-level intervention in pottery production, and wage labor migration out of the region. This approach provides a dynamic, longitudinal model for understanding the organization of household pottery production in the past.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88023670","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2019.1642603
B. Wayessa
{"title":"EARTH: The Dynamics of Non-Industrial Agriculture: 8,000 Years of Resilience and Innovation","authors":"B. Wayessa","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2019.1642603","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2019.1642603","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82101281","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2020.1723236
Jennifer Jones
multi-disciplinary team, anthropology (in the broadest sense of its multiple sub-disciplines), which has long-standing holistic and universalistic ambitions, is as well positioned as any discipline for the task. The point is nicely illustrated by these two authors. Kim is an anthropological archaeologist, Kissel a paleoanthropologist, and together they have put together a survey of war and its origins that is more authoritative and comprehensive than any work currently on the market.
{"title":"Landscapes of the Islamic World: Archaeology, History, and Ethnography","authors":"Jennifer Jones","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2020.1723236","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2020.1723236","url":null,"abstract":"multi-disciplinary team, anthropology (in the broadest sense of its multiple sub-disciplines), which has long-standing holistic and universalistic ambitions, is as well positioned as any discipline for the task. The point is nicely illustrated by these two authors. Kim is an anthropological archaeologist, Kissel a paleoanthropologist, and together they have put together a survey of war and its origins that is more authoritative and comprehensive than any work currently on the market.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84150572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2020.1734281
Argyris Fassoulas, J. Rossie, H. Procopiou
ABSTRACT Long-term ethnographic research in the region of Tiznit in Morocco enabled us to reconstruct the different stages of manufacture of children's clay toys, from the selection of the raw material to shaping, firing, use and discard. Making toys and playing with them are two inseparable activities, essential for learning everyday tasks. From this perspective, we consider Neolithic figurines and clay utensils and their potential role in children's playful learning, addressing often neglected assumptions. This ethnoarchaeological approach, rather than suggesting a utilitarian equivalency between form and function, helps us to consider the importance of play and playfulness in the development of know-how, a sense of mastery, and a savoir vivre.
{"title":"Children, Play, and Learning Tasks: From North African Clay Toys to Neolithic Figurines","authors":"Argyris Fassoulas, J. Rossie, H. Procopiou","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2020.1734281","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2020.1734281","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Long-term ethnographic research in the region of Tiznit in Morocco enabled us to reconstruct the different stages of manufacture of children's clay toys, from the selection of the raw material to shaping, firing, use and discard. Making toys and playing with them are two inseparable activities, essential for learning everyday tasks. From this perspective, we consider Neolithic figurines and clay utensils and their potential role in children's playful learning, addressing often neglected assumptions. This ethnoarchaeological approach, rather than suggesting a utilitarian equivalency between form and function, helps us to consider the importance of play and playfulness in the development of know-how, a sense of mastery, and a savoir vivre.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86944676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-01-02DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2020.1723226
J. Aimers
{"title":"Pottery Ethnoarchaeology in the Michoacan Sierra","authors":"J. Aimers","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2020.1723226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2020.1723226","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2020-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84143089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-27DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2019.1642585
S. Dorland
ABSTRACT Archaeological approaches to “finding the individual” have been applied through various material avenues. Pottery production has been considered an effective avenue to identify idiosyncratic variation, but there has been little work to evaluate fundamental assumptions of attribution studies. This paper addresses how differences in decorative techniques can influence our ability to identify the actions of an individual. In an experimental study, participants applied decoration by incising and linear stamping techniques. Element size, element width, and gap width were evaluated through principal component analysis to identify possible patterning. The author had considerably more success identifying individual variation in linear stamping compared to variation caused by incising techniques. The author argues the stamping technique is more recognizably individualized due to the higher number of actions that can be related to measurable variables used to identify individual variation. The results indicate that idiosyncratic variation among potters will be more effectively recognized when potters apply certain decorative techniques.
{"title":"Finding the Potential Potter: An Experimental Analysis of Woodland Pottery Decoration Techniques","authors":"S. Dorland","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2019.1642585","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2019.1642585","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Archaeological approaches to “finding the individual” have been applied through various material avenues. Pottery production has been considered an effective avenue to identify idiosyncratic variation, but there has been little work to evaluate fundamental assumptions of attribution studies. This paper addresses how differences in decorative techniques can influence our ability to identify the actions of an individual. In an experimental study, participants applied decoration by incising and linear stamping techniques. Element size, element width, and gap width were evaluated through principal component analysis to identify possible patterning. The author had considerably more success identifying individual variation in linear stamping compared to variation caused by incising techniques. The author argues the stamping technique is more recognizably individualized due to the higher number of actions that can be related to measurable variables used to identify individual variation. The results indicate that idiosyncratic variation among potters will be more effectively recognized when potters apply certain decorative techniques.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83760470","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-26DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2019.1642591
M. Eren
Kathryn Weedman Arthur has produced a fantastic and delightful book. The Lives of Stone Tools is an ethnographic account of stone tool production and use in late twentieth century Ethiopia. It is a valuable cautionary tale on all of the potential cultural and symbolic meaning prehistoric stone tools may have possessed and manifested, which would be invisible to archaeologists if indeed this meaning were reality for prehistoric people. Of course, we as archaeologists will never definitively know, and there is always a danger of imposing meaning in cases where it did not exist in antiquity. But, at least in this reviewer’s eyes, Arthur’s take home lesson is that we as archaeologists must acknowledge the possibility, perhaps likelihood, of lost meaning. In so doing, we will question, or at least reconsider, the narratives and biases present in the discipline, some of which must be abandoned. Such questioning and reconsideration not only increases human sensitivity and inclusiveness, but also is, in fact, a founding tenet of a scientific approach. In the end, Arthur’s volume reminds us that nothing in science is truly sacred except for the scientific method itself. This method, if faithfully applied, must acknowledge what is, and is not, testable, and if the latter, should not be automatically disregarded, because ideas and theories that are not testable are not necessarily without value. Beyond its relevance to archaeology, Lives is a rich illustration of people, their technology, and their livelihoods. Beautifully and clearly written, Arthur weaves together a tale of deep human-tool relationships. This reviewer was enthralled with just how intense the Gamo’s indigenous ontology was embedded in their stone tools, from a tool’s birth, maturity, and death. Yet this book is as much about the people as it is about their technology, and learning about the status of the Gamo in relation to the larger society in which they live and interact was fascinating. Although all black and white, the images peppered throughout the book are informative and help to paint a vivid picture of the Gamo people. Additionally, several aspects of the book – ranging from discussions of artifact context, form, and use; to raw material procurement; to resharpening; and finally to discard patterns – can serve as models against which the archaeological record can be compared. The Lives of Stone Tools should be required reading for virtually everyone in the archaeological discipline. It is a challenging, rewarding read that has implications for how archaeologists study any kind of material culture. Specifically, it reminds us that we as archaeologists “must consider Indigenous theories of being as equals and as alternatives to Western theories of material culture” (page 234), and that, vitally, these two theory sets are not mutually exclusive.
{"title":"The Lives of Stone Tools: Crafting the Status, Skill, and Identity of Flintknappers","authors":"M. Eren","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2019.1642591","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2019.1642591","url":null,"abstract":"Kathryn Weedman Arthur has produced a fantastic and delightful book. The Lives of Stone Tools is an ethnographic account of stone tool production and use in late twentieth century Ethiopia. It is a valuable cautionary tale on all of the potential cultural and symbolic meaning prehistoric stone tools may have possessed and manifested, which would be invisible to archaeologists if indeed this meaning were reality for prehistoric people. Of course, we as archaeologists will never definitively know, and there is always a danger of imposing meaning in cases where it did not exist in antiquity. But, at least in this reviewer’s eyes, Arthur’s take home lesson is that we as archaeologists must acknowledge the possibility, perhaps likelihood, of lost meaning. In so doing, we will question, or at least reconsider, the narratives and biases present in the discipline, some of which must be abandoned. Such questioning and reconsideration not only increases human sensitivity and inclusiveness, but also is, in fact, a founding tenet of a scientific approach. In the end, Arthur’s volume reminds us that nothing in science is truly sacred except for the scientific method itself. This method, if faithfully applied, must acknowledge what is, and is not, testable, and if the latter, should not be automatically disregarded, because ideas and theories that are not testable are not necessarily without value. Beyond its relevance to archaeology, Lives is a rich illustration of people, their technology, and their livelihoods. Beautifully and clearly written, Arthur weaves together a tale of deep human-tool relationships. This reviewer was enthralled with just how intense the Gamo’s indigenous ontology was embedded in their stone tools, from a tool’s birth, maturity, and death. Yet this book is as much about the people as it is about their technology, and learning about the status of the Gamo in relation to the larger society in which they live and interact was fascinating. Although all black and white, the images peppered throughout the book are informative and help to paint a vivid picture of the Gamo people. Additionally, several aspects of the book – ranging from discussions of artifact context, form, and use; to raw material procurement; to resharpening; and finally to discard patterns – can serve as models against which the archaeological record can be compared. The Lives of Stone Tools should be required reading for virtually everyone in the archaeological discipline. It is a challenging, rewarding read that has implications for how archaeologists study any kind of material culture. Specifically, it reminds us that we as archaeologists “must consider Indigenous theories of being as equals and as alternatives to Western theories of material culture” (page 234), and that, vitally, these two theory sets are not mutually exclusive.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89181660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-03DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2019.1642574
Kelsey E. Hanson, P. L. Bryant, A. M. Painter, James M. Skibo
ABSTRACT The adoption of pottery in the Upper Great Lakes region occurs quite late compared to the greater Eastern Woodlands. Recent organic residue analyses suggest that the earliest pottery in the Upper Great Lakes region was likely used to process acorns. Through experimental means using temperature as a proxy, this paper evaluates the efficacy of leaching tannins from acorns by comparing two regionally available cooking technologies: stone boiling versus simmering in a ceramic vessel. Our results indicate that tannins can be more effectively leached at simmering temperatures like those provided by ceramic vessels. At boiling temperatures, tannins are irreversibly bound to the acorn starches, rendering the nutmeat inedible in further processing. While there are a number of reasons to adopt and use pottery, it appears that processing acorns may be another important addition to this growing list.
{"title":"Acorn Processing and Pottery Use in the Upper Great Lakes: An Experimental Comparison of Stone Boiling and Ceramic Technology","authors":"Kelsey E. Hanson, P. L. Bryant, A. M. Painter, James M. Skibo","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2019.1642574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2019.1642574","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The adoption of pottery in the Upper Great Lakes region occurs quite late compared to the greater Eastern Woodlands. Recent organic residue analyses suggest that the earliest pottery in the Upper Great Lakes region was likely used to process acorns. Through experimental means using temperature as a proxy, this paper evaluates the efficacy of leaching tannins from acorns by comparing two regionally available cooking technologies: stone boiling versus simmering in a ceramic vessel. Our results indicate that tannins can be more effectively leached at simmering temperatures like those provided by ceramic vessels. At boiling temperatures, tannins are irreversibly bound to the acorn starches, rendering the nutmeat inedible in further processing. While there are a number of reasons to adopt and use pottery, it appears that processing acorns may be another important addition to this growing list.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78736140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-03DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2019.1642570
A. Yankowski
ABSTRACT This ethnoarchaeological study examines contemporary salt and earthenware pottery production in Alburquerque, Bohol, Central Philippines. It highlights the intersection of these two craft industries through the use of locally made earthenware pots for salt making, serving both as brine boiling containers, as well as standard units of measurement for trade. It examines the spatial distribution of production activities and related material culture, from the procurement of resources through the stages of production, to distribution, and the resulting archaeological correlates to serve as a framework for interpreting prehistoric salt sites with pottery remains. Moreover, this research contributes to research on household-based production activities, demonstrating that households can be active and integral participants in inter-community and regional markets and long-distance exchange.
{"title":"Salt Making and Pottery Production: Community Craft Specialization in Alburquerque, Bohol, Philippines","authors":"A. Yankowski","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2019.1642570","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2019.1642570","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This ethnoarchaeological study examines contemporary salt and earthenware pottery production in Alburquerque, Bohol, Central Philippines. It highlights the intersection of these two craft industries through the use of locally made earthenware pots for salt making, serving both as brine boiling containers, as well as standard units of measurement for trade. It examines the spatial distribution of production activities and related material culture, from the procurement of resources through the stages of production, to distribution, and the resulting archaeological correlates to serve as a framework for interpreting prehistoric salt sites with pottery remains. Moreover, this research contributes to research on household-based production activities, demonstrating that households can be active and integral participants in inter-community and regional markets and long-distance exchange.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87991822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-07-03DOI: 10.1080/19442890.2019.1642557
D. Lyons, N. David
ABSTRACT In 2016 Olivier Gosselain published a paper in Archaeological Dialogues suggesting that ethnoarchaeology should “go to hell”. His provocation misrepresents the ethnoarchaeology of the past quarter century, as is evident in a literature of which he appears largely unaware. Here we refute his charges, showing, for example, that ethnoarchaeologists neither regard the societies with which we work as living fossils, nor do we entertain naïve stereotypes regarding their workings. Our refutations are accompanied by commentaries on topics raised that introduce readers to the substantial recent literature. Far from a wreck, ethnoarchaeology, a form of material culture studies practiced by and mainly for archaeologists, has vigor and relevance, making theoretical, methodological and historical contributions that are worldwide in scope. And as we demonstrate for Africa, non-Western ethnoarchaeologists contribute substantially to the ethnoarchaeological literature.
{"title":"To Hell with Ethnoarchaeology … and Back!","authors":"D. Lyons, N. David","doi":"10.1080/19442890.2019.1642557","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19442890.2019.1642557","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In 2016 Olivier Gosselain published a paper in Archaeological Dialogues suggesting that ethnoarchaeology should “go to hell”. His provocation misrepresents the ethnoarchaeology of the past quarter century, as is evident in a literature of which he appears largely unaware. Here we refute his charges, showing, for example, that ethnoarchaeologists neither regard the societies with which we work as living fossils, nor do we entertain naïve stereotypes regarding their workings. Our refutations are accompanied by commentaries on topics raised that introduce readers to the substantial recent literature. Far from a wreck, ethnoarchaeology, a form of material culture studies practiced by and mainly for archaeologists, has vigor and relevance, making theoretical, methodological and historical contributions that are worldwide in scope. And as we demonstrate for Africa, non-Western ethnoarchaeologists contribute substantially to the ethnoarchaeological literature.","PeriodicalId":42668,"journal":{"name":"Ethnoarchaeology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2019-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78784448","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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