Style and Ethnicity in the Kalahari: A Reply to Wiessner

Abstract

Wiessner's analysis of stylistic variation in San arrows entails valuable ethnoarchaeological observation and insight. But her evidence contradicts the iconological theory she imposes upon it, whereby San artisans are thought to purposefully invest their products with ethnic symbolism in order to transmit social information to various target populations. However, an alternative view, according to which the arrows simply exhibit the ethnic style latent in all isochrestic behavior (see Sackett 1982), is consistent both with their formal variation and with the commonplace ethnic symbolism that the San themselves are reported to read into them. This view also provides a more reasonable explanation than does the iconological theory of why stylistic distinctions fail to emerge among San bands engaged in risk-sharing strategies. In any event, isochrestism is the basic source of ethnic style in material culture. Iconicism is a special case and ought not be invoked unless specific expectations are met by the evidence.

Análisis Tecno-Tipológico De Instrumentos Líticos Del Sitio Arcaico Temprano Ipilla 2 en Los Andes De Arica, Chile

“…Debido a que los instrumentos líticos son transmisores de información y contienen valores funcionales, prácticos, cognitivos, ideológicos, simbólicos e identitarios, los estudios de tecnología lítica pueden contribuir a mejorar el conocimiento acerca de los cazadores recolectores andinos tempranos (Lemonnier 1992;Sackett 1977Sackett , 1983Sackett , 1985Soressi y Geneste 2005;Wiessner 1983;Wobst 1999). La caracterización de tipologías, patrones de transformación, mantenimiento y formas de hacer de los artefactos líticos, permite establecer relaciones tecnológicas entre sitios arqueológicos a través de la inferencia de circuitos de movilidad e interacción regional.…”

A variabilidade dos trançados dos Asurini do Xingu

“…Para isto é preciso considerar as decisões concre tiza das tant o no pla nej ame nto, quanto no processo de produção dos artefatos e que definem um estilo tecnoló-gico. Sackett (1977Sackett ( , 1982Sackett ( , 1986Sackett ( , 1993, concorda com esta posição, pois segundo ele, o estilo não reside num domínio acessório da forma, mas nas escolhas tecnológicas a partir das quais a mesma é resultante e que são feitas pelo artesão -conscientemente ou não -durante todo processo de produção do artefato. Estas escolhas, realiza das dent re alte rn at iva s te cnologicamente equivalentes, por sua vez, são ditadas pelo contexto no qual se insere o artesão e resultam no que ele chama de variação isocréstica 3 .…”

The Southern Divide: Testing morphological differences among bifacial points from southern and southeastern Brazil using geometric morphometrics

“…Certainly, there is still a fascination for the formal lithic industries, reminiscent of collecting and curio cabinets, since these artifacts are more visually and aesthetically appealing, besides being more easily recognized as proper artifacts. Another important point is that, based on the discussions on style and function (Binford 1977;1979;Dunnell 1978;Sackett 1985; among others), formal artifacts are more easily "seized" as conveying cultural transmission processes. This led to the development of various systems of classification, resulting in a greater availability of statistical analysis that can be applied in order to characterize such industries.…”