Levels of Commodification: Interpreting ideologies of consumption by classifying the relative commodification of ceramic vessel assemblages

Summary

Over the course of the eighteenth century, individuals around the world began to embrace new ideas regarding the meanings inherent in the act of consuming household goods. As novel ways of signaling wealth became popular at all social levels, the production and acquisition of more commodified objects increased. This paper introduces a methodology for understanding a particular household’s ideological views through the classification of their ceramic vessels based on how commodified the pottery was at the point of acquisition. Using rural households in colonial Virginia and the western Scottish Lowlands as case studies, it is demonstrated that this analysis can provide crucial insight into the behavior of consumers as they struggled to define themselves in societies reshaped by colonialism and the ethos of improvement.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Investigations in Global Material Culture   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

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Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-59,07

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