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The Life Biography of Artefacts and Ritual Practice: With case studies from Mesolithic-Early Bronze Age Europe
Edited by Mathias Bjørnevad-Ahlqvist and Peter Bye-Jensen
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Inspired by a session held at the EAA conference in Vilnius in 2016, The Life Biography of Artefacts and Ritual Practice focuses on creating biographies from material culture as a means of understanding the relationship between the life of an artefact, the temporality of ritual practices and an object’s final deposition. The temporal and geographic scope of these chapters range from Mesolithic Scandinavia, Neolithic practices found across Eastern, Central, Northern and Western Europe and stretches into the Eneolithic, Copper Age and early Bronze Age of central Europe. This volume explores the idea that one can create a narrative of an artefacts’ life-biography by engaging various scientific methods and theoretical approaches.With a foreword by Joshua Pollard.
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Cover
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Title Page
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Copyright
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Of Related Interest
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Contents
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Preface: Small traces, big issues
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Joshua Pollard
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Bibliography
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Foreword
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1. Taking a closer look – causewayed enclosures through the lens of a large-scale use-wear analysis project
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Peter Bye-Jensen
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Introduction
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Method of investigation
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Selection
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Conclusion
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Bibliography
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2. Endless life of tools and vessels from the Neolithic contexts in SW Poland
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Bernadeta Kufel-Diakowska, Marta Mozgała-Swacha, Joanna Kałużna-Czaplińska, Angelina Rosiak, Henryk Stoksik
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Introduction
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Materials and methods
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Sickle blades
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Ceramic vessels
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Discussion and conclusions
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Acknowledgements
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References
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3. Grinding tools and circular enclosures: Activities on late Neolithic settlements
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Jaroslav Řídký, Markéta Končelová, Pavel Burgert, Radka Šumberová, and Roman Hadacz
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Introduction
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Rondels and grinding tools
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Grinding tools – their basic characteristics
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The Vchynice case site
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The Kolín I case site
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The Jaroměř case site
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The Příšovice case site
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Conclusion
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Acknowledgements
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References
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4. Amber discs with cross decoration from the eastern Baltic region. A research case study from the Daktariškė 5 Neolithic settlement, western Lithuania
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Tomas Rimkus, Adomas Butrimas, and Gvidas Slah
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Introduction
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Methods
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Use-wear analysis
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FTIR and micro FT-Raman spectral analysis
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Daktariškė 5 Neolithic settlement
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Location and topography
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Excavations and cultural layer
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Finds and chronology
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The amber disc with cross decoration
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Use-wear analysis
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FTIR and micro FT-Raman spectral analysis
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Discussion and final remarks
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Acknowledgements
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References
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5. The role of chipped stone artefacts in the Late Neolithic burial practices at the site Alsónyék (Southern Hungary)
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Kata Szilágyi
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Introduction
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Materials and methods
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Results
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Raw materials and its distribution
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Distribution of raw material and technological categories of oval-shaped burials
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Distribution of raw material and technological categories of rectangular-shaped burials
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Discussion
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Conclusion
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Acknowledgments
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References
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6. Useful, beautiful or ritual? The life biography of grave goods from a Prehistoric burial ground
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Raluca Kogălniceanu
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Introduction
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The site of Cernavodă
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Several starting questions
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1. When does the biography of an object begins and ends?
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2. How does an object gain a life biography?
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3. What should measuring unit be used for life biographies?
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Types of life biographies
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A. Long life biographies
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B. Medium life biographies
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C. Short life biographies
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Spondylus objects
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Marble objects
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Long life biographies (II): polished stone tools
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Medium life biographies (various objects)
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Polished stone tools
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Animal bone tool
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Silicolite chipped tool
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Pottery
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Short life biographies (various objects)
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An overview
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Ritual or profane biographies?
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Acknowledgements
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References
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7. Practical and symbolic aspects of the life cycle of arrowheads in Central Europe, 2,400–1,800 BC.
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Ludmila Kaňáková
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Introduction
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Methods
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Analysis of the life cycle of projectiles
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Conclusion
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Acknowledgements
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References
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8. From the living to the dead: Lithics as a part of grave goods of the TRB culture in Denmark
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Marzena Cendrowska
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Flint in ritual – the symbolic meaning of lithics
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Approaches to ritual
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Symbolic meaning of artefacts
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Sites and artefacts
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Technological analysis – the birth of the artefacts
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Debitage
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Tools
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Use wear analysis – the life of the artefacts
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Lithics in graves – the burial of the artefacts
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Discussion
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Does burial reflect everyday life? – comparison with settlements
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Conclusions
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References:
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9. Ritual use of flint – flintscape in action
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Lars Larsson
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Introduction
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Wetland deposits of flint tools
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A case study
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Landscape and depositions
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Axes and megalithic tombs
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Axes and the deceased
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Polished and unpolished axes
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Axe and Palisades
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Passage by fire
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Conclusion
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References
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10. A relational perspective on entangled biographies in Southern Scandinavian Mesolithic hoards
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Mathias Bjørnevad-Ahlqvist
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Introduction
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Setting the stage: A brief overview of Mesolithic hoards and the research history
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Theoretical and methodological framework
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Entangled biographies in Southern Scandinavian Mesolithic hoards
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Different sources
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Different producers
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Different use-life history
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Different degrees of curation
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Physical transformation via destruction
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Making sense of the variability: the application of relational ontologies
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Concluding remarks
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References
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Back Cover
Citable Link
Published: 2020
Publisher: BAR Publishing
- 9781407354415 (ebook)
- 9781407356822 (paper)
BAR Number: S2991
- Multiperiod
- Scandinavia
- Death / Burial / Cemeteries / Tombs
- Craft working (general titles, bone, glass, textiles, etc.)
- Ethnoarchaeology / Anthropology
- Prehistory (general titles only)
- Experimental Archaeology
- British Isles
- Neolithic / Chalcolithic
- Palaeolithic / Mesolithic
- Excavation / Fieldwork / Survey
- Lithics / Stone Tools
- Western Europe and Britain
- Central and Eastern Europe
- Catalogues / Collections / Indexes / Bibliographies
- Theory and Method (general titles)
- Bronze Age and Iron Age
- Ritual / Religion / Temples