A Cultural Economic Analysis of Craft

Abstract

This contribution looks at the future of craft through the lens of archaeology. Exploring the role of craft and skill in the long-term development of human societies, I use this knowledge to frame an answer to the question ‘what future developments may happen through craft?’ Through the example of bronze—a novel material that ushered the Bronze Age—I show how the affordances of a material may guide thinking, and affect worldviews. Bronze helped formulate notions of design, copying, and recycling. From this, I advocate that we should look at craft as a heuristic device, rather than categorically. Materials are a source of innovations, and it is through craft that these innovations are brought about.