Personal Adornment and the Construction of Identity: A Global Archaeological Perspective

Objects of adornment have been studied for over a century, viewing them as decorative embellishments, materializations of power relations, and markers of social categories. Personal Adornment and the Construction of Identity explores how these artefacts actively construct identities, drawing on contemporary scholarship on materiality and relationality. Case studies span 10 countries, three continents, and 9,000 years of human history, demonstrating how ornaments were intertwined with embodied practice, identity performativity, social memories, and relational collections.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 06 May 2021
Publisher: Oxbow Books

For more than a century, objects of adornment have been the focus of archaeological, historical, and ethnographic research. Personal ornaments have long been seen in archaeology as decorative additions linked to wealth, social standing, and power dynamics, representing underlying social categories such as gender, class, and ethnic affiliation. Personal Adornment and the Construction of Identity aims to understand these artifacts as dynamic components in the active and contingent constitution of identities rather than static signals of pre-existing cultural units and relations.

Drawing on contemporary scholarship in materiality and relationality in archaeological and social theory, this book explores how humans and objects construct one another through the study of bodily adornment. The authors present case studies from across ten countries, three continents, and more than 9,000 years of human history, showcasing the intricate ways in which personal ornaments were intertwined with embodied practice, identity performativity, social memory creation, and relational collections of persons, materials, and practices. Through meticulous analyses of production methods, composition, curation/heirlooming, decorative attributes, iconography, placement within assemblages, and depositional context, the authors shed light on the diverse material and relational axes through which objects of adornment held social value and meaning.

When considered in the broader temporal and geographic context of these studies, we gain a deeper understanding of the subtle yet vital roles these items played in human lives. Personal Adornment and the Construction of Identity contributes to our understanding of the complex interplay between material culture, identity, and society, offering valuable insights into the past and the potential for future research.

Weight: 572g
Dimension: 170 x 239 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789255959