Maikel H.G. Kuijpers - An Archaeology of Skill: Metalworking Skill and Material Specialization in Early Bronze Age Central Europe

Material is the mother of innovation and it is through skill that innovations are brought about. This core thesis that is developed in this book identifies skill as the linchpin of and missing link between studies on craft, creativity, innovation, and material culture. Through a detailed study of early Bronze Age axes the question is tackled of what it involves to be skilled, providing an evidence-based argument about levels of skill.

The unique contribution of this work is that it lays out a theoretical framework and methodology through which an empirical analysis of skill is achievable. A specific chane opratoire for metal axes is used that compares not only what techniques were used, but also how they were applied. A large corpus of axes is compared in terms of what skills and attention were given at the different stages of their production.

The ideas developed in this book are of interest to the emerging trend of material thinking in the human and social sciences. At the same time, it looks towards and augments the development in craft-studies, recognising the many different aspects of craft in contemporary and past societies, and the particular relationship that craftspeople have with their material. Drawing together these two distinct fields of research will stimulate (re)thinking of how to integrate production with discussions of other aspects of object biographies, and how we link arguments about value to social models.

Maikel H.G. Kuijpers holds a PhD from Cambridge University and is currently a lecturer in European Prehistory at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, the Netherlands. His main research topics are technology, craftsmanship, and skill which he explores both in archaeology as well as contemporary society.

For more information on this series, please visit www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Archaeology/book-series/RSTARCH

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First published 2018

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2018 Maikel Kuijpers

The right of Maikel Kuijpers to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kuijpers, M. H. G. (Maikel H. G.), author.

Title: An archaeology of skill / M.H.G. Kuijpers.

Description: Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge studies in archaeology ; 29 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017015841 (print) | LCCN 2017016043 (ebook) | ISBN 9781315196022 (Master) | ISBN 9781351765800 (ePUB) | ISBN 9781351765817 (Web PDF) | ISBN 9781351765794 (Mobi/Kindle) | ISBN 9781138718098 (hardback : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Axes, Prehistoric. | Bronze age. | Workmanship.

Classification: LCC GN799.A9 (ebook) | LCC GN799.A9 K85 2017 (print) | DDC 930.1/56dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017015841

ISBN: 978-1-138-71809-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-19602-2 (ebk)

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In loving memory of my father

Vanochtend, na het ontbijt,
ontdekte ik, door mijn verstrooidheid,
dat het deksel van een middelgroot potje marmite
(het 4 oz net formaat)
precies past op een klein potje heinz sandwich spread
natuurlijk heb ik toen meteen geprobeerd
of het sandwich spread-dekseltje
ook op het marmite-potje paste
En jawel hoor: het paste eveneens

(C. Buddingh Pluk de dag)

There are many people that I need to thank and that in some way have been helpful in the completion of this work. First and foremost I am grateful to my former supervisor Marie Louise Srensen. Her thoughtful guidance during my PhD at the University of Cambridge was wonderful and many of the thoughts expressed in this work developed during our discussions, and thanks to her thorough reading and questioning of my work.

The PhD that underlies this book was part of a larger European training program named Forging Identities. The mobility of culture in the Bronze Age. The many meetings we have had were always very stimulating and I am grateful to Prof. Svend Hansen (German Archaeological Institute), Prof. Johannes Mller (University of Kiel), Prof. Kostas Kotsakis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), and Prof. Jo Sofaer (University of Southampton) for the many useful comments. I especially wish to mention Prof. Helle Vandkilde (Aarhus University) and Prof. Kristian Kristiansen (University of Gothenburg) because I have criticised elements of their research in this book. They have been supportive nonetheless, and the disagreements and discussions have been a great stimulant to explore the topic of skill. I feel privileged to have been a member of this group and a huge thanks goes to all of my fellow forgers.

I am also much indebted to Prof. Tobias Kienlin (University of Cologne) for the metallographic data on which this thesis is constructed. Though I interpret his data in a different way to uncover skill this would not have been possible without his rigorous and detailed sampling. He has kindly lent some of the samples, shared his knowledge, and discussed the metallographic data with me.

Giving me insights in the specific craft of metalworking are too many to mention. All participants at Umha Aois 2011 and the metallurgy weekend at Butser Farm are recognised for providing thoughts on their engagement with the material. A few craftspeople I need to thank explicitly. Neil Burridge for inviting me in his home and showing me the craft of sword making. Holger Lnze and Jeroen Zuiderwijk for introducing me to their world of metalworking craftsmanship. This was not an easy task as I was not simply an amateur with a wish to learn metalworking, but wanted to understand the underlying process of becoming skilled. They have been of great help answering many of my questions and reading and commenting on .