H. Neff et al., THE EVOLUTION OF ANASAZI CERAMIC PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION - COMPOSITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM A PUEBLO-III SITE IN SOUTH-CENTRAL UTAH, Journal of field archaeology, 24(4), 1997, pp. 473-492
We start from the premise that ceramic evolution created the paste-com
positional and formal diversity of archaeological ceramic assemblages.
After discussing alternative models of formal and compositional diver
sity in ceramic assemblages, we examine an assemblage from an Anasazi
site in southern Utah from which 206 sherds were characterized by neut
ron activation analysis. The assemblage is remarkably diverse composit
ionally, which indicates that vessels from a number of sources were us
ed at the site. Equally interesting similar vessels (belonging to a si
ngle ''ware'' category) occur in a number of distinct compositions, wh
ich indicates that they were made in multiple locations. We argue that
the selective regime under which such an assemblage would accumulate
is distinct from the selective regime under which assemblages with a s
trong association of form and composition would accumulate.