Crafting Values in Chalcolithic Cyprus and Anatolia

Abstract

In the Chalcolithic of Cyprus and Anatolia, we can document the emergence of exchange networks that were centred on highly standardized craft products. These exchange systems, organized around figurative items crafted from stone, set the stage for the later development of long-distance exchange networks of 'prestige goods' made from metals and gemstones of often distant provenance. This earliest exchange of figurative stone objects, which occurred in egalitarian societies, remains poorly investigated. Why were such objects considered desirable in the first place? How can we understand the rise of the shared regimes of value that they objectify? In this paper, I will present some first ideas to understand this problem in relation to anthropological studies on value, and I will argue that the initial creation of value was rooted in shared cultural repertoires of craftsmanship.