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A Non-Hierarchical Approach to Ceramic Decoration Analysis: A Southwestern Example

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

E. W. Jernigan
E. W. Jernigan*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
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Abstract

The element-motif-layout framework of design analysis, which has dominated the study of prehistoric Southwestern ceramic decoration since the late 1930s, is shown to be ambiguous as a means of understanding and comparing such decoration. A new analytical approach is presented involving the isolation of design units based on comparative study of how design configurations are used in a style corpus of whole vessels. Application of the method and its usefulness in comparative stylistic studies, as well as potential usefulness in ceramic dating, are discussed.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 51 , Issue 1 , January 1986, pp. 3 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1986

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References

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