ANT
4068H5 F - ANCIENT
TECHNOLOGY
Fall 2006, Anthropology, University of
Toronto
Course Web Page:
http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3hmlmil/4068F2006.htm
Course CCNet page:
http://ccnet.utoronto.ca/20069/ant4068hf/
Office:
208 North Building, UTM (or 269
South Bldg., Munk Centre, St. George)
Phone:
UTM: 905-828-3741
(Mondays & Tuesdays)
St.
George: 416-946-8988 (most
Fridays)
Email:
hmiller 'at' utm.utoronto.ca
Class meeting at UTM:
217
North
Mondays
2-5
Open Lab Time at UTM:
221
North
By
appointment (Mon & Tues best)
Office Hour at St.
George:
269
South Munk Centre
Fridays
by appointment
Readings
REQUIRED (1) You will each be provided
with proofs
of my forthcoming book, which will form the core reading for the class
(although not in the order written): Miller, Heather M.-L., in press (expected Dec. 2006).
Archaeological Approaches to
Technology. Elsevier (Academic Press). (2) Pdfs of the remaining
reading
selections will be available on the course CCNet website (URL at top of
page). Readings for classes
related to specific student interests will be added to the website
within the
first two weeks of the course. RECOMMENDED The
bibliography
of Miller (in press) includes full references for a number of books and
articles that are key background references for this class, your
research, and
future teaching. If you can buy
them now, do so. Otherwise, plan
for the future. Please ask me to
recommend critical texts for your particular topic(s) of interest, and
also
check the recommendations in appropriate sections of Miller. Note:
If you are having trouble finding recommended books, the UTM bookstore
will
order the book at cost (no
shipping fees) if you pay at the time of ordering. Course Requirements and Grading The
course mark
will depend on participation and on a final project.
[1]
10% of the
course mark will be based on participation in class.
This includes class attendance, critical discussion of
readings, and involvement in labs.
Students may be assigned as discussion leaders for particular
classes/articles. [2] 20% for 'position papers' submitted for each class. These are short statements (1 page
single-spaced, 12 pt. font) summarizing the main point of each of the
readings
for that class, and indicating how they fit with each other and/or
with the
theme(s) for the day. [3] 70% for course project.
Each student will do an individual project examining the role of
technology in a past society, based on the experimental or replicative
investigation of an ancient object or manufacturing technique. This project with be presented orally
to the class, and also as a written document in the form of either a
formal
paper/article or the design for a museum display. Various
steps will be submitted so the instructor can
provide the maximum feedback on your project. Past
papers have gone on to become conference presentations,
published papers, or the foundation for dissertation research. Topic
Statement (1-2 paragraphs at least)
(no
mark, but I will tell you how Outline
of Project (Research & Production)
10% 20-30
minute Class Presentation
25% Written
Paper
35%
70% Lab
Work
for Individual Projects
We are only able to do a few hands-on projects in class. Depending on the topics chosen and the
number of students in the class, labs related to individual projects
may be
incorporated into the class labs; I expect to incorporate labs on
pottery
production and firing in the class this year, for example.
In addition, I often schedule optional
weekly lab times when I meet with students outside of class to do
further lab
work related to their individual topics.
Other students are welcome to attend any sessions of interest,
whether
related to their own projects or not.
Class Schedule The readings for each class relate to the class
discussions, as do some
videos & labs; while other videos are shown to introduce the
readings for
the following week. Week Topics Readings Sept. 11 Discussion Themes:
Overview
and Introduction: Themes in Ancient Technology ; Discussion
of Potential Projects; Schedule Pottery
& Metals Firing date CLAY - POTTERY Videos: Maria. Indian
Pottery Maker of San Ildefonso.
The Potters of Thrapsano Sept. 18 Discussion Themes: Ancient Technology
Ð Definitions, Archaeological methods (as needed), Analogy; Craft types; Fired clay
production CLAY - POTTERY Demonstrations
& Labs: Processing raw clay; Temper Types; Handbuilding pottery (pinched/drawn vs. slab vs. coil pottery). --PREPARE TO BE MESSY-- (1) Miller Chapters
1 and 2; Section 1 of Ch. 3
(Classification of crafts); Fired
clay section of Ch. 4 Sept. 25 Discussion Themes: Pottery technology;
Organization of production.
Think about the
varying methods of organization of potters' work & the various
distribution systems in the ethnographic readings AND in the videos to
date (including those from Sept. 11 & 18) STONE Video: Flintknapping with Bruce Bradley.
If time: The Art of Guetemalan Weaving. (1) Review Miller
Ch. 4 readings from last week. (2) Sinopoli (2003):
pp. 13-37 - overview of organization of production in archy (3) Shah
(1985):
pp. 15-28 - 3 different manufacturing
traditions for same objects; also use for toys as well as ritual (4) Van der Leeuw
(1993): pp. 238-288 (skim
pp. 245-282) - compare different technological traditions Oct. 2 TOPIC
STATEMENTS DUE THIS WEEK! Discussion Themes: Extractive-Reductive Crafts (Stone, Fibers,
Sculpted Organics - also hides, etc.); More on organization of
production; Researching entire
technological systems STONE; FIBERS;
WOOD Demo/Slides: Stone Bead Production in Khambat, India
(agates-chipped) and in Peshawar, Pakistan (talc/steatite &
lapis-sawn). References: Kenoyer, Vidale
&. Bhan (1991, 1994); Roux (2000), Roux et al. (1995) ; Vidale
(1995) Video: The Art of
Guetemalan Weaving
The Dogrib Birchbark Canoe
(1) Miller Ch. 3;
review Ch. 2;
Section 1 of Ch. 5 (boats) (2) McGhee (1977) (3) Wake (1999) (4) Russell (2001) (5) Arnold (1995) If you are
interested in stone usewear studies, I should introduce you to Dr. Chen
Shen, Curator at the ROM. Make-up for Oct. 9 --- Can be done
at any time --- Discussion Themes: Skill; Apprenticeship SKILL
(&FIBERS) Video: The World According to Basketry (1) Wendrich 1999:
pp. 1-4, 389-394, 419-426. (2) Crown (2001) (3) Roux et al. (1995) (4) Kenoyer et
al.
(1991) Oct. 16 Discussion Themes: Metals; Style of Object; Style
of Production (Technological style) METALS Video: Dhokra: The Lost Wax Process in India Demo & Lab: Ashante (West African) Lost Wax Casting;
model production & first coat of clay (1) Miller, section
3 of Ch. 4 (Metals);
section 3 of Ch. 5 (Technological Style) (2) Hegmon (1992) -
style (3) Wright (2002) -
technological style (4) Hosler (1994) -
technological style (5) Horne (1987) -
lost wax technique Oct. 23 Discussion Themes: Organization of Labour; Innovation &
Tradition Lab: Second coat of clay on lost wax objects;
pottery (1) Miller , section
2 of Ch. 5 (Innovation
& Labor) (2) In van der Leeuw
& Torrence (1989):
(a) Torrence & van der
Leeuw, pp.1-15
(b) Spratt, pp. 245-257
(c) Allen, pp. 258-280
(d) McGlade & McGlade, pp.
281-299
(e) van der Leeuw, pp. 300-329
(f) Shennan, pp. 330-346 (3) Review van der
Leeuw (1993) for
Innovation & Tradition Oct. 30 BIBLIOGRAPHIES
DUE THIS WEEK! Discussion Themes: Architecture / Built Structures; Use
& Meaning of Space; Labour Mobilization
& Monumental Structures Video: Roman City. (Macaulay) Lab: Object
Analysis - multiple perspectives (for next
week's readings) Lab 2: Weighing out metal,
crucible building; pottery (1) Szabo &
Barfield (1991) (2) Lawrence &
Low (1990) (3) Macaulay (1973)
and (1975) Nov. 6 Discussion Themes: Value & Status; Material Culture
Meanings & Values (in various
disciplines) Lab: Last coat of clay on lost wax objects; pottery Individual
Projects - Lab Work, Individual Meetings (1) Miller , section
2 of Ch. 4 (vitrified
silicates); section 1 of Ch. 6 (value) (2) In Lubar &
Kingery (1993):
(a) Csikszentmihalyi, pp.
20-29.
(b) Maquet, pp. 30-40
(c) Friedel, pp. 41-50. (3) Jones (1990) Nov. 13
FIRING DAY - START at 9 am
Break at lunch for discussion Discussion Themes: Ritual Technology;
Video: Sandpainting: A Navajo Tradition
(if time) (1) Miller, section
2 of Ch. 6 (ritual) (2) Review Shah
(1985) as contrast Nov. 20 Discussion Themes: Agricultural
Technologies Individual
Projects - Lab Work, Individual Meetings (1) Review Miller,
section 2 of Ch. 5 (Innovation & Labor) (2) Reddy (1997) -
harvesting (3) Foxhall (1998) -
use of byproducts (4) Erickson (2006)-
field &water systems Nov. 27 Discussion Themes: Defining the Study
of Technology; Technological Systems; Importance of Studying Technology Some
PRESENTATIONS in class (1) Miller, Ch. 7;
review Ch. 1 (2) Kingery, W.D
(1993) (3) Skibo &
Shiffer (2001) (4) Bleed (2001) (5) Franklin
(1992[1990]): pp. 11-35, 55-75. Dec. 4 Remaining
PRESENTATIONS in class PAPER DUE by Dec. 15, 3 pm (Friday) References Allen,
Peter M.,
1989. Modelling innovation and
change. In: Sander E. van der
Leeuw and Robin Torrence (eds), What's
New? A Closer Look at the Process
of Innovation. London: Unwin
Hyman. Pp. 258-280. Arnold,
Jeanne
E. 1995. Transportation
Innovation and Social Complexity among
Maritime Hunter-Gatherer Societies. American Anthropologist
97(4):733-747. Bleed,
Peter. 2001. Artifice
Constrained: What Determines Technological
Choice? In: Schiffer,
Michael B. (ed), Anthropological
Perspectives on Technology. Amerind Foundation New
World studies series, no. 5. Albuquerque,
NM: University of New
Mexico Press. Pp. 151-162. Crown,
Patricia
L. 2001. Learning
to Make Pottery in the Prehispanic American
Southwest. Journal of Anthropological Research
57:451-469. Csikszentmihalyi,
Mihaly. 1993. Why
We Need Things,
In: Steven Lubar & W.
David Kingery (eds), History
From Things: Essays on Material Culture. Washington
DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Pp.
20-29. Dobres,
Marcia-Anne & Christopher R. Hoffman. 1995. Social Agency and the
Dynamics
of Prehistoric
Technology. Journal of
Archaeological Method and Theory
1(3):211-258. (Important Reference, not
assigned; Also see the 1999 volume
edited by the
same authors, The Social Dynamics of Technology. Blackwell.) Erickson,
Clark L. 2006.
Intensification, Political Economy, and the Farming Community. In Defense of a Bottom-up Perspetive of
the Past. In: Joyce
Marcus & Charles Stanish
(eds), Agricultural Strategies.
Los Angeles: Cotsen
Institute of Archaeology Press, UCLA.
Pp. 334-363. Foxhall,
Lin. 1989. Snapping
up the Unconsidered Trifles: the
Use of Agricutlural Residues in Ancient Greek and
Roman Farming. Environmental Archaeology 1:
35-40. Franklin,
Ursula. 1992 [1990]. The
Real World of Technology. CBC Massey Lectures Series.
Concord, Ontario: House of Anansi
Press. Friedel,
Robert, 1993. Some Matters of
Substance, In: Steven Lubar &
W. David Kingery (eds), History
From Things: Essays on Material Culture. Washington
DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Pp. 41-50. Hegmon,
Michelle, 1992. Archaeological
Research on Style. Annual
Review of Anthropology 21:
517-536. Horne,
Lee. 1987. The
Brasscasters of Dariapur, West Bengal: Artisans
in a Changing World. Expedition
29(3): 39-46. Hosler,
Dorothy. 1994. Sound,
color and meaning in the
metallurgy of Ancient West Mexico.
World Archaeology
27(1): 100-115. Jones,
Mark. 1990. FAKE? The Art of Deception.
BM Magazine. The Journal of the British Museum Society. Spring 1990, pp. 19-34. Kenoyer,
Jonathan Mark, Massimo Vidale, and Kuldeep Kumar Bhan.
1991. Contemporary stone beadmaking
in Khambhat, India: patterns of craft
specialization and
organization of production as reflected in the archaeological record. World
Archaeology
23(1):44-63. Kenoyer,
Jonathan Mark, Massimo Vidale &
Kuldeep K. Bhan. 1994. Carnelian
Bead Production in Khambhat, India:
An Ethnoarchaeological Study.
In B. Allchin (ed.)
Living Traditions. Studies in
the Ethnoarchaeology of
South Asia. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing
Co. Pvt. Ltd. pp. 281-306. Kingery,
W.
David. 1993. Technological Systems
and some Implications with Regard to Continuity and Change, In: Steven Lubar & W. David Kingery
(eds) History From Things: Essays
on Material Culture. Washington
DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Pp.
215-230. Lawrence,
Denise L. and Setha M. Low, 1990. The Built Environment and Spatial Form. Annual Review of Anthropology 19:
453-505. Macaulay,
David, 1973. Cathedral.
The Story of Its Construction. New
York:
Houghton Mifflin Company. Macaulay,
David. 1975. Pyramid.
New
York:
Houghton Mifflin Company. Maquet,
Jacques. 1993. Objects
as Instruments, Objects as Signs, In:
Steven Lubar & W. David Kingery (eds). History
From Things: Essays on Material Culture. Washington
DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Pp. 30-40 McGhee,
Robert. 1977. Ivory
for the Sea Woman: The Symbolic Attributes
of a
Prehistoric Technology. Canadian Journal of Archaeology
1:141-149. McGlade,
James
& Jacqueline M. McGlade. 1989.
Modelling the innovative component of social change. In: Sander E. van der Leeuw and Robin
Torrence (eds) What's New?
A Closer Look at the Process of
Innovation. London: Unwin
Hyman. Pp. 281-299. Reddy,
Seetha
Narahari Roux,
Valentine. 2000. Cornaline
de l'Inde. Des pratiques techniques
de Cambay aux techno-systemes de l'Indus.
Paris: Editions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme. Roux,
Valentine,
Blandine Bril, and Gilles Dietrich.
1995. Skills and learning
difficulties involved in stone knapping:
the case of stone-bead knapping in Khambhat, India. World
Archaeology
27(1):63-87. Russell,
Nerissa. 2001. Neolithic
Relations of Production:
Insights from the Bone Tool Industry. In: Crafting Bone: Skeletal
Technologies through Space and Time. Choyke, Alice M. and Laszlo Bartosiewicz, eds.
BAR
International Series 937. Oxford: Archaeopress. pp. 271-280. Shah,
Haku. 1985. Votive
Terracottas of Gujarat. Living Traditions of India Series. New York: Mapin
International. Shennan,
Stephen. 1989. Cultural
transmission and cultural change.
In: Sander E. van der Leeuw and Robin Torrence (eds), What's New? A
Closer Look at the Process of
Innovation. London: Unwin
Hyman. Pp. 330-346. Skibo,
James M. and Michael B. Shiffer.
2001. Understanding
Artifact Variability and Change: A
Behavioral Framework. In:
Schiffer, Michael B. (ed), Anthropological
Perspectives on Technology. Amerind Foundation New
World studies series, no. 5. Albuquerque,
NM: University of New
Mexico Press. Pp. 139-150. Sinopoli,
Carla
M. 2003. The Political Economy
of Craft Production. Crafting
Empire in South India, c. 1350-1650. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
(Read Ch. 2, summary of archaeological approaches to craft
specialization) Spratt,
D.A.
1989. Innovation theory made
plain. In: Sander E. van der Leeuw
and Robin Torrence (eds), What's
New? A Closer Look at the Process
of Innovation. London: Unwin
Hyman. Pp. 245-257. Szabo,
Albert
and Thomas J. Barfield. 1991.
Extracts from Afghanistan: An
Atlas of Indigenous Domestic
Architecture. Austin: University
of Texas Press. Pp. 1-10 (Introduction,
Methodology,
Historical background) & pp. 91-110 (Rectangular huts &
Ovate-Oblong
Huts). Torrence,
Robin
and Sander E. van der Leeuw. 1989.
Introduction: what's new
about innovation? In: Sander E. van der Leeuw and Robin Torrence (eds), What's New? A
Closer Look at the Process of
Innovation. London: Unwin
Hyman. Pp. 1-15. van
der Leeuw,
Sander E., 1989. Risk, perception,
innovation. In: Sander E. van der Leeuw and Robin Torrence (eds), What's New? A
Closer Look at the Process of
Innovation. London: Unwin
Hyman. Pp. 300-346. van
der Leeuw,
Sander E. 1993. Giving
the Potter a Choice: Conceptual aspects of
pottery
techniques. In Pierre Lemonnier
(ed.), Technological Choices: Transformation in material cultures
since the
Neolithic. London & NY: Pp. 238-288. Vidale,
Massimo.
1995. Early Beadmakers of the
Indus Tradition. The Manufacturing
Sequence of Talc Beads at Mehrgarh in the 5th Millennium B.C. East and West 45(1-4): 45-80 Wake,
Thomas
A. 1999. Exploitation
of Tradition: Bone Tool Production and Use at
Colony Ross, California. In: The Social Dynamics of Technology. Practice, Politics, and World Views. Dobres, Marcia-Anne and Christopher R.
Hoffman, eds. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 186-208. Wendrich,
Willeke. 1999. The World
According to Basketry. An
Ethno-archaeological Interpretation of Basketry Production in Egypt. Leiden, Netherlands: Research School
of Asian,
African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Universiteit Leiden. (Read sections indicted on skill and
apprenticeship.) Wright,
Rita P.,
2002. Revisiting Interaction
Spheres - Social Boundaries and Technologies on Inner and Outermost
Frontiers. Iranica Antiqua 37:
403-417. Videos The
Art of
Guatemalan Weaving.
2000.
Produced by Jan Olsen in highland Guatemala in 1999. 30 min. Jan
Olsen, 6719
106 St., Edmonton, Alberta
T6H 2W1, sabar@compusmart.ab.ca. Roman
City. 1995. PBS Home
Video. Based on the book City. A Story of Roman Planning &
Construction by
David Macaulay.
60 min. ISBN: 0780611357 (Available at St. Michael's Library, U of T). Dhokra:
The Lost Wax Process in India, 1989, produced by
David J. Capers in Orissa, India. 26 min. The
Dogrib
Birchbark Canoe (Tliicho K'iela),
1997, Dogrib Divisional Board of Education
& Lone Woolf Television Production Services. Chief
Jimmy Bruneau Regional High School, Northwest
Territories. 29 min. Flintknapping
with Bruce Bradley. 1989. Produced by
INTERpark, Cortez, CO. ca. 55 min. Maria. Indian Pottery Maker of San Ildefonso. 19xx? US National
Park Service. 27 min. (manufacture of handmade
pottery from clay collection to firing by Maria Martinez & her son)
The
Potters
of Thrapsano: A Modern Workshop with Clues to Ancient Technology.
1999. Cinegraphic Films.
27 min. (large jar manufacture using a
combination of handmade & wheelmade sections, pottery workshop on
Crete) Sandpainting. A Navajo Tradition. 19xx?
Produced by
INTERpark, Cortez, CO. 37 min. Wendrich,
Willeke. 1999. The
World According to Basketry. Research
School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Universiteit
Leiden Video ca.
60
min. ISBN 90-5789-035-6
Course Description
Although designated as an archaeology course, this
course approaches
past technologies from a variety of perspectives: through
readings and discussion of major theoretical topics;
through analysis of archaeological data; through ethnographic videos
and accounts; and through hands-on techniques of reconstruction,
experimentation
and analysis.
Technology and
production will be studied alternatively from the perspective of the
modern scholar, focusing on the major methods
archaeologists and others have used to study ancient technology, and
from the
perspective of the ancient craftsperson, focusing on basic production
technologies for
a number of crafts. Intertwined with this, a number of themes in
the study of technology will be examined,
such as organization & control of production, style of technology,
and the
value of objects. Throughout, social and cultural as well as
economic and functional reasons for the development and
adoption of new technologies will be discussed.
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