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IliaHeit
CAUCASUS
markritesofpassage(Dubin1987;Clark
1986).Temostcommonfunctionof
personalornamentsisprobablytheiruse
toexpressstatusandwealthofthewearer.
Furthermore,jewelleryitemscanbeused
forhealingorhaveanapotropaicfunction,
andcanserveasceremonialobjects,asthey
arestillusedtodayinesotericcirclesand
modernreligions.
Tesymbolicvalueandmeaningof
jewelleryitemsisbasedonanumberof
factors.Tephysicalattributesofthe
rawmaterial,likeitscolor,lustreand
durability,candeterminethevalueofan
ornament(Clark1986:82).Meaningcan
beattributedtomaterialsbasedontheir
origin;forinstance,seashellsareofen
associatedwithwaterandthepowers
ofthesea(Orchard1929:17;Trubitt
2003:244),andteethandbonesareofen
associatedwiththeanimalspeciesthey
belongedto(Miller1997:234).
Besidesthevalueandsymbolic
meaningattributedtothematerialitself,
aseconddeterminingfactorisanaware-
nessofinvestmentdiferential(Kuhn,
Stiner2007:49),therepresented“cost”
ortheamountofhumantimeandelort
spentintheproductionofanornament.
Tisismanifestinthesheerquantityof
objects,especiallywithbeads;inthecosts
ofmanufacture,highlightingthedegree
ofskillsemployedbythecrafsman,aswell
asthescarcityoftheitemsused,asrareness
andexoticnessaddtothevalueandallow
useoftheitemasastatusmarker.
Anotherimportanttopicapartfrom
functionisthedistributionandmanu-
factureofornamentsinprehistoric
socie-ties.Inthisperspective,thestudy
ofjewellerycanshedlightonthesocio-
economicnatureofthecommunities
thatmadeitandworeit.Inthisregard,
theNeolithicperioddeservesparticular
attentionasitmarksimportantchanges
ineconomiesandinsocialorganization
thatalsocorrelatetoavastexpansion
intechnology.Asinallotherfieldsof
production,
Neolithicornamentpro-
ductionwasnecessarilyalectedbythese
processes,asindicatedbythemuchwider
useofmaterials,techniques,andforms
ofadornmentthathavebeenattested
forthisperiodcomparedtoearlierones
(Wright2012;Musche1992).
Anystudyofornamenttechnology
shouldnotbelimitedtomaterialsand
techniques.Tearchaeologicalrecord
canprovideinformationonindividual
artisansandonthesocialorganizationof
ornamentproduction.Individualskills
andchoicesmadebyornamentmakerscan
beilluminatedthroughtheperspective
ofchaînesopératoires(Dobres1999;
Martinón-Torres2002).Astudyof
ornamentproductioncanprovideclues
tothedegreeofcrafspecializationin
theNeolithic.Currently,onlyafew
technologicalstudiesofNeolithicorna-
mentmanufacturehavebeencarriedout
andornamentpro-ductionareashave
seldombeenrecorded(Wright,Garrard
2003;Wrightetalii2008;Miller1996).
Onesuchrarecaseisabeadworkshopatthe
NeolithicsiteMPS4,investigatedsince
2010inAzerbaijan(Lyonnetetalii2012:
48-50;formoredetailedinvestigations,
seeHeit2013).Terichmaterialrecord
fromtheworkshopallowsadeeperinsight
intoshell-beadproductiontechniques;
moreover,itraisesgeneralquestionswith
regardtotheroleofshellornamentsand
craforganizationinthesouthCaucasian
Neolithic.
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PAM23/2:SpecialStudies
