Personal Ornaments in Prehistory: An Exploration of Body Augmentation from the Palaeolithic to the Early Bronze Age, by Emma L. Baysal (2019)
Year: 2020
Type: book-review
Abstract: This brilliant book emphasizes how and why the human relationship with ornaments developed and continued over tens of thousands of years from the hunter-gatherer life to urban elites, from the use of natural resources to complex technologies.It is based on evidence from archaeological sites across Turkey, the Near East, Greece, the Balkans, and beyond.Chapter 2, Personal ornaments: why are they important in prehistory?, underscores the usefulness of personal ornaments from archaeological excavations for not only studying the materials and technology, but also past identities and relationships, as well as socio-economic matters.These seemingly indisputable issues still require educing in current academic research.The author criticizes terminology that "pre-interprets" ornaments as well as imprecise typologies.She underlines that using bead typologies based on shape as the only or primary category, still common among researchers, is an outdated approach.
DOI: 10.7264/5pr68p95
Author: Joanna Then-Obłuska
Institution: University of Warsaw
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7125800736