LRNG FROM THINGSW. D. Kingery 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. |
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STEVEN LUBAR | 31 |
W DAVID KINGERY | 175 |
W DAVID KINGERY | 181 |
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activities aesthetic Ain Ghazal analysis anthropological anthropological records archaeological context archaeological record archival Archivists artifacts Bronze Age ceramics chemical Christopher Tilley coins collectors context copper curators documents edited electron engineering ethnographic ethnographic collections evidence examination example excavations field fieldnotes formation processes Fowler glass historians history of technology human important individual inferences interpretation knowledge Kristiansen learning from things lime plaster lusterware machines magnification manufacture material culture studies material culturists materials science metal methods Michael Schiffer microscopy microstructure museum collections Native American Natural History Neolithic nineteenth century objects optical dating organic Parezo particular past photographs pocket radios pottery private collections production professional radiocarbon dating radios with subminiature repositories result sample Schiffer scholars Smithsonian Institution social Society sources Steven Lubar stone structure subminiature tubes surface technical artifacts techniques Technology and Culture tion understanding University Press Vandiver vessels Washington York