70th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Salt Lake City
Thursday 31 March 2005, Salt Palace Convention Center, Room 250 F, 1 pm.
Round Table Luncheon
Friday 1 April 2005, Salt Palace Convention Center, Room 254 A-C, 12-1 pm.
Symposium
45: Learning a craft, a physical learning process, is based on
observation, imitation and most importantly, repetition. This symposium
concentrates on the types of knowledge and the methods of knowledge
transfer by craftsmen in the social context of learning. Subjects that
will be covered are: how do we recognize the work of apprenticeship or
evidence of learning in
the archaeological material; what are the social aspects of knowledge
transfer in relation to social mobility; engendering knowledge
transfer; the epistemology of craftsmanship and lastly, the use of
insights gained by discerning
different types of knowledge and learning in teaching archaeology.
Ancient Apprenticeship and Body
Knowledge;
by: Willeke Wendrich, Department of NELC, UCLA
1:00-1:15 pm.
Ancient technology was passed on through generations. The
transfer of knowledge from master to apprentice was done
partly by demonstrating, but mostly by having the apprentice train the
same movements over and over again, building up a physically engrained
knowledge of movements. To understand the demands of ancient production
the modern researcher will
find that the most suitable method of acquiring knowledge is to take on
the role of apprentice. This research strategy provides not only
information on the techniques and the properties of the materials, but
also on the learning process itself.by: Willeke Wendrich, Department of NELC, UCLA
1:00-1:15 pm.
Epistemology and Ontology of
Craftsmanship;
by: Lise Bender Jørgensen, Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim (Norway)
1:15-1:30 pm.
by: Lise Bender Jørgensen, Vitenskapsmuseet, Trondheim (Norway)
1:15-1:30 pm.
Craftmanship is transmitted by
familiarity, obtained by daily, close contact with a master craftsman,
as so-called tacit knowledge. Craftsmanship has a language of its own,
consisting of movements and experience. Traditionally, this is
perceived as utterly
non-academic. This paper intends to explore the epistemology and
ontology
of craftsmanship, and ways to bridge the gap betwwen tacit and
verbalized
knowledge.
Secret Agents and Social Structures:
The Effects of Social Contexts of Learning on Ceramic Decorative Motor-Performance Attributes;
by: John Creese, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto (Canada)
The Effects of Social Contexts of Learning on Ceramic Decorative Motor-Performance Attributes;
by: John Creese, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto (Canada)
1:30-1:45 pm.
An experiment was designed in order to test archaeological
methods utilizing motor habit performance related “microvariables” as a
means to identify the work of individual prehistoric potters. It was
hypothesized, contre Hill (1977), that motor-performance related
attributes are sensitive to their social contexts of learning, and
change over time. Individuals
in two groups, a “social pressure” and an “individualist” group,
completed
an incised design on wet clay plaques on two occasions. Principal
Components Analysis and a Discriminant Analysis provide strong support
for the proposition that individual patterns of motor-performance are
directly influenced
by the social environment of their acquisition.Apprenticeship in Textile Crafts: The
Transmission of Culture;
by: Martin Ciszuk (Sweden)
by: Martin Ciszuk (Sweden)
1:45-2:00 pm.
The transmission of a craft through
apprenticeship involves not only tools and raw materials, but also an
initiation into a system of language, ethics, taste and rules. This
discourse reflects
the age, the context and the society the craft is part of. As a textile
researcher and professional craftsman, with experience in knowledge
transfer
on weaving and sewing, my contribution will be an attempt to analyze
the
ideas expressed through the craft by studying archaeological and
historic
textiles, using examples from Swedish hand weaving, 19th – 20th century
silk weaving, and Roman textiles from Egypt.
Tradition in the Making.
Contemporary Pottery Making and Apprenticeship Processes within New Mexico Pueblos: A Case Study;
by: Helene Wallaert, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Albuquerque
Contemporary Pottery Making and Apprenticeship Processes within New Mexico Pueblos: A Case Study;
by: Helene Wallaert, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Albuquerque
2:00-2:15 pm.
Comprehension of phenomena related to the
elaboration of cultural boundaries remains a central issue for many
research disciplines. Anthropologists have explored these topics
recently through studies of cultural transmission, trying to understand
how people relate to their
community, and manifest their identity. Southwest American pottery has
been
the focus of major studies but the question of contemporary craft
learning
has not. Much more investigation is needed to understand how potters
relate
to their community, how they deal with the recognition of their
techno-cultural
background. This paper will explore pottery teaching and learning
processes
within a group of New Mexico Pueblos.
Stone Tool Apprenticeship and
Enculturation in the Eastern Canadian Arctic;
by: Brooke Milne, Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario (Canada)
by: Brooke Milne, Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario (Canada)
2:15-2:30 pm.
The Early Palaeo-Eskimos of the eastern
Canadian Arctic are best recognized archaeologically from the remains
of their
sophisticated stone tool technology. Despite this, however, little is
presently known about how these peoples acquired this technological
skill,
from whom, at what age, where, and at what time of year. This paper
presents
data from several sites located in the interior of southern Baffin
Island,
which illustrates that stone tool apprenticeship among the Early
Palaeo-Eskimos was not only seasonally and geographically specific but
that it was also closely tied to enculturation and the process of
landscape learning in this vast geographic region.
The Apprenticeship of Landscape Learning:
Connecting the Concept to Larger Models of Evolution and Environmental Change;
by: Marcy Rockman, Statistical Research Inc.
2:45-3:00 pm.
Connecting the Concept to Larger Models of Evolution and Environmental Change;
by: Marcy Rockman, Statistical Research Inc.
2:45-3:00 pm.
The landscape learning process is defined
as the social response to situations in which there is both a lack of
knowledge about the distribution of natural resources in a region and a
slack of access to such knowledge that may have been previously
acquired by others. The landscape learning concept was first developed
to better understand
the archaeology of colonization. This paper broadens the theoretical
scope
of landscape learning, connecting it with the culture and evolution
–dual
inheritance model of Boyd and Richerson, the variability of selection
model
of Potts, and the dynamic scalar model of environmental change by
Hopkinson.
Communities of Practice and Networks of
Exchange:
Glaze Paint Analyses of Pueblo IV Ceramics in the Silver Creek Area, Arizona;
by: Samuel Duwe, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona
Glaze Paint Analyses of Pueblo IV Ceramics in the Silver Creek Area, Arizona;
by: Samuel Duwe, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona
3:00-3:15 pm.
Previous analyses of Pueblo IV glaze
painted ceramics in the Silver Creek area of east-central Arizona have
indicated both aggregation and migration affecting the size and social
composition of communities. This paper will examine the chemical
composition of the
glaze pigments themselves by laser ablation-inductively coupled
plasma-mass
spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). These data can be used to understand
provenance
of the pigment, and can be used at an intra-site scale to delineate
specific
paint recipes inherent to ceramic traditions, or potting communities at
a possible household level. Questions of exchange and communities of
practice
will be addressed, specifically in understanding networks of
prehistoric
knowledge transmission.
Apprenticeship and Figured Ostraca at
the Ancient
Egyptian Village of Deir el Medina;
by: Kathlyn Cooney, Stanford University
by: Kathlyn Cooney, Stanford University
3:15-3:30 pm.
The artisans who worked on the ancient Egyptian New Kingdom
Royal Tombs also produced thousands of ostraca, limestone chips with
informal sketches. I argue that most craft training probably did not
happen in
a formal setting, but informally at the work site and in the
craftsmen’s village. Sketching on ostraca provided not only the
opportunity to learn and practice the accepted artistic forms, but also
to test new forms and combinations. Informal sketching was one of the
main methods through which style was maintained, but it was also the
avenue to taste change, by which styles were updated and changed.J.D. Beazley: The World of Ancient Attic
Vase Painters and their Apprentices;
by: Eleni Hasaki, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College
by: Eleni Hasaki, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology, Bryn Mawr College
3:30-3:45 pm.
This paper will focus on the frequency of
the terms “pupils”, “followers” and “imitators” in the work of J.D.
Beazley: Attic Black-Figure Vase Painters (1956) and Attic Red-Figure
Vase Painters (1963) in which he reconstructed a vivid world of over
1,000 painters
from the 6th-4th centuries BCE. The absence of any methodological
framework
and the inconsistency in the use of these terms of ancient
apprenticeship
have been repeatedly criticized in modern scholarship. I will also
compare
his analysis of the Attic vase-painting workshops to our knowledge of
the
organization of the Renaissance painters' workshops, a world that
allegedly
inspired Beazley.
Learning from the Ancestors;
by: Marilyn Kelly-Buccelati, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
by: Marilyn Kelly-Buccelati, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA
3:45-4:00 pm.
Our excavations of the Hurrian city of
Urkesh, in northeastern Syria, have uncovered a city dating 3000-1500
BC. Over the centuries certain traditions were rediscovered,
particularly in the areas of ceramic production and the carving of
cylinder seals. In both
cases we have examples of learning by imitation. In the ceramic
production,
it is clear that when the imitations were produced there were no living
practitioners of that type of ceramics, given the long chronological
distance
between the original and the imitation. The cases for cylinder seal
design
imitation are two, both imitations of the original design of inferior
quality.
Methods of Reconstructing Craftsmanship,
Objects and Intentions;
by: Terje Planke (Norway)
by: Terje Planke (Norway)
4:00-4:15 pm.
In the Gokstad-boat project at the
Viking-ship museum/ University of Oslo, our goal is to reconstruct not
only the form itself but also the structure and the procedures of the
craft. By reconstructing the boat - in full size - twice, we are moving
power towards the boat
builder as an interpreting subject making subjective choices. How might
we then grasp the intentions of the craftsmen that worked 1000 years
ago?
We are leaning on local boat building traditions we have documented and
identify important changes in the perspectives. Gadamers concepts of Gesamtkonzeption
and Wirkungsgeschichte makes an important point of departure.
Apprenticeships in Archaeology: The Role
of Experimental Archaeology;
by: Heather Miller, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto (Canada)
by: Heather Miller, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto (Canada)
4:15-4:30 pm.
The teaching of archaeology in North
America, unlike many disciplines, has always included both traditional
lecture
classes and apprentice-like courses involving 'hands-on' learning -
what
education specialists call kinesthetic learning or 'muscle learning'.
This includes field schools and lab methods courses, as well as courses
in experimental archaeology. While the former have maintained a steady
importance in the field, experimental courses seem to have waxed and
waned
in popularity. The possible reasons for this variation are explored,
and
the role of experimental archaeology as a way to teach research methods
discussed in relation to changes in archaeological theory.
Discussant; 4:30-4:45 pm.
Brenda Bowser, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University
Brenda Bowser, Department of Anthropology, Washington State University
| Mobile people |
Residue analysis |
Fayum field school | Berenike excavations | Cotsen Institute |
*) The animation at the top of this
page is made by H. Barnard
based on the painting in the Tomb of Min (TT109, near Luxor) depicting
the official Min giving archery lessons to Prince Amenhotep (the later
Pharao Amenhotep II, ca. 1425 BCE) and the line drawing thereof by N.
de G. Davies (1935) .