Archaeological Artefacts as Material Culture

Hurcombe, Linda

doi:10.4324/9780203827536

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…The shell discs would have been visually prominent and distinctive because of their physical characteristics of smooth glossiness and bright white colour, a feature that appears to have been critical in the earlier use of shells for seal production in Bronze Age Bahrain (Olijdam & David‐Cuny, ). Shells are also known cross‐culturally to have had ritual and religious significance, prophylactic and protective powers, and to have been richly symbolic of links with water and the sea, fertility and well‐being (Claasen, : 219; Gensheimer, : 67; Hurcombe, : 120; Trubitt, : 244). Their use in burials in the Makran coastal region and hinterland from before the Bronze Age attests to such significance in the greater Persian Gulf region (Desse & Desse‐Berset, : 93 and fig.…”

Section: Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Weeks

David‐Cuny²,

Avanzini

et al. 2019

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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This article presents and discusses a corpus of worked and decorated shell discs from recently excavated archaeological sites in southern Arabia, including Dibba (northern Oman), Saruq al-Hadid (UAE) and Sumhuram/Khor Rori (southern Oman). The artefacts are compared to a wide range of shell discs from controlled excavations in Arabia and the broader Near East in order to better understand their date, manufacture and use. The comparative study highlights the wide distribution of decorated shell discs across the ancient Near East, particularly during the early Iron Age, and the complex economic and cultural connections that underpinned the collection, crafting, exchange and significance of such items.

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Section: Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Weeks

David‐Cuny²,

Avanzini

et al. 2019

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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“…These are highly standardized, versatile, multi-functional tools that cannot be dissociated from organic materials (Clarke 1976) and they have also been related to procurement, consumption and maintenance activities (Leroi-Gourhan 1945). The increasing inferences and evidence for fibre-working techniques correspond to the second type of technology applied to materials proposed by Hurcombe (2007), related to the creation of a new object by sticking, tying and knotting various materials; this brings us back to compound tools. This lack of archaeological visibility contrasts with the importance attributed to these perishable materials and techniques in some ethnoarchaeological studies, which highlight the extremely high proportion of objects made with them and the techniques compared to those made from stone and bone (Collins Jr. 1937;Croes 1997).…”

Section: Electronic Supplementary Materialsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Cordage, basketry and containers at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in southwest Europe. Evidence from Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian region, Spain)

Tortosa

Pérez‐Jordà

Marco

et al. 2019

Veget Hist Archaeobot

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In this study we present evidence of braided plant fibres and basketry imprints on clay recovered from Coves de Santa Maira, a Palaeolithic-Mesolithic cave site located in the Mediterranean region of Spain. The anatomical features of these organic fibre remains were identified in the archaeological material and compared with modern Stipa tenacissima (esparto grass). Based on direct dating, the fragments of esparto cord from our site are the oldest worked plant fibres in Europe. Sixty fragments of fired clay are described. The clay impressions have allowed us to discuss the making of baskets and containers. According to their attributes and their functional interpretation, we have grouped them into five types within two broad categories, hearth plates and baskets or containers. The clay pieces identified as fragments of containers with basketry impressions are less common than those of hearth plate remains and they are concentrated in the Epipalaeolithic occupation material (13.2-10.2 ka cal bp). The clay impressions from Santa Maira indicate that some fibres were treated or flattened, a preparation process that is known from historical and ethnological sources.

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“…Considering that the archaeological record is limited, experimental archaeology can be used for obtaining data to test models, leading to a better understanding of past aspects [18]. Experimental archaeology can be a critical tool to reconstruct the techniques, procedures and processes involved in creating artifacts or structures [19,20].…”

Section: Experimental Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Looking beyond appearances: a multi-analytical approach on the prehistoric clay weights

Manea

Lechintan²,

Popescu

et al. 2019

Herit Sci

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In this paper we analyzed a batch of 64 clay weights from three archaeological sites located in Romania (Gumelniţa, Măgura-Jilava, and Sultana) that belong to Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI cultural complex (4600-3900 cal. BC). Our approach includes an interdisciplinary investigation based on technological analysis, experimental archaeology, and X-ray CT scans coupled with statistical analysis. This investigation has a high potential to reveal relevant information regarding the technological background (e.g., inclusion, voids, temper, etc.), manufacturing stages (e.g., modeling, shaping, kneading, etc.), or transformation processes (e.g., drying and firing vs. weight and size modification) in order to identify, explain and understand the chaîne operatoire for this type of artefacts. Moreover, correlation of the results with the experimental archaeology could offer an integrative interpretation about the material culture of past humans and its multiple meanings, but also critical information about the multiple dimensions of manufacture for these objects (e.g., time, effort, physical-chemical processes, etc.). The multi-analytical approach proposed here also includes a comparative study of technological aspects of these clay weights across the three archaeological sites investigated, as well as the experimental replicas.

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Archaeological Artefacts as Material Culture

Cited by 28 publications

References 0 publications

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Worked and decorated shell discs from southern Arabia and the wider Near East

Cordage, basketry and containers at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in southwest Europe. Evidence from Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian region, Spain)

Looking beyond appearances: a multi-analytical approach on the prehistoric clay weights

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