Culturing the body in the context of the neolithisation of the southern Levant
Date
2024
Authors
Nowell, April
Macdonald, Danielle
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Abstract
The body is a site of lived experience as people engage their social, cultural, and physical worlds through their bodies. As a product of both nature and culture, it can be modified to fulfil, challenge, or rebel against ideals and expectations. While not all the ways in which humans modify their bodies leave traces in the archaeological record, the use of personal ornaments is well documented. In this paper, we focus on the practice of body modification through personal adornment in the context of the neolithisation of the southern Levant. We argue that shifting subsistence strategies, settlement patterns, and social relationships (including relationships with ancestors) necessitated new ways of being in the world that were manifested in and through material culture including personal ornaments. In the Neolithic, living bodies did not need to be present for an individual to have a social “life” and personal ornaments as heirlooms likely played a fundamental and complementary role in “presencing” a person who would otherwise be absent.
Description
The authors thank Professor Daniella Bar-Yosef and Heeli Schechter for an invitation to contribute to this special issue and Lisa Rogers for research assistance.
Keywords
ancestors, butterfly beads, makers, memory, neolithic, ontology, personal ornaments
Citation
Nowell, A., Macdonald, D. (2024). Culturing the body in the context of the neolithisation of the southern Levant. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 55, 104478. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104478