CRAFTSMANSHIP AND IDENTITY. TOOLS AND UTENSILS IN LA TÈNE GRAVES FROM THE EASTERN CARPATHIAN BASIN
CRAFTSMANSHIP AND IDENTITY. TOOLS AND UTENSILS IN LA TÈNE GRAVES FROM THE EASTERN CARPATHIAN BASIN

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to discuss the ways in which the funerary inventories of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC from the eastern Carpathian Basin, which include tools and utensils used by craftsmen, illustrate their professional identity. In rural societies of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC from the Carpathian Basin, the social competition can be observed within the funerary domain by analysing the internal organization of the cemeteries in groups of graves. These groups more likely reflect the social organization of local communities in families or clans. The funerary inventories sometimes include panoplies of weapons and other times only sets of female jewellery and costume accessories indicating a specific social and gender identity. In this context, one question concerns the role of tools and utensils used in craftsmanship which were included in funerary inventories. From the archaeological perspective, the social and professional identity of the craftsmen from the eastern Carpathian Basin can be sometimes observed in the funerary inventories during the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. When the social role of the craftsmen was perceived as important by the community, the descendants aimed to express that in a public manner, by placing tools specific to the respective craft in their grave. In other situations, the craftsmen’s identity was ritually expressed through the votive offering of assemblages containing objects specific to their activity. Lastly, the presence of some traces of manufacturing activities in certain contexts can be related to the practising of magical rituals.

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