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Accepted Paper:

Creative Choices: Creativity and Ceramic Craft Production in Late Bronze Age Hungary  
Sarah Coxon (University of Southampton)

Paper short abstract:

Creativity as a social process plays a fundamental role in our human history. Yet there is a void of creative studies within archaeology. This paper investigates how we can access creativity in the archaeological record through analysis of craft production techniques.

Paper long abstract:

The analysis of ceramics forms the focus of this discussion, with an additional focus on the European Bronze Age. This is a time of significant change in the nature of craft production and thus is a crucial period to study in terms of creativity. The Bronze Age site of Százhalombatta in Hungary has a particularly complex history reflected in its material culture, notably in the Middle to Late Bronze Age transition, where a hiatus in site occupation occurs. The Late Bronze Age reoccupation of the site is paralleled with a noticeable difference in ceramic wares, and in some cases a reduction in the quality of wares is apparent.

Through analysis of the production sequence, standardised methods of production are established and variation isolated. A discussion as to which of these constituents constitutes deliberate change or whether they are reflective of error within the production sequence follows. Finally, a comparison is made between ceramic production sequences in the Late Bronze Age to production in the Middle Bronze Age, demonstrating how the nature of craft production changes over time. It is argued that the study of creativity in craft production allows for underlying social and cultural processes to be considered, enriching our understanding of the nature of material culture and the Bronze Age.

Panel S27
Making the Bronze Age: craft and craftspeople 2500-800BC
  Session 1