Breaking down ceramic variation: Testing models of white mountain redware design style development

The history of method and theory in the study of prehistoric puebloan pottery style in the American Southwest

“…Instead, archaeologists applied informal methods to construct pottery-based chronologies and their systematic concern for the designs on pottery was attenuated. Only in the past 20 years has the seriation of Puebloan pottery decorative classes been "rediscovered" (Duff, 1996;LeBlanc, 1975;Graves, 1982Graves, , 1984Marquardt, 1978;Hantman, 1986, 1990) and applied to a new set of archaeological problems.…”

“…For the Southwest, this marks an important change in classificatory method from that of the New Archaeologists (and, to some extent, the Culture Historians) and it reflects a commonly expressed concern that ceramic studies be comparable and replicable, or at least be capable of being assessed for comparability--something lacking in earlier New Archaeology studies. Recent ceramic design classifications in the puebloan Southwest are also more likely to integrate hierarchical relations in recognition that design elements represent a different level of style than motifs or design styles (Graves, 1982;Washburn, 1977).…”

“…Plog, , 1980Schiffer, 1976Schiffer, , 1989Skibo et al, 1989;Stanislawski, 1969Stanislawski, , 1973Watson, 1977). Most have found the studies deficient in a number of respects (e.g., replication of classes, use of statistical methods, sample size problems, formation processes), and beginning in the mid-to late1970s, new approaches to the analysis and explanation of design variation in Southwestern puebloan ceramics were developed (Braun and S. Plog, 1982;Cordell and F. Plog, 1979;Crown, 1994Crown, , 1995Graves, 1978Graves, , 1982Graves, , 1984Graves, , 1994aHantman, 1983Hantman, , 1984Hegmon, 1986Hegmon, , 1995Hegmon et al, 1995;S. Plog, 1980S.…”

“…In so doing, the severe tactical problem first identified by Schiller (1976) associated with linking ceramic production, distribution, use, and discard to relatively small proveniences (e.g., a room block, a set of linked masonry rooms) has been avoided. And taking their cues from an earlier generation of Southwestern archaeologists, there has been a resurgence of interest in analyzing both large scale chronological and regional parameters of stylistic variability (Adams et al, 1993;Crown, 1994Crown, , 1996Graves, 1982).…”

“…Factors such as vessel morphology and size, settlementsubsistence patterns, and the distribution of social groups can affect the geographic spread of stylistic traits (see S. Plog, 1980). Finally, the analysis of ceramic design in the Southwest is often pursued independently of pottery type designations, 3 although often more inclusive categories such as wares are employed to structure samples for comparison (e.g., Crown, 1994;Graves, 1982;Hegmon, 1995;Sullivan and Hantman, 1984).…”