The Materiality of Everyday Life: An Introduction

Lisa Overholtzer, Cynthia Robin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

This volume explores the analytical productivity of the convergence of two bodies of theory: materiality, defined here as the mutually constitutive relationships between people and the material world, and everyday life, conceived of as the ordinary practices that comprise most of human existence. An engagement with materiality and everyday life reveals three interventions critical to archaeological research. First, archaeological studies of the somewhat ethereal concept of materiality benefit from a grounding in the context of material engagements in everyday life. Second, the seemingly mundane and ordinary material practices of everyday life are of crucial significance for society in such varied arenas as politics, commerce, and cosmology. Third, the study of the materiality of everyday life necessarily implicates fruitful attention to multiple social and temporal scales.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-9
Number of pages9
JournalArcheological Papers of the American Anthropological Association
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2015

Keywords

  • Archaeology
  • Everyday life
  • Materiality
  • Scale
  • Temporality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Archaeology
  • Archaeology

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