Dear all,

This is a call for papers for the session we are organising at this years TAG conference, which takes place from 17th-19th December in Bristol. Abstracts of c. 250 words are invited and time slots of 20 mins will be allocated to each paper. Abstracts must be submitted via the TAG website - to do this click on 'Propose a paper' at the bottom of the abstract at this link:
http://www.nomadit.co.uk/tag/tag2010/panels.php5?PanelID=839


The deadline for abstract submissions for this session is Friday 24th September 2010.



Make-do and mend: the archaeologies of compromise?
Ben Jervis (University of Southampton), Alison Kyle (University of Glasgow)

This session considers the artefact, ecofact and building reuse and the use of alternative, sometimes inefficient, methods or materials in past manufacture and resource exploitation. Papers should bring together the archaeometric analyses which identify these phenomena and the social interpretation of these findings.

In their consideration of artefact variability, Schiffer and Skibo (1997) suggest that artefacts are a compromise between efficiency in manufacture and use. We will question this assertion: is the reuse of objects, and the use of inefficient materials, really a compromise or do they have more deep-rooted cultural implications?
Further questions to be addressed include what does the active, physical engagement with objects, required during their repair, tell us about the value of the object in question - whether intrinsic or cultural. Does the lengthening of an objects biographical history through repair impart a cumulative cultural significance upon repaired, as opposed to non-repaired objects? If we accept that material culture had an active meaning, do instances of repair represent maintenance of the original cultural meaning of the object, or the creation of a new hybridised meaning?
We invite papers dealing with the reuse or recycling of artefacts, either for their original or an alternative function, skeuomorphism, or evidence of adaptability to changes in context in the archaeological record. Papers should offer an interpretation of these observations, but also be grounded in the archaeometric analysis of objects, structures, faunal or environmental remains.