Theme:
The archaeology of material culture, bodies and landscapes
Session format:
Session, made up of a combination of papers, max. 15 minutes each
Title:
INTERPRETING ANCIENT METALWORKING
Content:
Archaeometallurgy has benefited massively from the availability of new or improved scientific methods during the last decades, but the technical data provided by the natural sciences do not in themselves give clear answers or superior knowledge about ancient people or their crafts. Data from e.g. isotope and trace element analyses, microstructure studies, and 3D models must be interpreted in combination with a range of other information, such as our general understanding of past societies, the specific social aspects of metalworking, the skills and sensory experiences of individual smiths and artisans, the context of the excavation site, and much more.
In this session we welcome papers on ancient metalworking in a broad sense. We particularly welcome papers that address questions or provide examples on how to integrate technical metallurgical data into archaeological narratives. How can the interpretations of archaeometallurgical data be taken to the next explanatory level, i.e. from answering technical how-questions to why-questions? A problem with interdisciplinarity can be underestimating the complexity of the discipline whose results are being used (sometimes for sensationalist interpretations). What are the best practices for avoiding such pitfalls? How should research questions be formulated to actually solve the problems intended to be solved? Can the apparent divide between material scientists and archaeologists be bridged by e.g. experimental archaeology, by demonstrating how things could have been done but also how things were NOT done?
Keywords:
Archaeometallurgy
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Main organiser:
Dr. Sebastian Wärmländer (Sweden) 1,2
Co-organisers:
Sabrina Sholts (United States) 3
Ragnar Saage (Estonia) 4
Kristiina Paavel (Estonia) 4
Arne Jouttijärvi (Denmark) 5
Affiliations:
1. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA
2. Division of Biophysics, Stockholm University
3. Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
4. University of Tartu, Estonia
5. Heimdal-archaeometry
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