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On Methods of Measuring Ceramic Uselife: A Revision of the Uselife Estimates of Cooking Vessels among the Kalinga, Philippines

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Masakazu Tani  and
William A. Longacre
Masakazu Tani
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Design, Kyushu Institute of Design, 4-9-1 Shiobara, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, Japan815-0032
William A. Longacre
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
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Abstract

The longevity of ceramic vessels in ethnographic contexts has been reported from several ceramic-using groups. Several methods have been used to derive estimates of the mean uselives of ceramic classes. Among them, the Kalinga Ethnoarchaeological Project employed a method based on a series of ceramic inventories since 1975. This inventory method recorded large number of pots, much more than any other previous studies, to ensure the representativeness of uselife estimates. Another data set of ceramic breakage collected by the project reveals that biases against short-lived pots were introduced by the inventory method. As a result, ceramic uselife estimated by the inventory method appears to be too long, and the revised estimates are similar to those observed in other contexts. This paper identifies the biases intrinsic to the inventory method and suggests revised uselife figures.

Résumé

Résumé

La longevidad de las vasijas cerámicas en contextos etnográficos ha sido reportada en diversos grupos que utiliian cerámica. Al momento existen algunos métodos para estimar la edad media de clases cerámicas. Entre éstos, el Proyecto Etnoarqueológico Kalinga empleó un método basado en una serie the inventarios cerámicos que datan desde 1975. Este método de inventario registró un gran número de vasijas, mayor al registrado en estudios previos, para asegurar la representación de los estimados de vida promedio. Además, los datos de rotura de cerámica recolectados en este proyecto revelan que el método de inventario introdujo sesgos en contra de la presencia de vasijas de vida corta. Como resultado, la longevidad de vasijas estimada en inventarios aparece demasiado larga, y los estimados corregidos son similares a aquéllos observados en otros contextos. Este artículo identifica los sesgos intrínsecos al método de inventario y sugiere figuras de vida promedio corregidas.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 299 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1999

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