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Conference Announcement and Call for Papers
jrobb@SIU.EDU
Tue, 3 Oct 1995 12:30:05 -0500
Conference Announcement and Call for Papers
Material Symbols:
Culture and Economy in Prehistory
13th Annual Visiting Scholar's Conference
March 29-30, 1996
Center for Archaeological Investigations
Southern Illinois University
From hunting and the symbolic construction of gender to the elite
manipulation of cosmological symbols in states, the economic and symbolic
realms are inseparable. Economic behavior is structured by social knowledge,
relations, norms and demands, and the symbolic world is reproduced through
economic production, redistribution, display and consumption. The relation
between symbolic meanings and economic behavior is a central problem for
social models based upon individual agents making decisions within their
social and environmental circumstances.
The goal of this year's CAI Visiting Scholar's Conference is to study the
complex linkages between the material world, the symbolic world and human
choices through theoretical critiques and case studies from prehistoric,
ethnohistoric and early historic societies. Sessions will deal with:
* Gender and prestige systems, and their effects on prehistoric political
economies
* Symbolism and the social contexts of production and consumption
* Ritual, cosmology, and ethnic symbols and identities
* The interaction of economy and culture in long term processes such as
the rise of agriculture, political stratification and economic
intensification, and the rise of states.
Archaeologists and scholars in related fields studying these topics are
invited to submit abstracts for conference papers. We are especially
interested in studies pursuing the long-term political and economic effects
of symbolic behavior, and in studies which draw together aspects of
symbolism, economy and politics which are usually studied separately. To be
considered, please submit a 150 word abstract of your topic by December 8.
Abstracts will be reviewed by committee and authors will be notified of
acceptance by late January. Conference proceedings will be published as a
peer-reviewed volume by the Center for Archaeological Investigations.
If you would like further information, to submit an abstract, or to
discuss an idea for a conference paper, please contact John Robb, Visiting
Scholar, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois
University at Carbondale, Carbondale IL 62901-4527. Telephone
618-453-5057; fax 618-453-3253; email jrobb@siu.edu.
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