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MATERIAL SYMBOLS AND THE INTERPRETATION OF CULTURAL CHANGE
Author(s) -
WELLS PETER S.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
oxford journal of archaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1468-0092
pISSN - 0262-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0092.1985.tb00227.x
Subject(s) - interpretation (philosophy) , subsistence agriculture , settlement (finance) , character (mathematics) , politics , perception , history , archaeology , subsistence economy , sociology , epistemology , political science , linguistics , economics , law , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , finance , payment , agriculture
Summary Changes in economic patterns, such as in subsistence practices, settlement organization, and trade, are accompanied by changes in people's view of their world and their place in it. In contexts for which the economic bases and social configurations are fairly well understood, it should be possible to identify and interpret changes in symbolic systems. The case presented involves transformations in the character and decoration of ceramic vessels of the European Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. This line of inquiry can provide insight into shifts in attitudes and perceptions that came about as the result of newly developing economic and political configurations.