Archaeological Artefacts As Material Culture by Hurcombe Linda

Author:Hurcombe, Linda. [M. Hurcombe, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781136801990
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

Archaeological study strategies

Some stone objects receive much more archaeological attention than others. Though beads, stone vessels, and stone statuary all attract attention, polished stone axes are the most ubiquitous and perhaps the best studied range within polished stonework because they are easily recognised, long-collected, and approached in a diverse range of study types (see Chapter 5 and below). Many objects of polished stone can be sourced and studied for manufacturing and stylistic traits. New techniques allow the identification of some stones such as jet (Allason-Jones and Jones 2001), and the social role stones played is being emphasised (Sheridan and Davis 1998). Even for building stone analysis, whilst there are classic works (Davey 1961), more modern work has emphasised social aspects such as the evidence from town walls for the use of various materials in different periods and information on the associated stone industries (Creighton and Higham 2005: 121–5).

Although there is a wealth of evidence and discussion on the sourcing and significance of polished stone axes, these have interestingly shown that new information is still possible. At one of the most famous sites of manufacture in Britain, in the Lake District at Langdale, scientific analysis of the rock quality shows that the rock chosen for extraction came from an area that was very high up and was perhaps quite dangerous and an extreme place to work, even though slightly lower down there was rock with the same physical characteristics (Bradley 1990a, Bradley and Edmonds 1988, 1993, Bradley et al. 1992, Bradley and Suthren 1990, Bradley and Ford 1986). It seems that there was an element of limited access or daring in the exploitation of particular sources. This conclusion would not have been possible without scientific analysis because it could have been argued that there was some material quality which was particularly sought after from the upper source. The scientific analysis was able to show definitively that there was a highly social explanation for a particular archaeological pattern. Other studies have also shown a more social dimension considering the politics of supply and the social context of manufacture (Clarys and Quartermaine 1989, Cleghorn 1986, Clough and Cummins 1988, Cooney 1989, Kars et al. 1992, Pétrequin and Pétrequin 2000, Thirault 2005, Toth et al. 1992). All of these are being woven into much more social interpretations of stone axe manufacture and exchange practices. Analysts of some of the ethnographic examples are also considering ownership, longevity, and disaggregating the manufacturing processes to show which parts are conducted by specialists versus which parts are considered more general, and which parts are most personal to the end user. For example the angle and lengths of the haft and the design of the haft binding can be an indication of personal and tribal preferences (Pétrequin and Pétrequin 2000, Toth et al. 1992). Furthermore, there are examples of stone axes as hoards, or being deliberately destroyed, or being found in particular places which indicate that the contexts of their deposition are also an aspect of their social life and meanings (Cooney 1998, Larsson 2000).

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