Typologies of Consumption: Examining consumer behaviour through an analysis of the inherent qualities of material culture

Summary

Material culture analysis has traditionally paid more attention to the inherent qualities of artefacts which are associated with their production (like material, form, and decoration)  while spending less time considering those inherent qualities which are formed by their consumption (like quality, wear, and repair).  The dwindling overlap, over the last five centuries, between the group of people who produce goods and the group of people who consume them calls into question the assertion that both of these groups placed the same amount of value in the same qualities.  By analyzing features of artefacts which do not represent intentional decisions made by producers, typologies which correspond to categories of artefacts which were more meaningful to the consumers of those goods than to the producers can be constructed.  This paper discusses the nature and utility of typologies of consumption as a tool to help researchers studying consumer behaviour interpret archaeological assemblages.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Current Postgraduate Research In Post-Medieval Archaeology In The UK: A Society For Post-Medieval Archaeology Sponsored Session   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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PaperId(s): 198

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