Prestige Objects Research Articles

Reassessing the origins of Near Eastern obsidian vessels: Not as simple as “Central Anatolia”

In the 1960s, Renfrew and colleagues tested an obsidian vessel from Tepe Gawra in northern Iraq. The vessel was attributed to their “Group 1e-f” chemical type, which matched obsidian from the Acıgöl volcanic complex in central Turkey as well as unclear locations in eastern Turkey and Armenia. Renfrew and colleagues favored an attribution of the vessel to Acıgöl, and consequently, an association between obsidian vessels and central Turkey became widely held in the literature. Given the destructive nature of chemical analysis until the 21st century, obsidian vessels and fragments were almost never tested, so there were few chances to overturn or support this association. Furthermore, such vessels have attracted much attention as likely prestige objects. To consider value and meanings derived from a material’s source, however, it is crucial to have the correct identification of its origin. First I consider the available sourcing data for previously studied vessel fragments. Second I report my new source identifications for a vessel with an uncertain provenience in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, fragments from Ur, and the same vessel from Tepe Gawra tested by Renfrew and colleagues. Only the site located in south-central Turkey (Domuztepe) had polished artifact fragments from the obsidian sources of Cappadocia. For Mesopotamian (Tepe Gawra, Ur, Kenan Tepe) and Zagros (Tal-e Malyan) sites, the vessels instead derived from four sources in eastern Turkey: Sarıkamış 2, Nemrut Dağ 2, Bingöl B, and Meydan Dağ. Thus, the association between obsidian vessels and central Turkey must be abandoned, as must narratives based on this association (e.g., exchange between early states or elites in Cappadocia and Mesopotamia).

Artistic, Commercial, and Confessional Exchanges between Venetian Crete and Western Europe: The Multiple Lives of an Icon of the Virgin and Child from Harvard Art Museums

In the collections of the Harvard Art Museums there is an icon of the Virgin and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Roch. Although a typical product of Cretan icon painting of the turn of the sixteenth century, the icon stands out from similar contemporary artworks due to its unusual subject matter and materiality. The iconographic analysis of the icon places it at the intersection of the Latin and Byzantine traditions and suggests that it was intended as a votive offering against the plague, featuring one of the earliest depictions of the anti-plague saint, Roch of Montpellier in Eastern Orthodox art. Examination of the verso of the icon further underscores the Western European associations of the panel. The presence of an elaborate incised design on the back side of the icon suggests that the wooden panel originated from a reused piece of furniture, in all probability, a fifteenth-century Italian chest. With this case study as a point of reference, this article discusses the commercial, artistic, and cross-confessional exchanges that took place in the ethnically and culturally pluralistic societies of Venice and its Mediterranean colonies, including the trans-confessional spread of cults, the dissemination of artistic trends, as well as the mutual transfer of artworks and objects of prestige, such as icons and chests.

Ethnicity, migration and materiality. Forest Finn archaeology

During the early 17th century, Finns migrated within the Swedish kingdom from interior Finland to virgin spruce forest areas in Sweden. There they settled in finnmarker, areas with Finnish-speaking households conducting large-scale swidden cultivation, huuhta in Finnish. Eventually they were called Forest Finns. Their farms were centered around a rökstuga, a living-house with a stone-oven without a chimney.Four Forest Finn farms have been excavated. The article discusses how the Finnish households were integrated in the local and regional market economy, thus acquiring the same kind of things also used by their Swedish neighbours, including status and prestige objects, e.g. display ceramics and window glass panes. At the same time, they continued to live in their traditional rökstugor, which owing to different space, light and warmth compared to a Swedish cottage with an open fireplace, conditioned other relations between the individuals of the households. The process of change, Swedification, of the Forest Finns was not unilinear.Ethnicity is the social process of meeting between two or more groups of people forming ‘us-and-them’-relations. The early-modern Forest Finns is an example of complex change as concerns materiality involved in ethnicity, in this case triggered by the meeting of ‘the others’ as a result of migration.

The initial peopling of South American Plains: An overview on Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene settlers in Uruguay

This paper reviews more than 20 years of research about the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene occupations of the Uruguayan plains. The aim of this synthesis is to provide an overview of the available information related to early human peopling of Uruguay. Here, we focus on the main issues discussed over the last two decades: early sites characterization and chronology, human response to climate change, cultural diversity, occupations patterns, mobility and technology. The systematic and continuous efforts made have provided new data and new perspectives regarding the earliest human occupations of the region. We have defined an archaeological complex landscape and ongoing research strategy is based on the three main types of site that compose it: residential camps, cave and rock shelters, and raw material sources. This has allowed us to expand and improve our understanding of the record. The new research and data provided by these sites have led us to propose a settlement model for the region and the period. A cultural diversity has been evidenced through in-depth studies of stratified archaeological sites, cultural sequence, a solid chronological database and lithic technology. Finally, we advance in the characterization of objects of social prestige among hunter-gatherers who occupied the plains during the end of the Pleistocene in Southeastern South America.

Iridescent Beetle Adornments Suggest Incipient Status Competition among the Earliest Horticulturalists in Bears Ears National Monument

AbstractAnthropological research has long theorized that emergent food-producing economies catalyzed high levels of inequality in human societies, as evident in the earliest use of jewelry made from gold, copper, and other precious minerals among early agricultural populations. Although the US Southwest appears to have been an exception, we report the discovery of two Basketmaker II period necklaces constructed of green iridescent scarab beetle femora, which suggests a homologous association between emergent agriculture and inequality. Drawing insight from ethnography, archaeology, entomology, and evolutionary ecology, we hypothesize that these and other jewelry items of Basketmaker II culture were visually prominent, honest signals of socioeconomic capital that emerged during a period of surplus food production and incipient wealth accumulation. It appears that Basketmaker II societies—like other emergent food-producing economies around the world—grappled with the opportunities and challenges that arise with surplus production, albeit in a distinct way that involved visually striking insect and feather adornments as status signals. Archaeologists may have previously overlooked this behavior due to Western biases that privilege precious metals and minerals as prestige objects and archaeological biases that tend to view insects as food or agents of site disturbance.

Who Has an Art, Has Everywhere a Part: Craft Production, Specialization, and Prestige in Praehistoric Societies

Craft specialization means that certain tasks and/or activities are performed exclusively by certain members of a community, either as their main/basic activity, or parallel to other activities. The emergence of specialization is often associated to complex societies, or more precisely, its presence presupposes social stratification and is negated in non-stratified societies. However, the organization of production of various goods and the development of specialization are much more complex, and cannot be simply characterized in terms of presence/absence, since there are various modes and levels of specialization. Therefore, over the last decades the need is recognized for a new revised theoretical framework. Some authors suggest new definitions of specialization and production organization, specifically emphasizing social and cultural aspects (along with the purely economic ones) that influence the technological choices. Power and prestige status are not solely linked to control over resources and larger amount of material goods, but also to their character – prestige objects are an important factor in the development of crafts, the emergence of craft specialization, and emergence/increase in social inequality. In praehistory, the symbolic importance and value were ascribed to certain technologies and objects, not only on the grounds of exotic raw material or other highly valued qualities (durability of an object, as well as non-utilitarian traits, such as colour), but also due to the effort and skill applied in their production. Such prestige objects secured or reflected the esteem and status to the individuals who made and/or possessed them.

Sociokulturel betydning af tragtbægerkulturens tidligneolitiske flintøkser

Sociokulturel betydning af tragtbægerkulturens tidligneolitiske flintøkser

Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma

Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma

Against Method

Against Method

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

The Archaeology of the Bronze Age Levant: From Urban Origins to the Demise of City-States, 3700–1000 BCE

Ostriches and people in archaeological contexts in the southern Levant and beyond

This article considers the archaeology, based mainly on eggs, of the extinct ratite (flightless birds, infraclass Palaeognathae) Struthio camelus syriacus (henceforth referred to as ‘ostrich’). Ostrich eggs were used as canteens, vessels, or raw material to produce prestige objects or ornaments. Starting with eggs discovered in a Middle Bronze Age cemetery in Tel Aviv, the production technology, symbolism and meaning, as well as assumed motivations and other cultural marks are analysed. The finds are analysed in a broader context, including the relationship between man and ostrich. The article reviews occurrences where ostrich-related remains, such as workshops, complete and fragmented eggs, as well as a small number of bones that have been recovered in archaeological excavations and surveys, have been found.

Drajna type bronze axe (Nackenknaufäxte) from Eastern Romania

The author presents in this article an exceptional bronze piece, accidentally discovered on the territory of Țibucani village, Neamț County. It is an axe belonging to the Drajna type, whose usual area of spatial distribution corresponds to the northwestern part of Romania and the northeastern Hungary. In order to create an overview all the analogies from the Romanian territory are presented. From a chronological point of view, Drajna type axes are specific to the Late Bronze Age (Bz D) and appear mainly in metal hoards. The specimen from Țibucani distinguishes by the meandering decoration from it’s edge, which finds good analogies on other bronze axes, or on some bone and antler objects, discovered mainly in the area of Noua culture. As its features indicate, the axe that we discussed constitutes an object of prestige, that reached the area east of the Carpathian Mountains as a result of inter-community contacts.

Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma by Péter Berta

Reviewed by: Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma by Péter Berta Elena Popa Péter Berta. Materializing Difference: Consumer Culture, Politics, and Ethnicity among Romanian Roma. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019. 390 pp. Located in the region of Transylvania, the Gabors are one of the many Roma ethnic populations in Romania. They are generally trilingual and have similar living standards to the non-Roma majority. In Materializing Difference, Berta meticulously follows the social life of silver beakers and roofed tankards—highly valued objects that form the core of the Gabor Roma prestige economy. The author’s oral history data suggest the Gabors have owned beakers and tankards as far back as the mid-19th century. These items were made by non-Roma silversmiths and belonged to churches and non-Roma elites, who used them to preserve wealth. The increased usage of cash and banking services has partially superseded the objects’ social and economic significance among the non-Roma. This has led to their sale, with many being acquired by Transylvanian Roma. In recent decades, Gabors have traded and pawned these objects at prices significantly higher than in antiques markets. Among the many transactions documented by Berta, the most expensive beaker sold for $1,200,000 in 2009 (63). Berta conducted 33 months of multi-sited fieldwork, between 1998 and 2019, mostly with Gabors, but also with Cărhar Roma. He also did research on Romanian and Hungarian antiques markets and monitored transnational auctions. The book draws theoretical inspiration from Appadurai’s (1986) concept of methodological fetishism, critiques of analytical groupism, and the theory of communities of practice, among others. Rather than focus on previously examined Roma “ideologies of [End Page 567] equality-centrism,” it describes and analyzes “the politics of difference”— especially prestige consumption and marriage politics—and their role in the ongoing production of Gabor Roma social and political identities, values, and hierarchies. As such, it contributes a vital perspective to the study of the Roma by showing how socio-economic and political differences are structured within one Roma ethnic population. The book depicts the Roma families as relatively integrated, both economically and socially. Many of them possess significant economic capital and have good relations with and comparable living standards to the non-Roma majority population. This portrayal, the author posits, could serve as an alternative narrative to analyses that tend to stereotypically describe Roma communities as marginalized, poor, rife with interethnic conflict, and characterized by “only slightly differentiated” social relations (14). Furthermore, Berta’s attention to the Gabors’ prestige economy, marriage politics, and hierarchies of patrilines shows convincingly that the Roma’s creation of identities does not occur necessarily in relation to the majority population, but rather in relation to intraethnic identity practices inextricably linked to Roma notions of respectability and social success. The Gabors are, thus, an example of an integrated community whose ethnicized practices construct intraethnic differences and allow them to represent their own Roma ethnic identity and belonging in relation to non-Roma or non-Gabor Roma. Such framing allows Berta to challenge the predominantly negative and homogenizing image of the Roma in Romania and Western Europe. Following the introduction, the book is divided into three parts and a conclusion. Part one comprises six chapters that illustrate the complex ways in which Gabors negotiate and materialize their belonging and difference. Chapter 1 introduces the Gabor Roma “politics of difference” and “ethics of sociability” (i.e., behavior, respectability, solidarity, and social appreciation), seen as intertwined phenomena requiring competitors seeking honor and fame to balance the two. It is this balance, and not egalitarianism, that Gabors regard “as the ideal model of social and economic relations” (52). Also, Roma politics—independent from Romanian politics—is an ethnicized form of politics conducive to hierarchies of prestige and difference organized by ethnicized goods and ideologies of values specific to Gabors’ ethnic identity and history. Thus, purchases of prestige objects and the creation of marital alliances generate reputation that does not translate into social appreciation among non-Roma. [End Page 568] In Chapter 2, Berta demonstrates the translocal, ethnicized, informal, and gendered characteristics of the Gabors’ prestige economy as a consumer subculture. The...

Non-Urban Societies of the Crimea and Their Response to Changes in the External World

Abstract The paper presents a comparative analysis of burial assemblages of ‘barbarian’ élites located on the territory of the Crimea between Chersonesos Taurica and the Bosporan kingdom dating from the 3rd century BC to the mid-3rd century AD. The main goal of the research is to define indications of self-identities of the Crimean non-urban societies represented by their élites and to outline their networking inside and outside the peninsula as well as their changes during four chronological periods. The research is based on the precondition that networking in the political sphere is closely connected to the exchange of symbols of power and status. In material culture, such symbols might be represented by the so-called ‘prestige objects’. Changes in the assortment of these items observed over a long time-span are helping to visualize the development of internal and external relationships of social élites.

Exploring Hostility Toward Women in High-Risk Rapists: The Relevance of Ambivalence and Relational Experience.

Hostility toward women is an established risk factor for sexual violence and is often found to be present in men prone to sexual transgression. There are also clinical indications that high-risk rapists may have more ambivalent attitudes toward women, including the strong desire to be positively evaluated by women. We investigated attitudes toward women in high-risk male rapists (n = 42), nonsexual male offenders (n = 65), and matched male community controls (n = 42), by means of self-report (hostility toward women, benevolent sexism, hostile sexism) and implicit measures assessing associations (Implicit Association Test [IAT]) with "women are deceitful" and "women are prestige objects," and the approach tendency (Approach-Avoidance Task [AAT]) toward women. Results showed that high-risk rapists had a lesser implicit notion of women as deceitful and more explicit benevolent sexism than the community controls. These differences seemed most prevalent in the subgroup of high-risk rapists without any relationship history. It is hypothesized that unrealistically positive attitudes toward women may lead to rejection and frustration, which may influence sexual offending.

Fodder, pasture, and the development of complex society in the Chalcolithic: isotopic perspectives on animal husbandry at Marj Rabba

The emergence of social complexity in the Southern Levant during the Chalcolithic (c. 4500–3600 cal. BC) was intimately tied to intensification in animal management. For the first time, secondary products such as milk and wool were intensively exploited, supplying communities with increasingly diverse foodstuffs and raw materials for craft production and exchange, but the precise herding practices underlying these new production strategies are unknown. Here, we explore the role of multi-species livestock pasturing through carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of animal bones from Marj Rabba (Har Hasha’avi, West) in the Lower Galilee (ca. 4600–4200 cal. BC). Isotopic results suggest different pasturing/foddering of sheep compared with goats. Cattle were largely pastured locally, but high δ13C values in some animals indicate access to the Jordan River Valley (the Ghor in Arabic), where major Chalcolithic settlements were situated. This may indicate some cattle were moved along regional Chalcolithic exchange networks established for other prestige objects, such as copper. Finally, we provide evidence for moderate 15N enrichment in pigs relative to herbivorous livestock indicates. Possible interpretations include consumption of nuts (esp. acorns), household refuse containing animal protein, and/or fattening pigs on grain. Although an interpretation that requires further exploration, grain foddering of pigs would complement the zooarchaeological data for early slaughter, which suggests intensive meat production at Marj Rabba. It might also help explain why pig husbandry, as a drain on grain stockpiles, was gradually abandoned during the Bronze Age. Taken together, the isotopic and zooarchaeological data indicate an economy in transition from a non-specialized, household-based Neolithic economy to one in which the production of agrarian wealth, including animal secondary products, was beginning to emerge.

A timely encounter and a loss

A timely encounter and a loss

Anarchistic action. Social organization and dynamics in southern Scandinavia from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages

AbstractA general interest in centralized institutions, state formation and prestige objects has dominated research on social organization and dynamics in Scandinavia from the Late Iron Age to the Middle Ages. Accordingly, a focus on kingly power, aristocratic influence, hierarchies and warrior might has dominated archaeological research designs for the last forty years. Subsequently, other perspectives have been evaded and their significance has been diminished. In this article, I use anarchistic principles as an analytic perspective and present examples of anarchistic actions – network organization, justified leaders and decentralization – drawing on well-known but ambiguous phenomena such as thing sites, the southern Danish defence system Danevirke, and migration and mobility. I suggest a perspective that recognizes resistance, authority and decentralization as well as centralization and institutionalization, allowing a broad spectrum of social engagement and interrelations to influence social organization. I will argue that human intentionality has been overlooked in favour of structures and institutions, and that the power of network organization and decentralization is influential in shaping social organization and dynamics.

Characteristic Features and Archaeological Significance of the Armor Excavated at the Ancient Tombs of Namseong-ri in Pohang

The area around Heunghae -- where the ancient tombs of Namseong-ri are located -- had been a strategic point for Silla (57 BCE ~ 935) in advancing into the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula. This armor, together with other related objects unearthed at the site, serves as important sources of knowledge on the armor-related tradition developed in the area during the 4th and 5th centuries. Some characteristic elements of the armor, particularly the unique manufacturing technique and rareness, suggest that the relic was produced for use as an object of prestige. The armor is considered archaeologically significant since it contains a wealth of clues to increase knowledge of the Silla armors made in the 4th century, which was characterized by the lack of source materials. For a more comprehensive understanding of the Silla armors, it is essential to examine the system of supply and demand of the armors linking the capital and regional areas. Unfortunately, however, comparatively less attention has been paid to the difference between Silla and Gaya armors and their characteristics by region. In this study, the main discussion deals with the mechanism of supply and demand of Silla armors by focusing on the armor discovered at the ancient tomb site in Namseong-ri. The study found a significant difference in the supply and demand of armors between Gyeongju, the capital of Silla, and the regions outside it in the 5th century. The study also concludes -- based on the evidence given by the Namseong-ri armor, that there was little difference between the armors supplied to Gyeongju and to regional areas in the 4th-century Silla. It was in the following century, with the arrival of scale armor, that a difference began to emerge -- not in style but in structure. The difference between the armors found in Gyeongju and those in the regions outside is clearly shown by, among others, the accessories buried at the grave together with the main parts of the armor. It was surely a new development compared with the 4th century when there was little difference between the capital and regional areas in terms of the supply and demand of armors. The development provides evidence of the significant change in the relationship between the ruling class in the capital of Silla and regional clan leaders. Evidences of such change are given by the discoveries made at the Namseong-ri tomb site in Pohang, Jungsan-ri tomb site in Ulsan, and Hwanam-ri tomb site in Yeongcheon. There have been two different views proposed on the control of the regional areas by the central government of Silla in the 4th century: one is that the rulers in Gyeongju controlled the regions indirectly, and the other is that the regions were under the direct control of the central government. As suggested by the characteristic features of the Namseong-ri armor as discussed in this paper, the relationship between the capital and regions of Silla in the 4th century can hardly be said to be that of the rulers and the ruled.

Memories into Images: Aegean and Aegean-like Objects in New Kingdom Egyptian Theban Tombs

Diplomatic relations between the 18th-dynasty Egyptian court and the polities of the Aegean Bronze Age are gaining increasing scholarly attention. The work conducted so far on chronological synchronization has established a relatively firm base for further discussions on social relations. The role of the prestige objects arriving from the Aegean to Egypt has not received the same attention. This is partly because our knowledge of these objects is restricted to Egyptian visual representations in tombs of the officials and not the imported objectsper se. This paper will discuss the transformative capacities of Egyptian decorum in regards to the foreign prestige objects of the Aegean provenance arriving in the Egyptian 18th-dynasty court. We first have to understand the iconographical phenomena of transference, hybridization and creativity in Egyptian visual culture, and only then may we attempt to read any historical reality behind them. These transformative representational processes are crucial for the understanding of the reception and the memory of the Aegean objects.