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Style and Social Information in Kalahari San Projectile Points

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Polly Wiessner*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institut für Humanethologie, 8131 Seewiesen, W. Germany

Abstract

The results of a study on the relationship between stylistic variation in Kalahari San projectile points and aspects of San social organization are summarized. Five issues relevant to archaeology are discussed in light of the San data: (1) stylistic behavior and the different aspects of style, (2) which items of material culture carry social information and why, (3) which attributes on San projectile points carry social information, (4) what the results of the analysis of stylistic variation in projectile points imply for current methods of stylistic analysis and interpretation, and (5) the correspondence between style in San projectile points and San organization.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1983

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