TY - JOUR
T1 - The power and ideology of artistic creation
T2 - Elite craft specialists in Classic Maya society
AU - Inomata, Takeshi
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - There is increasing evidence that in Classic Maya society some of the finest objects were produced by artists who were elites. Excavations at the rapidly abandoned center of Aguateca, Guatemala, in particular, have provided clear archaeological evidence of craft production by elites. These data present a unique test case for refining the archaeological theory of craft specialization. For the Classic Maya, the manufacture of art objects was an act of creation loaded with symbolic meaning. Skilled crafting, along with the privileged knowledge encoded in the products, formed an important part of the high culture that served to distinguish the elite from the rest of society. The cultural and symbolic capital resulting from artistic creation also had critical meaning and consequences for competition among elites. Such a system of craft specialization needs to be understood in its social and cultural contexts, with particular emphasis on the power relations and ideologies surrounding production.
AB - There is increasing evidence that in Classic Maya society some of the finest objects were produced by artists who were elites. Excavations at the rapidly abandoned center of Aguateca, Guatemala, in particular, have provided clear archaeological evidence of craft production by elites. These data present a unique test case for refining the archaeological theory of craft specialization. For the Classic Maya, the manufacture of art objects was an act of creation loaded with symbolic meaning. Skilled crafting, along with the privileged knowledge encoded in the products, formed an important part of the high culture that served to distinguish the elite from the rest of society. The cultural and symbolic capital resulting from artistic creation also had critical meaning and consequences for competition among elites. Such a system of craft specialization needs to be understood in its social and cultural contexts, with particular emphasis on the power relations and ideologies surrounding production.
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U2 - 10.1086/320475
DO - 10.1086/320475
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0013461662
SN - 0011-3204
VL - 42
SP - 321
EP - 349
JO - Current Anthropology
JF - Current Anthropology
IS - 3
ER -