[Bonetools] SAA symposium on Raw Materials and Technological Choice

[Gijn, A.L. van]

Dear Amy,
 
I would be very interested in partaking in the symposium on Raw material
perspectives on technological choice and change next year in Memphis. I
have been studying Mesolithic and Neolithic wetland assemblages,
incorporating both flint, hard stone, bone and antler tools in my
analysis. I am basically a use wear specialist but concentrate on the
relationship between raw material selection and use (from a cultural
biographical perspective). I have one  case study thatmay be interesting
for the session you intend to organize. It concerns a late mesolithic
site with very good organic preservation, called Hardinxveld-Polderweg.
Study of the flint assemblage shows that scrapers are virtually absent,
something that is highly unusual in contemporaneous late mesolithic
assemblages in the uplands. Hide working traces are lacking in the flint
assemblage as well. However, such traces abound on the bone and antler
tools, which often are recycled wood working tools that were broken
during use and subsequently modified to hide scrapers. This
technological choice cannot be explained in terms of flint shortage and
seems to be largely attributable to an attitude towards tool production
and use which can be characterized as highly opportunistic. 
 
My question to you is whether you still have place in your session for
papers, and if so, if you would be interested in the above topic. I know
I am late, fieldwork and holidays kept me busy for the past two months. 
 
Hoping to hear from you soon,
 
kind regards,
Annelou
 

Prof. dr. Annelou van Gijn 
Professor Material Culture Studies Rijksuniversiteit Groningen 
Director Laboratory for Artefact Studies 
Faculty of Archaeology Leiden University 
PB 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands 
email: a.l.van.gijn at arch.leidenuniv.nl or a.l.van.gijn at rug.nl 
telephone: + 31 71 527 2389/2633 
www.artefactstudies.com 

 

________________________________

From: bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu
[mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu] On Behalf Of Margaris, Amy
V.
Sent: Thursday, July 21, 2011 5:31 PM
To: ZOOARCH at jiscmail.ac.uk; Mailing list for archaeologists of the
research group for the study ofobject and waste of bone,antler. ivory
and horn.
Cc: xieliye
Subject: [Bonetools] SAA symposium on Raw Materials and Technological
Choice



Dear colleagues, 

Greetings! We warmly invite you to participate in a proposed symposium
for the April 2012 Society for American Archaeology (SAA) meeting in
Memphis, Tennessee (USA), on the topic of Raw Material Perspectives on
Technological Choice and Change

Session Organizers: Amy Margaris (Oberlin College) & Liye Xie
(University of Arizona)

Discussant (pending session scheduling): Steve Kuhn (University of
Arizona)

Here is the session abstract:

"Raw material has long been regarded as an essential component of human
endeavors. But to truly understand technological choices and changes in
the past we need further integrative studies that investigate the
dynamic contexts in which one raw material is selected over another
based on functional, social, or ideological factors. This symposium will
provide a venue to discuss raw material selection practices in a number
of archaeological or ethnographic contexts. It promises to bring
together a diverse group of researchers while revealing trends across
time and space that will contribute to theory-building about variation
and change in technological practices."

Possibilities for the temporal and geographic scope of contributed
papers are wide open, from studies of the contrasting uses of stone and
organic materials in the Upper Paleolithic to the adoption (or
rejection) of imported iron over local alternatives among indigenous
groups. The unifying theme is how raw materials were selected among
competing candidates: What factors held sway in a group's acquisition,
processing or functional choices?

We hope you will consider participating in this symposium, and will also
forward the invitation to other interested researchers.   

September is not far off, so please email Amy Margaris
(amy.margaris at oberlin.edu) as soon as possible if you are interested in
presenting a paper in this symposium.  

More information on the conference can be found at
http://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/AnnualMeeting/tabid/138/Default.aspx
<http://www.saa.org/AbouttheSociety/AnnualMeeting/tabid/138/Default.aspx
> 

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Amy Margaris (amy.margaris at oberlin.edu <mailto:amy.margaris at oberlin.edu>
) &

Liye Xie (xiexie1 at email.arizona.edu <mailto:xiexie1 at email.arizona.edu> )


 



-- 
Amy V. Margaris                                         
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Oberlin College

http://new.oberlin.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology/

http://sites.google.com/a/oberlin.edu/margaris-amy/

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