Fragmentation in Archaeology

A revolutionary study of material culture, this volume argues that the deliberate physical fragmentation and deposition of objects lies at the core of the archaeology of Mesolithic, Neo- lithic and Copper Age of East and Central Europe.

Fragmentation in Archaeology revolutionises archaeological studies of material culture, by arguing that the deliberate physical fragmentation of objects, and their (often structured) deposition, lies at the core of the archaeology of the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Copper Age of Central and Eastern Europe.
John Chapman draws on detailed evidence from the Balkans to explain such phenomena as the mass sherd deposition in pits and the wealth of artefacts found in the Varna cemetery to place the significance of fragmentation within a broad anthropological context.

'Based on impressively wide reading, sensitive to both anthropological theory and the archaeological material itself, this is a distinguished and thought-provoking addition to the literature on the prehistory of southeast Europe.' -American Journal of Archaeology

Autorentext

Born in Newcastle on Tyne, England John lead a pretty boring early life. He lived in a Buddhist monastery, a civilized place with no electricity, no phone, no flush toilet, stone slab floors and a water supply which ran down a field in an open ditch. When he was sent to boarding school he accidentally set fire to it. He became a chemistry teacher but was frustrated by not being allowed to do all the interesting experiments. He changed to teaching computers in the early 80s and was delighted to find they would do exactly what they were told (unlike his pupils.) He met his wife Shelia in an Internet chat room in 1997 - see it does work sometimes! They had problems with UK and US immigration departments and spent three years as illegal immigrants in Canada where they earned a living designing web pages. That was followed by six years of teaching in London before returning to the North to pursue a career in writing.

Klappentext

Fragmentation in Archaeology revolutionises archaeological studies of material culture, by arguing that the deliberate physical fragmentation of objects, and their (often structured) deposition, lies at the core of the archaeology of the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Copper Age of Central and Eastern Europe. John Chapman draws on detailed evidence from the Balkans to explain such phenomena as the mass sherd deposition in pits and the wealth of artefacts found in the Varna cemetery to place the significance of fragmentation within a broad anthropological context.

Inhalt

1: Introduction; 2: Two Ways of Relating; 3: Broken and Complete Objects; 4: Hoards and Other Sets; 5: People, Cemeteries and Personal Identities; 6: People and Places in the Landscape; 7: Summary and Conclusions