Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Does Practice Make Perfect? Craft Expertise as a Factor in Aggrandizer Strategies

  • Published:
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The focus of this article is on exploring craft expertise and its potential as a factor in aggrandizer strategies. It is argued that there are elements of natural aptitude which enabled certain individuals to excel at flintknapping, allowing them to create objects of exceptional size and beauty in acts of elaborate knapping. Practice alone will enable an individual to reach a certain level of proficiency, but only practice in combination with ability can result in world-class performance. If, as is argued, native ability in some domain is a rare commodity, then harnessing it and developing it through practice would provide an opportunity for a potential aggrandizer to control prestige goods and accrue social capital. In situations where raw material, knowledge, and know-how are ubiquitous, as may have been true for flint technology in southern Scandinavia during the Late Neolithic, this might be one of few means available for a would-be aggrandizer to control prestigious goods.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, J. R. (1990). Cognitive psychology and its implications. New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apel, J. (2001). Daggers. Knowledge and power. Uppsala: Coast to coast project.

  • Apel, J. (2006). Skill and experimental archaeology. In J. Apel & K. Knutsson (Eds.), Skilled production and social reproduction: Aspects on traditional Stone-Tool Technologies, Proceedings from an International Symposium held in Uppsala August 20–24, 2003 (pp. 207–218). SAU Stone Studies 2, Uppsala.

  • Atwood, J., & Harwood, R. (1986). Stone age yellow pages. Flintknapping Digest, 3(3), 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bagwell, E. A. (2002). Ceramic form and skill. In K. A. Kamp (Ed.), Children in the prehistoric Puebloan Southwest (pp. 90–107). Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biryukova, E. V., Bril, B., Dietrich, G., Roby-Brami, A., Kulikov, M. A., & Molchanov, P. E. (2005). The organization of arm kinematic synergies: The case of stone-bead knapping in Khambhat. In V. Roux & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour (pp. 73–89). Cambridge: McDonald Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bril, B., Roux, V., & Dietrich, G. (2005). Stone Knapping: Khambhat (India), a unique opportunity? In V. Roux & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour (pp. 53–71). Cambridge, McDonald Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brumfiel, E., & Earle, T. (1987). Specialization, exchange, and complex societies: An introduction. In E. Brumfiel & Earle (Eds.), Specialization, exchange, and complex societies (pp. 1–9). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Callahan, E. (1979). The basics of biface knapping in the eastern fluted point tradition. A manual for flintknappers and lithic analysts. Archaeology of Eastern North America 7, Ann Arbor.

  • Callahan, E. (1981). An interview with Flintknapper Jacques Pelegrin. Contract Abstracts, 3(1), 62–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, E. (1984). A successful test model of the type IV Danish dagger. Flintknapping Digest, 1, 10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callahan, E. (2006). Neolithic Danish daggers: An experimental peek. In J. J. Apel, & K. Knutsson (Eds.), Skilled production and social reproduction (pp. 115–129), SAU Stone Studies 2, Uppsala.

  • Calvin, W. H. (1993). The unitary hypothesis: A common neural circuitry for novel manipulations, language, plan-ahead, and throwing? In K. R. Gibson & T. Ingold (Eds.), Tools, language and cognition in human evolution (pp. 230–250). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. E. (1986). Craftsmanship and craft specialization, New World Archaeological Foundation. Unpublished manuscript.

  • Crabtree, D. E. (1967). Notes on experiments in Flintknapping: 3. The Flintknapper’s Raw Materials. Tebiwa, 10, 8–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crabtree, D. E. (1972). An Introduction to Flintworking. Occasional papers of the Idaho State University Museum 28, Pocatello, Idaho.

  • Crown, P. L. (2002). Learning and teaching in the prehispanic American southwest. In K. A. Kamp (Ed.), Children in the prehistoric Puebloan Southwest (pp. 108–124). Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davenport, W. (1986). Two kinds of value in the eastern Salamon islands. In A. Appadurai (Ed.), The social life of things (pp. 95–109). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, I., & Noble, W. (1993). Tools and language in human evolution. In K. R. Gibson & T. Ingold (Eds.), Tools, language and cognition in human evolution (pp. 363–388). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Detterman, D. K., Gabriel, L. T., & Ruthsatz, J. M. (1998). Absurd environmentalism. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 411–412.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds, M. (1990). Description, understanding and the Chaîne Opératoire. Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 9(1), 55–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ericsson, K. A. (1998). Basic capacities can be modified or circumvented by deliberate practice: A rejection of talent accounts of expert performance. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 413–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, D. H. & Katzir, T. (1998). Natural talents- An argument for the extremes. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, J. (2003). An experimental test of the conservation of raw material in flintknapping skill acquisition. Lithic Technology, 28(2), 113–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, A. (1990). A late paleolithic “school” of flint-knapping at Trollesgave, Denmark. Results from refitting. Acta Archaeologica, 60, 33–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, J. (1998). Inborn talent exists. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, H. (1994). De sju intelligenserna. Jönköping: Brain Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gagné, F. (1998). A biased survey and interpretation of the nature-nurture literature. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 415–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatano, G. (1998). Might we adopt the learning-related account instead of the talent account? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 416–417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayden, B. (1995). The emergence of prestige technologies and pottery. In W. Barnett & J. Hoopes (Eds.), The emergence of pottery (pp. 257–265). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Högberg, A. & Olausson, D. (2007). Scandinavian Flint. An archaeological perspective. Århus: Aarhus University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, M. J. A., Davidson, J. W., & Sloboda, J. A. (1998). Innate talents: Reality or myth? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 399–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingold, T. (1993). Tools, techniques and technology. In K. R. Gibson & T. Ingold (Eds.), Tools, language and cognition in human evolution (pp. 337–345). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karlin, C., & Julien, M. (1994). Prehistoric technology: A cognitive science? In C. Renfrew & E. B. Zubrow (Eds.), The ancient mind (pp. 152–164). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller, C. M., & Keller, J. D. (1996). Cognition and tool use. The blacksmith at work. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klassen, L. (2000). Frühes Kupfer im Norden. Untersuchungen su Chronologie, Herkunft und Bedeutung der Kupferfunde der Nordgruppe der Trichterbecherkultur. Højbjerg: Moesgård Museum.

  • Koppett, L. (1967). All about baseball. New York: Quadrangle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lekberg, P. (2002). Yxors liv. Människors landskap. Uppsala: Coast to coast project.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe, B. (1977). The beauty of sport: A cross-disciplinary inquiry. Engelwood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, A. P. (1996). The psychology of concentration in sport performers. A cognitive analysis. Hove: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunn, G. (2006). Using the Jutland type IC Neolithic Danish dagger as a model to replicate parallel, edge-to-edge pressure flaking. In J. Apel & K. Knutsson (Eds.), Skilled production and social reproduction (pp. 81–114), SAU Stone Studies 2, Uppsala.

  • Oakley, K. P. (1961). Man the tool-maker. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olausson, D. (1998). Different strokes for different folks. Possible reasons for variation in quality of knapping. Lithic Technology, 23(2), 90–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olausson, D. (2000). Talking axes, social daggers. In D. Olausson & H. Vandkilde (Eds.), Form, function and context. Material culture studies in Scandinavian archaeology (pp. 121–133). Stockholm: Almkvist & Wiksell Intl.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olausson, D. (2007). Making daggers and scouting for talents: Situated learning in Late Neolithic Scandinavia. In N. Johannsen & M. Jessen (Eds.), Excavating the Mind. Århus: Aarhus University Press. (In press).

  • Pelegrin, J. (1990). Prehistoric lithic technology: Some aspects of research. Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 9(1), 116–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pigeot, N. (1990). Technical and social actors: Flintknapping specialists at Magdalenian Etiolles. Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 9(1), 126–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R. (1998). Genetic influence and cognitive abilities. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 420–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pye, D. (1968). The nature and art of workmanship. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V. (1990). The psychosocial analysis of technical activities: A contribution to the study of craft specialisation. Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 9(1), 142–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & David, E. (2005). Planning abilities as a dynamic perceptual-motor skill: An actualist study of different levels of expertise involved in stone knapping. In V. Roux, & B. Bril (Eds.), Stone knapping: The necessary conditions for a uniquely hominin behaviour (pp. 91–116). Cambridge: McDonald Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, D. C. (1998). Talent scouts, not practice scouts: Talents are real. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 421–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santillo Frizell, B. (2000). Händernas tysta vetenskap. Om apuliska kupolbyggares yrkeskunnande och dess reproduktion. In E. Hjärthner-Holdar & C. Risberg (Eds.), Hantverkets roll i samhället - produktion och reproduktion (pp. 69–79). Uppsala: UV GAL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlanger, N. (1994). Mindful technology: Unleashing the chaîne opératoire for an archaeology of mind. In C. Renfrew & E. B. Zubrow (Eds.), The ancient mind (pp. 143–151). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schneider, W. (1998). Innate talent or deliberate practice as determinants of exceptional performance: Are we asking the right question? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 423–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheets, P. D. (1975). Behavioral analysis and the structure of a prehistoric industry. Current Anthropology, 16(3), 369–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singer, R. N., & Janelle, C. M. (1999). Determining sport expertise: From genes to supremes. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 30, 117–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford, M. (1998). In search of Hindsgavl: experiments in the production of Neolithic Danish flint daggers. Antiquity, 72, 338–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stafford, M. (2003). The parallel-flaked flint daggers of late Neolithic Denmark: an experimental perspective. Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, 1537–1550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Starkes, J. L., Allars, R. Lindley, S., & O’Reilly, K. (1994). Abilities and skill in basketball. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 25, 249–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D. (2002). Skill and cognition in stone tool production. An ethnographic case study from Irian Jaya. Current Anthropology, 5, 693–722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D., & Chaminade, T. (2007). The evolutionary neuroscience of tool making. Neuropsychologia, 45(5), 1091–1100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stout, D., Toth, N. Schick, K., Stout, J., & Hutchins, G. (2000). Stone tool-making and brain activation: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies. Journal of Archaeological Science, 27, 1215–1223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, K. T. & Thomas, J. R. (1994). Developing expertise in sport: The relation of knowledge and performance. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 25, 295–312.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandkilde, H. (1996). From stone to bronze. The metalwork of the late Neolithic and earliest Bronze Age in Denmark. Moesgård: Jutland Archaeological Society.

  • Vandkilde, H. (2005). A review of the early late Neolithic period in Denmark. Practice, identity and connectivity. http://www.jungsteinSITE.de.

  • Vernacchia, R. A., McGuire, R. T., & Cook, D. (1992). Coaching mental excellence: “It does matter whether you win or lose..”. Dubuque, Iowa: Brown & Benchmark.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker, J. C. (1994). Flintknapping. Making and understanding stone tools. Austin: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, R. V. S. (1972). Imitative learning of a flaked stone technology- the case of an orangutan. Mankind, 8, 296–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wynn, T. (1993). Layers of thinking in tool behavior. In K. R. Gibson & T. Ingold (Eds.), Tools, language and cognition in human evolution (pp. 389–406). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Nyree Finlay and Douglas Bamforth for organizing the workshop in Boulder and the session at the SAA meetings. Thanks also to Anders Högberg for valuable comments on an earlier draft of the paper. Comments from John Whittaker and two anonymous reviewers greatly improved the quality of the paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Lund, Box 117, 221-00, Lund, Sweden

    Deborah J. Olausson

Authors
  1. Deborah J. Olausson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deborah J. Olausson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Olausson, D.J. Does Practice Make Perfect? Craft Expertise as a Factor in Aggrandizer Strategies. J Archaeol Method Theory 15, 28–50 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-007-9049-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-007-9049-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation