Ceramic Transition and Actor-Network Theory : The Gyllenkrok House, Lund

• During the 12th and 13th centuries the pottery assemblages inScandinavia changed from hand-formed into wheel-thrown pottery. Thistransition has not caught much interest among scholars and has usuallybeen explained with economic and functionalistic perspectives. Usingactor-network theory, as applied by Astrid Van Oyen, this paper discussesthe problem of how and why this ceramic transition happened. As a basisfor discussion the case study of a high-status house in Gyllenkrok, Lund,is used. Here the pottery changed entirely following the construction ofthe house. By isolating ancient knowledge systems, i.e. actor-networks,different processes within this complex transition can be subjected todiscourse. This paper draws from cultural hegemony, emulation andentanglement theory to open up the black-boxed knowledge systems, andconsidering that the household in Gyllenkrok only acquired about twonew vessels each generation, I argue that the household inhabitants werepassive in this process.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Historia och arkeologi -- Arkeologi (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- History and Archaeology -- Archaeology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)