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Crafting as World Making
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01 July 2026

Archaeological literature has often placed the role of crafting within discourses of craft specialization, anchoring it to questions related to sociopolitical complexity, which linked political processes with productive organization. This book invites us to think differently and discuss crafting as a way of making, knowing, and being in the world. Through utilizing examples from various time periods and across global landscapes, it reimagines questions of being and belonging, and other affective modalities related to how we articulate meaning, in text, image or speech. Importantly, the book considers what it means to make, as a way to produce knowledge about the worlds we inhabit.
“Crafting as World Making provides a fresh perspective on crafting for archaeologists, anthropologists, and those interested in crafts and the material world.&rdqouo; • Teresa P. Raczek, Kennesaw State University
Uzma Z. Rizvi is Professor of Anthropology and Urban Studies at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn. She is the PI for the Laboratory of Integrated Archaeological Visualization and Heritage (LIAVH.org), bringing together archaeological research with data management, visualization, and heritage practice.
Dedication
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Introduction: Crafting as World Making
Uzma Z. Rizvi and Sarah E. Jackson
Chapter 1. Unmaking and Remaking: Reclaiming Indigenous Identity
Sven Haakanson Jr.
Chapter 2. More than Just a Copy: Mimesis in the Crafting of Our Worlds
Christina T. Halperin, Sarah E. Jackson, and Céline Gillot
Chapter 3. Delight in Making: Affect, Metonymy, and Craft Practice
Zoë Crossland
Chapter 4. Design for Living: Andean-Amazonian perspectives on Pre-Incaic Making and Decoration
George F. Lau
Chapter 5. Making MohenjoDaro: Crafting Relations of Place and Urban Subjectivity
Uzma Z. Rizvi
Chapter 6. Pyrotechnologies in Ancient South India: Crafting Ashmounds and Making Metal
Praveena Gullapalli
Chapter 7. Nomadic Pastoralism, Landscapes, and Coproduction
Joshua Wright
Chapter 8. Tea and Beads: Crafting Relationships in Nineteenth-Century Hivernant Communities
Dawn Wambold
Chapter 9. Beading and Being in Relation: A Conversation Between Kisha Supernant and Krista Leddy
Kisha Supernant and Krista Leddy, transcribed and facilitated by Uzma Z. Rizvi
Chapter 10. A Walk Among Texts: Exploring New Spaces in Crafting and Making
Sarah E. Jackson
Conclusion: Concluding Thoughts on Crafting as World Making and Collaborative Modes of Thinking, Writing, and Being
Zoe Crossland, Celine Gillot, Praveena Gullapalli, Sven Haakanson, Christina Halperin, Sarah E. Jackson, George F. Lau, Uzma Z. Rizvi, Kisha Supernant, R. Dawn Wambold, and Joshua Wright
Appendix: A Page from the Zine
Index