Susanna Harris (editor) - Wrapping and unwrapping material culture : archaeological and anthropological perspectives

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Susanna Harris and Laurence Douny, Wrapping and Unwrapping Material Culture

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WRAPPING AND UNWRAPPING
MATERIAL CULTURE

Archaeological and Anthropological
Perspectives

Edited by

Susanna Harris
Laurence Douny

First published 2012 by Left Coast Press, Inc.

Published 2016 by Routledge
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4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Copyright 2014 Taylor & Francis

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Wrapping and unwrapping material culture: archaeological and anthropological
perspectives/edited by Susanna Harris & Laurence Douny.
pages cm. (Publications of the Institute of Archaeology, University College
London; 64)
Summary: This material culture by exploring the relationship between wrapping materials and practices and the objects, bodies, and places that define them. Using examples as diverse as Egyptian mummies, Celtic tombs, Native American ceremonial bundles, baby swaddling, and contemporary African textiles, the dozen archaeologist and anthropologist contributors show how acts of wrapping and unwrapping are embedded in beliefs and thoughts of a particular time and place. These context-specific, cultural, and technical acts offer a new lens on material culture and its relationship to cultural meaningProvided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-61132-887-5 (hardback) ISBN 978-1-61132-889-9 (institutional eBook) ISBN 978-1-61132-890-5 (consumer eBook)
1. Wrapping clothsCase studies. 2. Material cultureCase studies. 3. Textile fabricsCase studies. 4. Textile fabrics, AncientCase studies. 5. Funeral rites and ceremonies, AncientCase studies. I. Harris, Susanna, author, editor of compilation. II. Douny, Laurence, author, editor of compilation.
GT2225.W73 2014
306dc23

2014003438

ISBN978-1-61132-887-5 hardback

,
Laurence Douny and Susanna Harris

,
Nancy Ukai Russell

,
Janet M. Johnstone

, Titika Malkogeorgou

,
Nicolette Makovicky

, Susanna Harris

, Margarita Gleba

,
Johanna Banck-Burgess

, Barbara Wills

, Laurence Douny

, Agns Garcia-Ventura and Mireia Lpez-Bertran

,
Karina Croucher and Colin Richards

Figures

Table

The idea for this book came from a series of conversations between the editors. Both were at that time employed as postdoctoral fellows at University College London: Laurence Douny was investigating contemporary wild silk textiles in Mali and Burkina Faso at the Department of Anthropology, and Susanna Harris was researching the cloth cultures of prehistoric Europe at the Institute of Archaeology. We were initially brought together through the study of textiles and the wish to understand how their respective disciplines conceptualised these fascinating and complex materials. The idea of wrapping stemmed from these conversations and was seen as an avenue along which to investigate shared interests across the disciplines. The topic also offered the opportunity to extend beyond textiles to related materials and, from there, into a range of new theoretical perspectives.