The Reality of Artifacts: A Perspective from the Archaeology of Human Evolution

159 Pages·2018·6.18 MB·English

by  Michael Chazan

THE REALITY OF ARTIFACTS
Artifacts are hybrids, both natural and cultural. They are also an essential component in
the process of human evolution. In recent years, a wide range of disciplines, including
cognitive science, sociology, art history, and anthropology, have all grappled with the
nature of artifacts, leading to the emergence of a renewed interdisciplinary focus on
material culture.
The Reality of Artifacts: An Archaeological Perspective develops an argument for
artifact as a status conferred by human engagement with material. On this basis, artifacts
are considered first in terms of their relationship to concepts and cognitive functions,
and then to the physical body and sense of self. The book builds on and incorporates
the latest developments in archaeological research, particularly from the archaeology
of human evolution, and integrates this wealth of new archaeological data with new
research in fields such as cognitive science, haptics, and material culture studies.
Making the latest research available for the general reader interested in material
culture, while also providing archaeologists with new theoretical perspectives built
on a synthesis of interdisciplinary research, the book is suitable for courses taught at
both the graduate and undergraduate level, and is broadly accessible.
Michael Chazan is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Toronto. He co-directs the Wonderwerk Cave Research Project with
fieldwork at Wonderwerk Cave and the sites of the Kathu Complex, both located
in the Northern Cape province of South Africa.

THE REALITY OF
ARTIFACTS
An Archaeological Perspective
Michael Chazan
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
 2019 Michael Chazan
The right of Michael Chazan to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-138-21780-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-63577-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-43928-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
For my parents
Robert and Saralea Chazan

CONTENTS
List of figures viii
Acknowledgments x
Introduction: defining artifacts 1
1 It is all in the mind 18
2 Artifacts and the body 46
3 Making space for the invisible 75
4 Wrapping the surface, rethinking art 96
5 The autonomy of objects 120
Epilogue: towards an ecology with objects 139
Index 143
FIGURES
I.1 A flake and the core it was removed from showing
the bulb of percussion 3
I.2 Stone tools from Evron Quarry 4
I.3 The face of the plastered skull from the Neolithic site
of Kefar Hahoresh, Israel 8
I.4 Clay figurines from the temple at Motza 14
1.1 A plate of handaxes from Musée Préhistorique 19
1.2 A bedja bowl from excavations on the Giza Plateau 21
1.3 Levallois flake and core 25
1.4 Scraper types based on the Bordes typology 27
1.5 Technical criteria for the Levallois method 31
1.6 Two views of Pueblo potter Santana Martinez at work 39
2.1 A chopper characteristic of the earliest stone tool assemblages 55
2.2 The earliest known handaxes from the site of Kokiselei, Kenya 56
2.3 The early spears from Schöningen 58
2.4 Impact fracture at the end of one of the Kathu Pan 1 points 59
2.5 Retouched bladelets from the Aurignacian site of La Ferrassie 62
2.6 Metal-tipped San arrowheads from Botswana 66
2.7 The Zoninus collar 68
3.1 Sequence of flake removal from one of the refit cores
from Lokalalei 82
3.2 Menas flasks 85
3.3 In situ evidence of fire from Wonderwerk Cave 88
3.4 Carved sandstone lamp from the Upper Paleolithic
painted cave of Lascaux 90
Figures ix
4.1 View from the back of Wonderwerk Cave with the
afternoon sun filtering in 100
4.2 Incised specularite cobble from Wonderwerk Cave,
Excavation 6 102
4.3 Quartzite handaxe from the Sima de los Huesos,
Atapuerca, Spain 104
4.4 The incised ochre from Blombos 107
4.5 The female figurine from Hohle Fels, Germany 111
4.6 Figurine of a mammoth from Vogelherd, Germany 112
4.7 Glass lamp from the mosque of Sultan Abu Said
Barquq (1382–1399) 116
5.1 Minkondi figure of Mangaaka, the force of jurisprudence 121
5.2 Handaxes representing development through the
Wonderwerk Cave sequence 124
5.3 Mycenaean stirrup jar 126
5.4 Excavation of huts at the Epipaleolithic site of Kharaneh IV 129
5.5 An aerial view of the dense network of architecture
excavated at the Neolithic site of Ba’ja, Jordan 131
5.6 Figures of animated artifacts from the revolt of the objects 135