| Abstract: |
This review highlights White and Hamilton's *Ban Chiang* as a landmark contribution to archaeometallurgy, rooted in the anthropology of technology (AoT). It challenges cultural evolutionist and technological determinist views, showing that metallurgy’s adoption did not necessarily lead to social stratification. The work is praised for its methodological breadth—drawing on concepts like sociotechnical systems and chaînes opératoires—and for situating metal production within broad geological, technological, and social contexts. The reviewer, a social anthropologist, acknowledges a factual error about Higham’s work but emphasizes the book's portrayal of a prehistoric heterarchical society—decentralized, yet with complex social dynamics—offering a compelling model for future research.
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