The Historiography of the Concept of 'Workshop' in Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology: Descriptive Models and Theoretical Approaches (Anthropology vs. Art History)

Through a historiographic analysis, this contribution surveys the different hypotheses that have been formulated in archaeology and art history: this double focus allows for moving between different scales of analysis ranging from the concept of household production to regionally based production. In particular, in art history, traditional approaches concerning "artistic attribution" or "authorship" have been partially replaced by a new perspective, according to which the intrinsic meaning and content of artworks are now considered the most relevant thread of inquiry.