THEATRICS OF TECHNOLOGYconsuming obsidian in the early

Cycladic burial arena

the

Early Bronze I Late Bronze I Early Bronze IISmall dispersed hamlets

Few sizeable communities

Settlements/ cemeteries display hallmarks of regional centres

15-20 tombs 72 graves Notably larger burials, diversity and wealth of material culture.Size of blades increased, cores appearPreferential access to skilled technical knowledge

Majority unfurnished, but when grave goods present, a ceramic vessel or single obsidian blade

Richer assemblages, including first appearance of metals, bodily adornment

Obsidian (non-cortical, pressure flaked prismatic). Complete and unused. Single pieces

Obsidian blade “sets,” increased size of blades. Blade cores first appear

Size of blades increased. Obsidian cores appear.

important changes in eb i and eb ii

necrolithics“an ostentatious form of pressure-flaked blade production from the Early Bronze Age Cyclades... [called] the ‘necrolithic’ because of its role in the islanders’ funerary customs” (88)

production as theatre• Metaphor of theatre, performance and performativity

• Technology as (re)production of social norms

• Can we engage with the social meanings behind the production?

performing the necrolithic

THE EVENT

THE STAGE

THE ACTOR(S)

THE AUDIENCE

obsidian, memory, and community• Obsidian cores and missing blades?

• signifiers of event/performance, remembrance/reinforcement

• The Burial Arena: roles in the renegotiation of social relationships

questions1. What information do we have that differentiates

funerary obsidian from obsidian used at the domestic

level? Does the conceptual frame risk reducing the

mundane obsidian technology?

2. When we invoke the theatre-production metaphor

for thinking about technology in the past, what are the

consequences for interpretation?