Style, Society, and Person Archaeological and Ethnological Perspectives

Style, Society, and Person integrates the diverse current and past understandings of the causes of style in material culture. It comprehensively surveys the many factors that cause style; reviews theories that address these factors; builds and tests a unifying framework for integrating the theories; and illustrates the framework with detailed analyses of archaeological and ethnographic data ranging from simple to complex societies. Archaeologists, sociocultural anthropologists, and educators will appreciate the unique unifying approach this book takes to developing style theory.

I. Introduction.- 1 • Integrating Approaches to Material Style in Theory and Philosophy.- II. High-Level Theory on the Causes of Style.- 2 • Style, Society, Myth, and Structure.- 3 • Style and the Self.- 4 • Style, Perception, and Geometry.- 5 • Style, Selection, and Historicity.- III. Middle-Range Theory: Relating form and Cause.- 6 • Building a Unified Middle-Range Theory of Artifact Design: Historical Perspectives and Tactics.- 7 • A Unified Middle-Range Theory of Artifact Design.- 8 • Basketry of Northern California Indians: Interpreting Style Hierarchies.- 9 • Cordage and Fabrics: Relating Form, Technology, and Social Processes.- 10 • Iroquois False Face Masks: The Multiple Causes of Style.- 11 • Approaches to Style: Complements and Contrasts.- IV. Style in Complex Societies.- 12 • Elite Styles in Hierarchically Organized Societies: The Chacoan Regional System.- 13 • Symbols to Power: Styles and Media in the Inka State.- V. Postscript.- 14 • Future Directions for Material Style Studies.- Series Publications.