Paper short abstract:

The paper explores the relationship between creativity and tradition and how this interacts with transmission of craftsmanship between generations

Paper long abstract:

A combination of knowledge and skill, craftsmanship is transmitted in communities of knowledge, informally within the family, or more formally through apprenticeship. The absorption of crafts knowledge includes learning to use the senses to see, hear, feel, smell or taste to assess aspects such as the quality of raw materials, if a fire is sufficiently hot, whether or the desired consistency has been reached. Imitation of the master is a core element; the craft is mastered when the apprentice is able to carry out the whole process, resulting in an acceptable copy of the master's work. Imitation assists upholding the proper quality of the products. Still, the ability to imitate is also the precondition for improvisation, for changing the process in ways that do not jeopardize the workmanship, and thus for being accepted by the community.

The importance of imitation in craft transmission encourages the maintaining of tradition, of doing it exactly as it always has been done. Changes signal lack of conformity. Somebody has chosen to do things differently, has gotten away with it, and established a new tradition. Prehistory supplies us with many examples, both of tradition and change. How can we use these to investigate the nature of creativity, and how it interacts with tradition?