THEATRICS OF TECHNOLOGYconsuming obsidian in the early
Cycladic burial arena
the
Early Bronze I Late Bronze I Early Bronze IISmall dispersed hamlets
Few sizeable communities
Settlements/ cemeteries display hallmarks of regional centres
15-20 tombs 72 graves Notably larger burials, diversity and wealth of material culture.Size of blades increased, cores appearPreferential access to skilled technical knowledge
Majority unfurnished, but when grave goods present, a ceramic vessel or single obsidian blade
Richer assemblages, including first appearance of metals, bodily adornment
Obsidian (non-cortical, pressure flaked prismatic). Complete and unused. Single pieces
Obsidian blade “sets,” increased size of blades. Blade cores first appear
Size of blades increased. Obsidian cores appear.
important changes in eb i and eb ii
necrolithics“an ostentatious form of pressure-flaked blade production from the Early Bronze Age Cyclades... [called] the ‘necrolithic’ because of its role in the islanders’ funerary customs” (88)
production as theatre• Metaphor of theatre, performance and performativity
• Technology as (re)production of social norms
• Can we engage with the social meanings behind the production?
performing the necrolithic
THE EVENT
THE STAGE
THE ACTOR(S)
THE AUDIENCE
obsidian, memory, and community• Obsidian cores and missing blades?
• signifiers of event/performance, remembrance/reinforcement
• The Burial Arena: roles in the renegotiation of social relationships
questions1. What information do we have that differentiates
funerary obsidian from obsidian used at the domestic
level? Does the conceptual frame risk reducing the
mundane obsidian technology?
2. When we invoke the theatre-production metaphor
for thinking about technology in the past, what are the
consequences for interpretation?