ABSTRACT
Societies generate myths of various kinds to regulate the use of powerful devices. Archaeologists are as aware as anyone of the nature of these myths, of their regulatory as well as expressive roles. Often there are two complementary myths; the one celebratory, the other admonitory. For instance, the myth of Pygmalion suggests that, through love, a statue can be brought to life. This myth of control over nature has its contrary in the Frankensteinian myth of destruction in which the creation destroys the creator.
