Chronology and Social Process in Bronze Age Spain

Summary

This research presents an evaluation of the use of morphometrics of ceramic vessels for organizing site chronologies and social interaction. The object of morphometric analysis is to study how changes in artifact shape covary with time and space. This particular method is tested against Bronze Age ceramics from the Valencian region in Spain along the Western Mediterranean. The characteristic stylistic homogeneity of these ceramics has proven especially resistant to chronological fine-tuning through stylistic analyses and absolute dating. This study uses simple metric indices produced from ceramic rim drawings commonly available in publication for archaeological assemblages to characterize patterns in rim morphology through time and space. The development of methods that easily and successfully improve the chronological resolution of these "resistant" assemblages is essential for projects tackling cause and process. This is the case as applied to the wider goals of this research project, using social network analysis to understand processes that maintain stability of social structures in the Valencian Bronze Age.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17621