[Bonetools] Info and thoughts on craft learning

[Alice Choyke]

Dear Liye,
        Thinking  about your stimulating question I would think that during
prehistoric periods where all tool/ornament production was closely tied to
household production, this binary system of socially narrated technical
norms versus individual variation in know-how is EXACTLY what I would
expect. Once production becomes semi-specialized or specialized I would
expect technical norms would come to dominate technical design. The
'audience' for the objects is wider, requiring more uniformity in
production and general form. For example, I believe that by the end of the
Middle Bronze Age in the Carpathian  Basin, horse harness antler fittings,
with some cruder exceptions that really do look 'homemade', are technically
much more uniform within settlements' worked hard osseous materials than
anything else found in the general bone or antler tool assemblages where
objects are technically much more variable, more ad hoc looking. Anyway -
this is just my fast take on your question. I would love to see what
discussion develops.

Best,
Alice

On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 7:23 PM Liye Xie <liye.xie at utoronto.ca> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
>
>
> I am seeking help from this incredibly resourceful and knowledgeable
> group.
>
>
>
> I am working on a paper on the learning patterns of bone shovel production
> in the Neolithic Hemudu culture in eastern China. It appears to me that the
> Hemudu people had a binary system for maintaining their bone shovel
> tradition, meaning they conformed to the social norms in terms of object
> style and raw material preference but relied on self-learning to produce
> the tools. This combination of social learning and self-learning for an
> object that was likely tied to a group identity seems odd to me. Because,
> honestly, I naively expected to find evidence for communities of practice
> or at least some sort of formal training to maintain an almost iconic
> object of society.
>
>
>
> I have been trying to find comparable studies on cultural transmission and
> ways of maintaining technological tradition. But, unfortunately, the case
> studies I have seen so far are primarily on pottery and lithic productions.
> In addition, I couldn’t find any mention of a binary learning system as
> such. Therefore, I wondered if you could point me to relevant publications
> on bone tools or a binary learning system for any crafts.
>
>
>
> I understand everyone is very busy. I would appreciate any information or
> thoughts you could share.
>
>
>
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> -Liye
>
>
>
> Dr. Liye Xie
>
> Associate Professor & Associate Chair
>
> Department of Anthropology
>
> University of Toronto Mississauga
>
> https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Liye-Xie
>
>
> https://www.anthropology.utoronto.ca/people/directories/all-faculty/liye-xie/
>
>
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