Approaching the archaeology of value: a view from the modern world

• Autores: Penny Crook
• Localización: Post-medieval archaeology, ISSN 0079-4236, Vol. 53, Nº. 1, 2019, págs. 1-20
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The abundance of goods in the modern world has a tendency to prejudice interpretation of their value, but the way people value their goods is complex, relative and changeable — scarcity is just one factor. There is a long history of value theorization across the social sciences, but archaeological considerations of value remain uncommon and focused on prestige goods. In this paper, I review alternative conceptions of value through the lens of the modern world, with an example of Spode creamware used by a governor in the early decades of colonial Sydney. I argue that the process of devaluation, through discard and waste, offers a unique archaeological understanding of the shifting values people of the modern world placed on commodities.