Known and Unknown Stone: Papuan Petrology and Reciprocity

What is knowable about stone tool users’ knowledge? The people of the New Guinea Highlands were among the last to use stone implements routinely in their daily lives. These comprised both lithic flake tools and polished stone axes. Their classification of these objects challenges our notion of taxon...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArchaeologies Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 214 - 238
Main Author Sillitoe, Paul
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer US 01.04.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Anthropology
Archaeology
Cultural Heritage
Petrology
Social Sciences
New Guinea stone implements
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Summary:What is knowable about stone tool users’ knowledge? The people of the New Guinea Highlands were among the last to use stone implements routinely in their daily lives. These comprised both lithic flake tools and polished stone axes. Their classification of these objects challenges our notion of taxonomic knowledge, which involves agreement over defined classes, whereas they evidence considerable disagreement with unclear categories. It is necessary to situate stone within the egalitarian acephalous cultures where reciprocity features centrally to appreciate the ontological status of stone.
ISSN:1555-8622
1935-3987
DOI:10.1007/s11759-024-09496-7