Object biography, amended and expanded by the newer and ontologically updated concept of object itineraries, is a well-established analytical tool for documenting human–object interactions. The present paper explores its intersection with art, and proposes the concept of Creative Object Biography, as a step forward in the discourse and as a means for articulating and sharing alternative narratives and imageries not only among specialists but also – and especially – with the wider public, aiming to render discussions on materiality relevant to diverse audiences. The paper uses as a case study a group of three every-day objects associated with the Vlach pastoral transhumance of northern Greece, whose entanglements and cultural itineraries functioned as the inspiration for the creation of three original short films.

Perforated stone plaques, known as bracers, are found across late prehistoric Europe and many of them have been recovered in Bell Beaker funerary contexts, usually associated with adult individuals. Experimental, technological, and use-wear studies have determined that the bracers were both utilitarian and symbolic objects. Very few are found in children's graves, but examples are known in the Iberian Peninsula, two of which are presented here. The analyses conducted on the two bracers, including archaeological contextualization, raw material identification, and technological and use-wear studies, allow the authors to reconstruct their respective biographies. Although these pieces were associated with young children, they had long lives before their final deposition in the graves. Use-wear marks on one of the bracers suggest that it was used in archery, despite its small size.

This article considers the relevance of the Society for American Archaeology's 2018 “Statement on Collaboration with Responsible and Responsive Stewards of the Past” for imported antiquities (specifically, “classical” ones—that is, from Mediterranean regions). Various practical, legal, and ethical differences between collecting imported versus domestic objects make it difficult to identify “responsive and responsible stewards” of the former. An obstacle to responsible stewardship of privately owned classical collections—and to collaboration between classical archaeologists and collectors—is the 2008 acquisition guidelines issued by the two leading professional organizations in the museum field. I argue that the best home for unprovenienced and poorly provenienced antiquities collections is in university museums, where their complicated object biographies can be fully researched, taught, and displayed.

Mutability—the ability to change form and substance—is a key feature of glass and metals. This quality, however, has proven frustrating for archaeological and archaeometric research. This article assesses the typological, chemical and theoretical elements of material reuse and recycling, reframing these practices as an opportunity to understand past behaviour, rather than as an obstacle to understanding. Using diverse archaeological data, the authors present case studies to illustrate the potential for documenting mutability in the past, and to demonstrate what this can reveal about the movement, social context and meaning of archaeological material culture. They hope that through such examples archaeologists will consider and integrate mutability as a formative part of chaînes opératoires.

This project develops theoretical as well as methodological tools for the study of ancient wood, focusing on wood-use in North-eastern Europe within the period AD 1100–1600. The authors approach wood within the framework of object biographies and link the study of wooden artefacts with broader archaeological understandings of formation processes and environmental reconstruction.

This paper uses evidence from a previously unresearched ecclesiastical textile associated with Archbishop John Morton (c 1420−1500) to generate new insights into the material culture of the Roman Catholic faith before, during and after the penal period in England (c 1558−1829). This composite textile was initially thought to be made up of fragments of a late 1400s cope bearing Morton’s rebus, reconfigured as an altar frontal, which had survived in the house of an important Roman Catholic family. The embroidered motifs include a unique Lily Crucifix. The textile’s complex biography is ‘unpicked’ using physical and textual evidence to understand its changing forms, roles and significance. Analysis of the material and construction, combined with evidence gained through X-radiography, showed the frontal to be composed of parts of a cope and at least one other vestment, with a now missing image of the Annunciation. Mapping the stages of fragmentation, removal and re-modelling demonstrates the transformation of significant mainstream vestments into other forms. The paper illuminates aspects of Morton’s faith and provides new insights into the practices of recusant Roman Catholics.

By the time the Roman empire reached its greatest extent, in the early decades of the second century ad, wooden barrels were a key part of a trade network that supported a complex extended economy. These objects do not, however, routinely survive in the archaeological record and very few sites have yielded large, multi-phase, assemblages for study. Although relatively rare, individual finds and assemblages have been found sufficiently regularly to allow us to consider barrel production and use during the Roman period. These objects can have complex cultural biographies from their original production to their final deposition. Current and previous research at Vindolanda, a Roman fort in northern Britain at the edge of the Roman empire, provides a context for reflection on these objects and their biographies. Emphasis is given to whether this material demonstrates repeated, possibly habituated, practices of adaption and recycling.

In this study, we generate novel insights regarding bodily ornaments from indigenous societies of late precolonial Greater Antilles. Previous research has highlighted the sociopolitical role of valuable, exotic, and figurative ornaments, yet there are many gaps in our current understanding of these artifacts. Here, we focus on ornaments from five recently excavated sites in the Dominican Republic (AD 800–1600). We used microwear analysis to investigate each ornament and assess its production sequence and use life. These data permitted the definition of morpho-technical groups, which we then compared to depositional contexts and the regional availability of raw materials. We demonstrate that (1) there was small-scale production of ornaments at the sites, (2) the most recurrent morpho-technical groups were likely imported from production centers, and (3) ornaments of the same group could lead different use lives and be deposited through varied processes. We conclude that bodily ornaments had highly diverse biographies involving local and regional interaction networks.

Marine plastic pollution is a global environmental concern. With reference to approaches in contemporary archaeology, object biographies and psychology, this article presents the application of a novel participatory (‘World Café’) methodology that aims both to understand how marine plastic pollution occurs and to demonstrate the value of the approach for encouraging behaviour change. As proof of concept, the authors present the preliminary results of fieldwork involving local people in the Galápagos archipelago to demonstrate the benefits of an archaeological approach in developing new frameworks to help mitigate this critical environmental threat.

The discovery of an unusual early medieval plough coulter in a well-dated Anglo-Saxon settlement context in Kent suggests that continentally derived technology was in use in this powerful kingdom centuries before heavy ploughs were first depicted in Late Saxon manuscripts. The substantial investment required to manufacture the coulter, the significant damage and wear that it sustained during use and the circumstances of its ultimate ritual deposition are explored. Investigative conservation, high-resolution recording and metallographic analysis illuminate the form, function and use-life of the coulter. An examination of the deposition contexts of plough-irons in early medieval northern Europe sheds important new light on the ritual actions of plough symbolism in an age of religious hybridity and transformation.

The flexibility of material culture encourages material phenomena to take a dynamic part in social life. An example of this is material citation, which can provide society with links to both the past and connections to contemporary features. In this article, we look at the diverging ways of relating to and reinventing the past in the Viking Age, exploring citations to ancient monuments in the landscape of Gammel Lejre on Zealand, Denmark. Complementing the placement of landscape monuments, attention is also brought to examples of mortuary citations related to bodily practices in Viking-age mortuary dramas, such as those visible at the mound of Skopintull on the island of Adelsö in Lake Mälaren, Sweden. Through these case studies, we explore the variability in citational strategies found across tenth-century Scandinavia.

The cause of the Viking Age is one of our longest-lived debates. A combination of push and pull factors and a catalysing environment instigated the late 8th-century escalation in maritime activity that ultimately led to social, political and religious transformation. Recent discussions have focused on the macro level, with little consideration of the individual gains to be made by raiding. This paper argues that rewards consisted in more than portable wealth. In the flexible hierarchies of the Viking Age, those who took advantage of opportunities to enhance their social capital stood to gain significantly. The lure of the raid was thus more than booty; it was about winning and preserving power through the enchantment of travel and the doing of deeds. This provides an important correction to models that focus on the need for portable wealth; the act of acquiring silver was as important as the silver itself.