Sayuri de Zilva and Matthias Jung, "Innovations That Failed to Materialize: Why Was There No Copper Metallurgy in the Central European Early and Middle Neolithic?", in: Stefan Burmeister and Reinhard Bernbeck (Eds.), The Interplay of People and Technologies. Archaeological Case Studies on Innovation, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017, 277–294

Abstract

In this paper we propose a sociological concept of innovation capable of transcending the limitations faced by the approaches of common theories of action. The concept was formulated by Ulrich Oevermann and is based upon Max Weber’s theory of charismatic authority. We apply this concept to archaeological data, using the example of Neolithic copper metallurgy in central Europe, and discuss the importance of analyzing innovations that failed to materialize even though they might have been “in the air” at the time. The concept sketched here enables the scientific study of such a phenomenon.

Published In

Stefan Burmeister and Reinhard Bernbeck (Eds.), The Interplay of People and Technologies. Archaeological Case Studies on Innovation, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017