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Abstract

In order to study transcultural dynamics in the prehistoric past, it is of great relevance to understand human–thing entanglements, as well as the power of things due to their ‘effectancy’ and ‘changeability(ies)’ – especially in the process of appropriation and connected transformation of objects and ideas. The differentiation of relational and material entanglement in these processes helps to better understand the transformative potential that results from the indivi-dual’s encounter with otherness. Within this process, the different changeability(ies) of a thing play a major role, which is significant for understanding a thing’s potential to stimulate human action, i.e. its effectancy, which I conceptualize as a counter-notion to human agency. On the basis of an archaeological case study from the second millennium BCE Southern Levant, I will then show the interrelation of appropriation, entanglement, changeability(ies) and effectancy as crucial factors for determining the complex relationship of humans and things. Finally, I will evaluate the epistemological potential of the concepts as well as their challenges and limitations.