Prestige goods in the Neolithic of the Carpathian Basin. Material manifestations of social differentiation
Prestige goods in the Neolithic of the Carpathian Basin. Material manifestations of social differentiation

Summary/Abstract: Archaeologists often use the expression “prestige object” in the prehistoric archaeological literature, but they rarely define what they mean by it exactly or discuss what evidence and criteria justify calling an object a prestige good and what its social implications are. The clarification of this theoretical framework is an important issue if we want to use it in the reconstruction of the types and the power organisation of prehistoric societies. Before starting the analysis, I would like to call attention to a few questions that may seem evident yet we are likely to forget them. One of the most important issues is that every culture has its own value system, which is often drastically different from ours. As the value system is subjective in every society, it depends on culture and changes over time; our own value system cannot be used as a starting point for the determination of the valuables and prestige goods of other societies. Each society has to be examined in itself, starting from the data left by that society. This is the only way we can accurately approach the real structure of a past society.

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