Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Style In Community Identity And Group Affiliation: An Archaeological Study Of Virgin And Kayenta Branch Ceramics, Daniel Melvin Perez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research focuses on the Virgin Branch heartland of the North American Southwest, an archaeological area spanning southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and northwestern Arizona. The interplay of Virgin Branch community identity, group affiliation, and social interaction over time, between ca. 300 B.C. and A.D. 1225, is considered intra-regionally and in the context of interactions with neighboring Kayenta Branch populations of northeastern Arizona. The principal question for this research is: How is Virgin Branch group identity communicated and reflected through expressions of technological and painted designs styles on pottery amidst intra- and inter-regional events and interactions over time? Support for this …