Anthropological perspectives on technology
By: edited by Michael Brian Schiffer
Contributors: Schiffer, Michael Brian, 1947-
Edition: 1st ed
Series: [Amerind Foundation New World studies series]
Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Albuquerque
Language: eng
Number of pages: 242
Subjects: Technology -- Social aspects; Anthropology; Archaeology; Industries, Primitive
Description: "These fourteen original essays accept a dual premise: technology pervades and is embedded in all human activities. By taking that approach, studies of technology address two questions central in anthropological and archaeological research today-accounting for variability and change. These diverse yet interrelated chapters show that to understand human lives, researchers must deal with the material world that all peoples create and inhabit. Therefore an anthropology of technology is not a separate, discrete inquiry; instead, it is a way to connect how people make and use things to any activity studied, ranging from religion, to enculturation, to communication, to art. Each contributor discusses theories and methods and also offers a substantial case study. These detailed inquiries span human societies from the Paleolithic to the computer age. By moving beyond the usual approach of examining ancient technologies, particularly chipped stone and low-fired ceramics, this volume probes for the construction of meaning in the material world across millennia. The authors of these essays find technology to be an inclusive and flexible topic that merges with studies of everything else in human activity." -- from amazon.com.
Notes: Series from jacket

"An Amerind Foundation publication, Dragoon, Arizona."

Includes bibliographical references and index