Pattern and Variation in Jewellery Production Sequences

Analysis of 4th Millennium BC Amber Assemblages from the Latvian Coast

Abstract

This study considers the production sequences of amber jewellery from Sārnate and Siliņupe, at the coast of present-day Latvia. Differences between the two sites in terms of the relative frequency of items discarded in various production stages may be related to the degree of integration into exchange networks. Within-assemblage variation in terms of the point within the processing sequence when perforation was performed indicates a strong element of heterodoxy with respect to amber processing within the communities, congruent with a domestic setting of production, even though the output consisted of a rather standardized range of forms.