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Showing papers in "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory in 2000"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors compare African pottery techniques at a subcontinental level and see whether there are recurrent patterns in their distribution and whether these can be related to specific social boundaries or historical processes of group formation.
Abstract: Archaeological approaches to social boundaries are currently emphasizing the dynamic nature of processes thought which individuals construct, maintain, and negotiate their identity. Although the integration of such concepts has led to a more accurate reconstruction of past social boundaries, it has also revealed a need for more sophisticated ways of interpreting material culture. This paper is a step in that direction. Focusing on pottery chaines operatoires and addressing questions about the salience and scale of particular behaviors, I seek to develop general propositions regarding the relationships between technological styles and aspects of social identity. To that end, I compare African pottery techniques at a subcontinental level and see whether there are recurrent patterns in their distribution and whether these can be related to specific social boundaries or historical processes of group formation.

404 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the literature dealing with the development of ceramic specialization, paste uniformity has been suggested as a surrogate index of product standardization and the result of a more intensive level of specialization as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the literature dealing with the development of ceramic specialization, paste uniformity has been suggested as a surrogate index of product standardization and the result of a more intensive level of specialization. More recently, the amount of paste variability has been seen as an indicator of different types of production organization. Ethnoarchaeological data from Mexico, Peru, and Guatemala suggest that a variety of environmental, technological, and social factors influence paste variability. These factors are important in all production contexts and complicate inferences drawn about production organization in antiquity. As a consequence, social and economic inferences derived from ancient ceramic pastes need to be understood in relation to numerous other factors such as natural variability of the ceramic raw materials, their procurement, and their use in paste preparation. Furthermore, changes in resource use and paste preparation over time can obscure intracommunity and other fine-scale patterns. As a consequence, it is argued that little, if anything, can be learned about the organization of production below the level of the local production community. Rather, the primary usefulness of paste compositional analyses lies in the identification, in geographic and geological spaces (“community signature units”), of source communities that exploit raw materials within a limited range of probably no more than 3 to 4 km. Paste analyses thus provide important information about the organization of ceramic distribution, revealing the emergence and demise of source communities and the movement of their ceramic products.

164 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Achuar and Quichua women signify their political alliances in the painted decoration of their domestic pottery more strongly than they signify passive processes of learning associated with early enculturation and ethnicity.
Abstract: A long-standing assumption in archaeological theory is that pottery in the domestic context represents a form of “passive style” that does not enter into symbolic communication in the political domain This paper presents ethnoarchaeological data to establish a link between women's active political behavior and pottery style in the domestic context in a small-scale, segmental society in the Ecuadorian Amazon Analysis of individual variables of style shows that Achuar and Quichua women signify their political alliances in the painted decoration of their domestic pottery more strongly than they signify so-called “passive” processes of learning associated with early enculturation and ethnicity Furthermore, analysis of women's judgments of pottery as Achuar or Quichua indicates that they decode cues to political alliances in the pottery of other women, including cues to political differences within and between groups The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the principles underlying women's stylistic behavior as part of the political processes involved in the construction and maintenance of social identity and social boundaries

160 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article lay out the central questions addressed by archaeologists studying craft production, discuss how ethnoarchaeology has contributed to our understanding of ancient production systems, and suggest avenues of further research that can benefit archaeological investigation of the organization of ceramic production.
Abstract: Ethnoarchaeological studies have longed served as a critical source of hypotheses, comparative data, and explanatory frameworks for archaeologists interested in describing and explaining ceramic production. In this paper, I lay out the central questions addressed by archaeologists studying craft production, discuss how ethnoarchaeology has contributed to our understanding of ancient production systems, and suggest avenues of further research that can benefit archaeological investigation of the organization of ceramic production.

126 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined cultural sources of variation in ceramic compositional patterning in two pottery-making villages of the highland Philippines and identified paste differences between the clays and fired ceramics from Dangtalan and those from Dalupa.
Abstract: This study examines cultural sources of variation in ceramic compositional patterning in two pottery-making villages of the highland Philippines. In Dalupa, many potters are part-time specialists whereas in Dangtalan, women make pottery less frequently. Previous studies show that both pottery form and decoration correspond well with Kalinga social boundaries, but how do morphological and decorative patterning relate to compositional variability? Although researchers have made substantial advances in our understanding of natural and postdepositional sources of compositional variability, little is known about behavioral factors that affect chemical and mineralogical compositional patterning. This study examines cultural practices of clay selection and use in an ethnographic setting, and undertakes technical analyses to assess the relationship between behavior and material culture patterning. Our study identified paste differences between the clays and fired ceramics from Dangtalan and those from Dalupa. Findings from our compositional research thus parallel earlier morphological and stylistic studies, and illustrate multivariate differences in ceramics from these two Kalinga communities. This ethnoarchaeological and analytical project contributes, therefore, to understanding objective parameters within a behavioral context. It also provides an example of how a combined characterization approach, using chemical and petrographic techniques, can yield insights on intraregional variation at a finer scale of resolution than is often attempted.

107 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The artifact typology of Francois Bordes has been universally applied to European Middle Paleolithic assemblages for the past half-century as mentioned in this paper and it is argued that Bordes' type definitions are inadequate for use in modern quantitatively and technologically oriented studies of lithics because they are overly subjective and are an uncontrolled mixture of technological and functional variables acted on by raw material constraints.
Abstract: The artifact typology of Francois Bordes has been universally applied to European Middle Paleolithic assemblages for the past half-century. Although its utility as a common descriptive language is acknowledged, it is argued that Bordes' type definitions are inadequate for use in modern quantitatively and technologically oriented studies of lithics because they are overly subjective and are an uncontrolled mixture of technological and functional variables acted on by raw material constraints. They also incorporate untested assumptions about the cognitive abilities of Middle Paleolithic hominids. This paper proposes to replace the Bordes typology with a method based on attribute combinations in which artifact descriptions will contain more behaviorally significant information than is afforded by the current system.

100 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a method for reconstructing individual acts of human movement was proposed, where artifacts across unusually long distances were used to reconstruct patterns of movement and differentiate between different types of movement made for different purposes.
Abstract: Movement is a universal part of human life. However, it normally leaves no material trace, so movements made in the past are difficult to investigate. Refitting artifacts across unusually long distances provides a robust method of reconstructing individual acts of movement. When there are multiple individual movements, it is possible to reconstruct patterns of movement, and to differentiate between different types of movement made for different purposes, even in prehistory.

88 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the sociopolitical constraints on traditional pottery production in Paradijon, southern Luzon, the Philippines, and found that the potters became involved in elite competition and dictated that the two potting factions acquire clays from sources controlled by elite alliance partners.
Abstract: This ethnoarchaeological study examines sociopolitical constraints on traditional pottery production in Paradijon, southern Luzon, the Philippines. Factionalism divided the potting community as it became involved in elite competition and dictated that the two potting factions acquire clays from sources controlled by elite alliance partners. This study examines patterning in instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) data in relationship to the involvement of independent craft specialists in elite competition. Patterning of INAA data at community and regional levels is found, illustrating the middle-range links between sociopolitical behavior of potters and patterns in clay composition. INAA patterning among clay preparation areas appears dependent on whether a preparation area is in public or private space. Regionally, primary markets express INAA signals from both factions, whereas secondary markets reflect potter participation of a particular faction.

53 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a set of cooking pots made by craft specialists in a neighborhood in a small city in the Philippines are hand made, using the paddle and anvil technique, and then slipped with an iron-rich clay and polished with a marine shell.
Abstract: Cooking pots made by craft specialists in a neighborhood in a small city in the Philippines are hand made, using the paddle and anvil technique, and then slipped with an iron-rich clay and polished with a marine shell. They are fired in an open fire, removed while very hot, and immersed in a bed of rice chaff. The result is a shiny black pot that is easily recognized in the market as being the product of this neighborhood. Such pots are valued by consumers as more beautiful and durable compared with pots made elsewhere. To see if the iron and carbon surface treatments improve the performance of the cooking pots, 50 pots were commissioned, with surfaces that varied from no treatment to slip only or carbon only as well as both carbon and slip. This collection was tested at the University of Arizona, and results clearly indicate that heating effectiveness is improved with both slip and carbon present. The surface treatments of red slip and smudge also affect the performance of pots for water permeability. However, our tests show no obvious relationships between strength and different surface treatments. The project illustrates the power of combining ethnoarchaeology with experimental studies in understanding artifact design.

47 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the literature on leadership in contact-era New Guinea can be found in this article, where the authors identify a number of problems in the ethnography and theory of New Guinea leadership, and provide a brief guide to deploying the ethnographic and theoretical literature.
Abstract: Increasingly, archaeologists are recognizing cultural anthropological work in New Guinea as an important source of ethnographic analogy for understanding the initial stages of cultural evolution. This article critically reviews the literature on leadership in contact-era New Guinea. It is intended as an introduction both to different theoretical interpretations of leadership, as these have developed from Marshal Sahlins's Big-man archetype to the present, and to the primary literature on the topic. It points to several implications for archaeological theory, identifies a number of problems in the ethnography and theory of contact-era New Guinea leadership, and concludes with a brief guide to deploying the ethnographic and theoretical literature.

47 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Ceramic ethnoarchaeology has developed considerably since Kramer's (Kramer, 1985, Annual Review of Anthropology 14: 77-102) review as discussed by the authors, and more sophisticated readings of social theory and analyses that consider multiple variables and levels of variability have led to better understandings of social boundaries.
Abstract: Ceramic ethnoarchaeology has developed considerably since Kramer's (Kramer, 1985, Annual Review of Anthropology 14: 77–102) review. More sophisticated readings of social theory and analyses that consider multiple variables and levels of variability have led to better understandings of social boundaries. Perceptions of ceramic change are becoming increasingly sophisticated, thanks to more long-term projects as well as research that takes advantage of new opportunities, including historic collections and nontraditional settings. The newly developing ethnoarchaeology is contributing to general anthropological understandings of material culture and society.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The Smithsonian's Stevenson collection of Zuni ceramics, consisting of 3500 vessels, were assembled in three intensive field seasons over a 6-year period as discussed by the authors, and they are particularly useful for addressing questions about rates of stylistic change and the relative use-lives of vessel forms and sizes with known ethnographic functions.
Abstract: Large collections of ethnographic ceramics created over multiyear periods of intensive collecting provide a way to bridge discrepancies between the temporal scales of ethnographic studies based on single field visits and archaeological analyses of assemblages accumulated over much longer periods of time. The Smithsonian's Stevenson collections of Zuni ceramics, consisting of 3500 vessels, were assembled in three intensive field seasons over a 6-year period. They are particularly useful for addressing questions about rates of stylistic change and the relative use-lives of vessel forms and sizes with known ethnographic functions.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that historically informed ethnoarchaeology provides the key to documenting and understanding the concomitant changes in the social context of pottery production and consumption and the distribution of material culture.
Abstract: Ethnoarchaeological studies of pottery primarily focus on the ethnographic present, often disregarding the role of history in the production of material culture. This paper integrates information from historical sources and ethnographic interviews to better understand stylistic ceramic change. Beginning in the 1920s, undecorated pots largely replaced decorated pottery in the region of Evros, Greece. I argue that historically informed ethnoarchaeology provides the key to documenting and understanding the concomitant changes in the social context of pottery production and consumption and the distribution of material culture.