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Material Culture Texts and Social Change: A Theoretical Discussion and some Archaeological Examples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2022

Ian Hodder
Ian Hodder*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Downing St, Cambridge CB2 3DZ
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Abstract

Material culture meanings are transferred between objects on the basis of similarities and differences. In order to fix the potential ambiguity of meanings, experience is bracketed within bounded contexts. New acts always refer back to existing organized experience or texts. It can be argued that text comes before action. This idea is used in a discussion of the appearance of agglomerated and bounded settlements in the European Neolithic. It is shown that occupied settlements are often preceded by non-domestic enclosures which sometimes have a ritual nature. Ritual text seems to prefigure practical event. A similar relationship between formalized ritual texts and social action is shown in a wide range of other examples. Finally some of the potential reasons for the observed relationship between text and action are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , 1988 , pp. 67 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1988

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References

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