Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HousePoetics (House Poetics. An \'assemblage\' approach to the production and transmission of value in Bronze Age Crete.)

Teaser

HOUSE POETICS examines how value is created in society, arguing that it is not defined simply in material terms but should be situated in the relations that build alliances, reputations and symbolic wealth. It explores the value regimes that tie people together, validate...

Summary

HOUSE POETICS examines how value is created in society, arguing that it is not defined simply in material terms but should be situated in the relations that build alliances, reputations and symbolic wealth. It explores the value regimes that tie people together, validate social interactions, sanction rules and obligations, and ensure the prosperity of a social group. Houses, as intergenerational social groups that grow around a material and symbolic estate not restricted by biological kinship, are a good analytic category for addressing this question. Houses draw their power from their members and their longevity, but none of these features are adequately explained by existing theories: if House membership is not restricted to biological ties, what mechanisms bring such groups together? How is their tendency to grow continuously (and therefore be flexible and adaptable) reconciled with their conscious efforts to endure over time, and therefore to resist change? A perspective that helps us understand how groupings of things, people, energy flows, and ideas (such as those represented by Houses) come about and are constantly reconfigured through new relations is Assemblage theory. But Assemblage theory does not explain why some assemblages endure in time and are not constantly dissolved and remade as something else. HOUSE POETICS used a combined ‘Houses-as-assemblages’ model to explain why social practices that emphasised particular kinds of collective identities persisted through periods of drastic social change in Bronze Age Cretan society.

The objectives of the project were: a) to construct a theoretical model for examining how Houses create and transmit value; b) to develop a methodology for grasping the relations that bring Houses into being; c) to understand how Houses can change through time and vary in their spatial expressions. Overall, HOUSE POETICS aimed to redefine the practices of kinship, understood as broad processes of social as well as biological solidarity.

HOUSE POETICS tackles a question pertaining equally to society today, by looking at the interplay between links and boundaries: how specific social practices (e.g. burial practices; production techniques and technological traditions; kinship) link different fields of action thereby generating the boundaries that define a group. This approach helps us understand why some social practices are more valued than others for constructing group identities.

Work performed

Work performed
The project analysed the production and consumption of objects implicated in the material and symbolic performance of group identities and how these were coded in space. A theoretical model, built through a critical review of existing literature, was validated by specific archaeological criteria for data collection: i) the technical features of stone and ceramic vases from the cemetery and settlement of Petras allowing the reconstruction of production processes; ii) the spatial distribution of ceramics, stone vases and seals in the cemetery that can be correlated with the consumption choices of specific Houses; and iii) the intra- and inter-regional links of the material culture of Petras with Crete and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The new theoretical model of Houses-as-assemblages demonstrated that Bronze Age Cretan Houses created value through the strategic choice of and enduring investment on particular sets of activities, rather than the simple accumulation of material resources. The high standard of the finished products demonstrates technical specialisation betraying long-term, consistent practice and expertise that can be developed through inter-generational apprenticeship within a House group; the rendering of several vase types in both ceramic and stone, the common decorative principles and surface appearance, and the consumption of such objects in shared settings suggest a very close dialogue between the different specialists, compatible with intra-group ties characteristic of House societies. Intimate connections between Petras and other Cretan sites were noted, implying the existence of technical traditions transmitted through House membership. Common consumption patterns also point to distinctive group behaviour representative of House ideology.

The intense spatial manipulation practices of fragmentation, dispersal and re-deposition of stone vases, human and plant remains, seals and figurines reflect a conscious strategy of re-arranging collective identities and group membership. Houses potentially represented by small kin groups in each burial building were consciously and strategically subsumed to broader associations generating a House identity comprising the entire community of Petras. This pattern can be linked to the intense political machinations leading to the establishment of the First Palace at Petras. The identification of specific social practices that were used for the active creation and redefinition of kinship ties performed through a House ideology has parallels across Crete.

Dissemination
Various aspects of the project were presented at international conferences in Europe and the USA. Dr Relaki co-organised with Prof Driessen the international workshop, “OIKOS. Archaeological Approaches to House Societies in the Ancient Aegean”, at the Université Catholique de Louvain on December 2018; its proceedings will be published in early 2020 acknowledging the financial contribution of Horizon 2020. Dr Relaki conducted a series of outreach activities for school children in the UK and Greece, discussing how archaeological assemblages can teach us about lives in the past.

Final results

By investigating technological links between different categories of archaeological objects, a broader methodology for the study of ancient production was developed focusing on wider technical processes. This allowed the identification of links between different assemblages that could not be grasped when looking at raw materials or finished artefact forms alone (e.g., bread-making and pottery-making have identical production sequences). The same approach was applied to the investigation of social practices, identifying links between different archaeological categories such as the treatment of human and material remains at cemeteries. Integrated assemblages were recognised that reflected complex value regimes, projecting House ideology through the spatial and temporal manipulation of material and symbolic dimensions.

Socio-economic impact- Societal implications
These dynamic processes have broader applicability in the analysis of social interactions in any period. Understanding how strategies of relatedness use material objects in the short- and long-term can help us approach many current social issues, as, for example: the way consumerism redefines value not as accumulation, but as the ability to continuously discard and renew material objects; how the long-term result of consumerism, the depletion of resources, shifts value on broader conditions, such as the protection of our shared planet; or how the value of physical and symbolic boundaries is a key parameter in the way contemporary society deals with identity issues.

Website & more info

More info: https://housepoetics.hcommons.org.