[Bonetools] Info and thoughts on craft learning

Mon Sep 20 14:12:09 CEST 2021

Thank you very much, Petar! I have downloaded the paper and will read it with great interest right away.
Cheers,
-Liye

From: Bonetools <bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu> On Behalf Of Petar Zidarov
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2021 5:51 PM
To: Christian Gates St-Pierre <christian.gates-st-pierre at umontreal.ca>; Mailing list for archaeologists of the research group for the study of object and waste of bone, antler. ivory and horn. <bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Info and thoughts on craft learning

Dear Liye,
You may find some useful illustration of case studies of what could arguably be described as cases of apprenticeship in carving prehistoric bone figurines from Bulgaria and Romania dating towards the third quarter of the 5th mill BC. They are published in a paper I co-authored in 2014 with Aline Averbouh in the excellent volume of the meeting in Targoviste (Romania) edited by Monica Mărgărit, Gaëlle Le Dosseur & Aline Averbouh.
There we illustrated some unfinished figurines that had notches in the places where incised decoration had to be executed suggesting to me that an experienced hand have left guidelines for his apprentice to carve the ornaments in a case of relatively standardized "mass production". Here is a link you could consult: https://www.academia.edu/9817269/The_production_of_bone_figurines_in_the_Balkan_Chalcolithic_and_the_use_of_debitage_by_extraction_Produc%C8%9Bia_figurinelor_din_os_%C3%AEn_calcoliticul_balcanic_%C8%99i_utilizarea_debitajului_prin_extrac%C8%9Bie
I hope it works for you and anyone who may be interested in that topic.
With best wishes,
Petar

--
Petar Zidarov
Vitoshki ezera 3a
BG-1434 Sofia, BULGARIA
cell phone: +359 898 347 252

https://uni-tuebingen.academia.edu/PetarZidarov<https://newbulgarian.academia.edu/PetarZidarov>
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Petar_Zidarov2
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9968-7786

Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen
Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Jüngere Abt.
Schloss Hohentübingen
72070 Tübingen, GERMANY

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, 11:51:30 PM GMT+3, Liye Xie <liye.xie at utoronto.ca<mailto:liye.xie at utoronto.ca>> wrote:

Thank you very much, Christian! I look forward to reading your paper later today.

Thank you,

-Liye

From: Bonetools <bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu<mailto:bonetools-bounces at listserv.niif.hu>> On Behalf Of Christian Gates St-Pierre
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2021 4:06 PM
To: bonetools at listserv.niif.hu<mailto:bonetools at listserv.niif.hu>
Subject: Re: [Bonetools] Info and thoughts on craft learning

Dear Liye,

That's a very interesting question, especially the binary learning system you describe. I don't know of any other instance of such a system, unfortunately. However, I have addressed the issue of technological learning, and more especially the social sharing or technological knowledge regarding bone tool production in a publication of mine, which I place in attachment to this message (sorry for the self-promotion). Hope this helps.

Christian

Christian Gates St-Pierre
Professeur adjoint

Département d'anthropologie

Université de Montréal
Pavillon Lionel-Groulx
C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville
Montréal, Québec, Canada
H3C 3J7
514.343.6111, poste 51711

On Thursday, September 16, 2021, 01:23:44 p.m. GMT-4, Liye Xie <liye.xie at utoronto.ca<mailto: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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