The Effects of Geographical Distances on Pottery Assemblage Similarities: A Case Study from Northern Iroquoia

TitleThe Effects of Geographical Distances on Pottery Assemblage Similarities: A Case Study from Northern Iroquoia
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2012
AuthorsHart, JP
JournalJournal of Archaeological Science
Volume39
Pagination128-134
KeywordsNorthern Iroquoian, pottery decoration, Regression analysis, Social network analysis
Abstract

A basic premise of archaeology is that the more frequently two human populations interacted with one another the more similar was their material culture. A corollary of this is that the closer two human populations are to one another geographically, the more frequently they will interact. This corollary has been expressed in the archaeological study of northern Iroquoia since the 1950s on the basis of historical ethnic territories. The expectation has been that after ca. A.D. 1000 to 1300 there was more interaction between village populations within these historical territories than between village populations located in different historical territories. Here I test this corollary with pottery decoration data from 114 northern Iroquoian village sites dating from c. A.D. 1350 to 1640. Results indicate that geographic distance has little effect on pottery assemblage similarity.

URLhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.010
DOI10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.010