Material Sense: Perceptual Experience in Stone and Mineral Selection for Tool-Making

RESEARCH Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress (Ó 2024) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-024-09490-z Material Sense: Perceptual Experience in Stone and Mineral Selection for Tool-Making Bar Efrati , Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, POB 39040, 6697801, Tel Aviv, Israel E-mail: Accepted: 19 January 2024 / Published online: 19 February 2024 ABSTRACT ARCHAEOLOGIES Volume 20 Number 1 April 2024 ________________________________________________________________ 24 Enactivism advocates for the dynamic character of human perception, regarding it as a multidirectional network comprising human presence and self-awareness within the world (eg., with materials, with objects, with and within locations). Thus, perception is not created by mental representations alone but by human presence and sensorimotor action and interaction in the world. This study emphasizes the vital role of perception and perceptual experience as enactive in human ontological perspectives concerning choosing and collecting stones and minerals. It will also suggest that the enactive perceptual experience of the environment occurs in its absence through memory and material relationships. ________________________________________________________________ Résumé: L’énactivisme plaide en faveur de la nature dynamique de la perception humaine, la considérant comme un réseau multidirectionnel comportant la présence et la conscience de soi de l’être humain dans le monde (p. ex., avec les matériaux et les objets, avec les sites et au sein de ces derniers). De ce fait, la perception n’est pas créée uniquement par des représentations mentales mais par la présence humaine ainsi que l’action et l’interaction sensorimotrices dans le monde. Cette recherche met l’accent sur le rôle vital de la perception et de l’expérience perceptuelle en tant qu’énactives au sein des perspectives ontologiques humaines relatives au choix et à la collecte de pierres et de minéraux. Elle suggérera également que l’expérience perceptuelle énactive de l’environnement se produit en ________________________________________________________________ son absence par le biais de la mémoire et des relations matérielles. Resumen: El enactivismo aboga por el carácter dinámico de la percepción humana, considerándola como una red multidireccional que comprende la presencia humana y la autoconciencia dentro del mundo (por ejemplo, con materiales, con objetos, con lugares y dentro de los mismos). Por lo tanto, la percepción no es creada únicamente por representaciones mentales sino Ó 2024 The Author(s). This article is an open access publication Material Sense: Perception Experience in Stone 25 por la presencia humana y la acción e interacción sensoriomotora en el mundo. Este estudio enfatiza el papel vital de la percepción y la experiencia perceptiva como activas en las perspectivas ontológicas humanas relacionadas con la elección y recolección de piedras y minerales. También sugerirá que la experiencia perceptual enactiva del entorno ocurre en su ausencia a través de la memoria y las relaciones materiales. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ KEY WORDS Perception, Material acquisition, Stone, Ontology, Cosmology _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction In anthropology, the ontological turn offers alternative perspectives concerning how humans see and relate with other entities, such as stones and minerals. Some of the vastly different ways of perceiving the world from Western conventions include but are not limited to animism, vitalism, and perspectivism, which are primarily based on studies of ethnohistoric and contemporary Indigenous societies (Astor-Aguilera and Harvey 2018; BirdDavid 1999; Strathern 1988, 2004; Viveiros de Castro 1998) and sociological studies on ‘‘modernism’’ and materiality (eg., Callon 1991, 1995; Latour 1993, 1994, 2005; Pickering 1995, 2010). Ontological research often claims that among many societies, humans are not the only active agents in the cosmos. Living equal and active agents to humans are other-than-humanpersons—every animal, natural element, or artificial object is attributed with ‘aliveness’ or ‘subjectivity’ and has the potential of being sentient, worthy of being treated as equal and regarded with care and respect (eg., Betts et al. 2015; Bird-David 1999; Harrison-Buck and Hendon 2018; Hill 2011; Nadasdy 2007; Viveiros de Castro 1998). Moreover, the various agents (human and non-human alike) are in constant reciprocal relationships to ensure that daily activities, well-being, and the mechanisms by which the world functions are maintained and balanced (Harrison-Buck and Hendon 2018; Ingold 2000; Nadasdy 2007; Santos-Granero 2023). Here, I define Ontology as a human perspective on how the world functions and the place and role of all its elements, emphasizing humans’ place in it (Alberti 2016; Halbmayer 2012; Kohn 2015; Lucas 2012; Olsen 2012). Simultaneously, various cosmological creation myths and belief systems are being practiced. Cosmology includes any knowledge, beliefs, interpretations, and practices of a culture related to explaining the origins and evolu- 26 BAR EFRATI tion of the universe, as well as the role of the meaning of humans, life, and the world within the universe/cosmos (Hirsch et al. 2002:430–431). Eventually, practices and worldviews shape ontology, which shapes practices and worldviews in return. Thus, I regard ontology and cosmology as co-existing through bi-directional interactions. In this paper, the perspective of the ontological turn for stone and mineral acquisition means that every involvement between humans and rocks should be regarded as bearing deep meaning rooted in the role stones play in human ontological–cosmological worldviews (hereafter worldviews). Sahlins (2022:2–3, 37–38) refers to societies that perceive they are immersed in a world of enlivened, sensible, and distributed persons as ‘‘societies of immanence.’’ At the other extreme, he defines ‘‘cultures of transcendence’’ as societies that perceive their daily lives as devoid of spiritual forces (Sahlins 2022:1–2, 6). There are, and were, past and present cultural groups whose worldviews and perspectives fall within a spectrum created by both definitions—whether concerning belief systems or traditional practices. Sahlins (2022) notes that some immanence groups may also perceive human and other-than-human relationships as unequal because other-than-humans may be respected more than humans (Sahlins 2022:127–128). Contemporary societies of immanence are known to attribute meaning to stone qualities such as color, texture, gloss, and source of origin. The type of material selected and collected is carefull (...truncated)