Embodiment and visual reproduction in the Neolithic: the case of stamped symbols

Abstract

This paper explores the cultural and conceptual dimensions of ceramic (and stone) stamps found at Neolithic and Copper Age sites in Western Asia and Southern Europe, dating to between the eighth and third millennia BC. Based upon a recent study of their archaeological deposition contexts, their surviving forms and regional variations in their style, they are discussed here in terms of their biographies, their reciprocal relations with people, and their embeddedness in cultural processes. More specifically, they are interpreted with reference to a pair of key cultural processes that characterise the material culture of Neolithic Eurasia: embodiment and visual reproduction.