Learning from Things: Method and Theory of Material Culture Studies

Kingery, W.David

ISBN 10: 1560986077 / ISBN 13: 9781560986072

Published by Smithsonian Institution, 1996

About this Item

Cloth, dj. Minor rubbing and edge wear to dj; some fading to front dj panel. Slight shelf wear to boards. Else a bright. clean copy.

Seller Inventory # 1960088

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Learning from Things: Method and Theory of Material Culture Studies
• Publisher: Smithsonian Institution
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1560986077
• ISBN 13: 9781560986072
• Binding: hardcover
• Edition: 1st.
• Condition: Used-Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Anthropology

About this title

Synopsis

Learning from Things presents the methods and theories underlying the many ways in which material objects - things of all kinds from all periods of history - can reconstruct and interpret lifeways of the past. This collection of essays links material culture studies with art history and the history of technology, as well as with archaeology, anthropology, cultural geography, folklore studies, and other fields that use material evidence.
The thirteen contributors - among them Jules D. Prown, Don D. Fowler, Steven Lubar, Joseph J. Corn, and Michael B. Schiffer - examine both the processes of forming historical and archaeological records and collections and how those processes influence, and even distort, conclusions made by scholars. The book also deals with the role of optical and electron microscopy, radiocarbon dating, and other tools of material science in material culture studies.
Citing various processes - from microwear analysis of Paleolithic stone tool surfaces to the impact of mechanized metal cutting on nineteenth-century gun production - the contributors argue the importance of multidisciplinary participation for accurately analyzing objects. Bringing together the approaches of both "hard" systematic scholars and "soft" humanists concerned with aesthetics and cultural belief systems, the book provides a foundation for the further evolution of material culture studies.