Plain Ware and Polychrome: Quantifying Perceptual Differences in Ceramic Classification

Summary

In the course of the NEXUS1492 project in the Caribbean we are interested in potential differences in the perception of archaeological ceramic sherds. A pilot study was conducted across four states in the US Southwest, to explore how different groups of peoples cognitively sift experiential information of ceramic sherds.

In different sorting exercises, participants of the study were asked to arrange the sherds according to their perceived similarity based on standardized questions. The spatial arrangement of the sherds is averaged within the groups and used to quantify variation and similarity between individuals and between groups.

In this presentation we will discuss the results of the study and evaluate the results in regard to the following questions:

- Does the perception of pottery differ within and between groups of peoples?

- Are there implications of these differences for archaeologists?

Ideally the results can help archaeologists refine their social interpretations of ceramic data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22155