Write to the booksellers2 books for « aleksander dzbynski »Edit
Numbers, Measures, and the Transfer of Goods in Prehistory
, Brepols, 2024 Paperback, 122 pages, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:10 b/w, 25 col., 12 tables b/w., 1 maps b/w, 5 maps color, Language: English. ISBN 9782503610689.
Summary Numbers, weights, and measurements, and the systems underpinning them, have always been a fundamental part of human society. Developed in different ways and at different times, such systems have provided a foundation for science, technology, economics, and new ways of engaging with and understanding the world. This volume aims to explore the background to numbers and measurements in more detail by drawing together specialists from a growing field of research. The contributions gathered here offer new and interdisciplinary insights into how the development of mathematical ideas and systems evolved, early metrological systems, the exchange of goods and their impact, the standardization of measuring tools, and the impact of such concepts. This unique volume is deliberately set broad, both geographically and chronologically, in order to compare and contrast changes over time and between peoples, and in doing so it sheds new light on the social and scientific developments among both prehistoric and early historic societies. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Foreword 1. How to Open the Gift Box? Archaeology and the Transfer of Goods Christophe Darmangeat 2. Between East and West. The Measurement of Linearity as the Forerunner of Weighing Aleksander Dzby?ski 3. Feasting and Burial Rites in Pre-Hispanic Honduras. Comparing Archaeological and Ethnographic Evidence Franziska Fecher 4. Development and Functioning of Numeral Systems Jadranka Gvozdanovi? 5. Some Further Thoughts on Commodity and Gift Exchange in Tribal Societies Ju?rg Helbling 6. The Early Bronze Age Rib Ingot Hoard from Oberding (Upper Bavaria) Sabrina Kutscher 7. Numbers and Measures in the Iberian Peninsula during the Iron Age. Evidence from the Archaeological and Textual Records Thibaud Poigt and Coline Ruiz Darasse 8. Highly Composite Numbers and the Early Use of Weights Lorenz Rahmstorf 9. The Functions of Number in Early Greek Text Richard Seaford
Number, Measurement, and the Search for the Concept of Weight in Prehistory
, Brepols, 2026 Hardback, Pages: 260, Size:156 x 234 mm, Illustrations:20 b/w, 9 col., Language: English. ISBN 9782503620176.
Summary This monograph offers a groundbreaking perspective on prehistoric metrology by introducing the concept of portioning systems as a precursor to weighing and the balance scale. Drawing on archaeological evidence from the Near East and Europe, it develops a holistic framework for understanding independent phases of metrological development across prehistoric societies more broadly. At its core lies a fundamental question: were many of the artefacts considered to have functioned as measure of metal in the Copper and Bronze Ages, among them ingots, bars, and aes formatum, actually measured and perceived of in terms of weight? Taking this question as its starting point, the book traces the intellectual journey toward the concept of weight as a pivotal threshold between tangible, anthropomorphic measures and abstract numerical thinking. By identifying and analyzing previously overlooked portioning systems, this study fills a critical gap in archaeological interpretation, offering a comprehensive account of how number and measure evolved in prehistory. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Foreword Chapter I. Some Theoretical Issues Biology Culture Philosophy Chapter II. The Palaeolithic Incised Bones Dealing with Time Discussion Chapter III. The Neolithic Tokens of the Near East Linguistic Evidence Number in the Near East Neolithic Europe Chapter IV. The Metal Age Beginnings A Proto-Indo-European Story Beads, Sheets, and Wires Chapter V. Towards Abstract Numbers and Measures First Standards Form and Value The Epistemic Functions of Weight The Role of Bronze Age Metallurgy for Development of Technology Weight, Money - Consequences Chapter VI. Summaries The Problem of the Half In Search for Weight Back to Portion Number or Measure? Europe and the Near East Chapter VII. Conclusions Works Cited Index
