Otis Crandell and Xavier Mangado are organising a session for the upcoming EAA meeting in Barcelona (September 2018). The session will focus on the relation between lithic materials and ideas of territory in prehistory. Persons interested in presenting in this session or having any questions, have to send a message to the organisers : mangado (arobase)ub.edu and otis.crandell (arobase) gmail.com. The deadline for submitting abstracts (through the EAA website) is 15 February.

Title:
The value of lithic raw materials in defining prehistoric social territories

Organisers:
Dr. Xavier Mangado Llach (SERP- University of Barcelona, Catalonia), mangado (arob) ub.edu
Dr. Otis Crandell (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil), otis.crandell (arob) gmail.com

Abstract:

This session will look at potential prestige lithic raw materials which, among other archaeological remains such as bone industries and ceramics, could be considered good indicators for defining social and economic territoriality and mobility patterns in prehistoric societies.

Numerous sourcing studies have traced the movement of lithic raw materials over short and long distances – often to reconstruct potential trade routes, distributions patterns, how goods might been transferred between settlements, and the geographic extent of movement. One objective of these studies is to better understand the territories of prehistoric populations – in terms of their extent and nature. Trade, whether for economic or social purposes, is interaction between people (settlements, groups, or regions) and its amount can indicate the degree of interaction. Although artefact typologies may indicate shared ideas, they do not necessarily indicate ongoing interaction, and might only indicate the original spread of an idea. Trade can occur, increase, or decrease between formerly unrelated groups. Although it might not coincide with the origins of a cultural group, it will likely coincide with the transmission of knowledge and ideas, which, among other characteristics, play a large part in defining a cultural group, and how connected groups were.

The aim of this session is to present and discuss the construction and development of the concept of prehistoric territoriality in different human societies around the world, through the regional analysis of lithic sourcing, the technology applied to these lithic raw materials, and their exchange patterns or trade routes through time.

Keywords:
lithics; trade; territoriality; sourcing