Captives and Culture Change Implications for Archaeology

Captives were found in societies of all social levels throughout much of history and prehistory. They were frequently women, and they could be potent agents of culture change. In some societies they entered a highly stigmatized slave class, while in others they might be fully incorporated into the society of their captors. Regardless of their social position, captives played an important role in the transmission of cultural practices and ultimately in culture change, but few studies have explored the role of captives in culture change, especially in nonstate societies. I begin that process, using ethnohistoric, historic, ethnographic, archaeological, and other data. 1 document the prevalence and antiquity of captive-taking around the world, its gender selectivity, and the rights of social personhood that captives were accorded in captor societies and assess factors that affected captives' ability to effect culture change. The focus is especially on craft activities, because captive influence is likely to be most evident to archaeologists in the production of craft goods.