A social life for later lithics : a technological and contextual analysis of later Bronze and Earliest Iron Age flintworking in East Anglia, England
This thesis investigates the social significance of flintworking and its products for later Bronze (c.1600-800 BC) and Earliest Iron Age (c.800-600 BC) communities in East Anglia, England. It is argued that current understandings of intra- and inter-site variability in British later Bronze and Iron Age chipped stone assemblages remain seriously underdevelepedd~e to both the scale of previous research and common preconceptions about the crudity of these assemblages. At the same time, it is argued that assemblages of both periods have been consistently divorced from their respective material and spatial contexts, denying them the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to broader discussions on the roles of everyday items of material culture in processes of social reproduction during the later 2ïżœd and 1 st millennia BC. This thesis addresses these weaknesses in previous research by approaching the analysis and interpretation of later Bronze and Earliest Iron Age chipped stone assemblages in East Anglia through the theoretical lens of the anthropology of technology and its complementary conceptual cum methodological tool: the chafne operatoire. Technological analyses of 21 chipped stone assemblages from a variety
McLaren, Andrew Peter
A social life for later lithics : a technological and contextual analysis of later Bronze and Earliest Iron Age flintworking in East Anglia, England. This thesis investigates the social significance of flintworking and its products for later Bronze (c.1600-800 BC) and Earliest Iron Age (c.800-600 BC) communities in East Anglia, England. It is argued that current understandings of intra- and inter-site variability in British later Bronze and Iron Age chipped stone assemblages remain seriously underdevelepedd~e to both the scale of previous research and common preconceptions about the crudity of these assemblages. At the same time, it is argued that assemblages of both periods have been consistently divorced from their respective material and spatial contexts, denying them the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to broader discussions on the roles of everyday items of material culture in processes of social reproduction during the later 2ïżœd and 1 st millennia BC. This thesis addresses these weaknesses in previous research by approaching the analysis and interpretation of later Bronze and Earliest Iron Age chipped stone assemblages in East Anglia through the theoretical lens of the anthropology of technology and its complementary conceptual cum methodological tool: the chafne operatoire. Technological analyses of 21 chipped stone assemblages from a variety
social_life later lithics technological contextual_analysis later bronze earliest iron_age east_anglia england investigates social_significance product later bronze earliest iron_age communities east_anglia england argue current understanding intra__inter site variability british later bronze_iron_age chip_stone assemblage remain seriously scale previous common preconception assemblage time argue assemblage period consistently divorce respective material spatial context deny opportunity contribute meaningfully broad discussion role_everyday item material_culture process social_reproduction later millennium address weaknesses previous_approach analysis_interpretation later bronze earliest iron_age chip_stone assemblage east_anglia theoretical lens anthropology technology complementary conceptual cum methodological_tool operatoire technological analyse chip_stone assemblage variety