Defining material correlates for ceramic circulation in the prehistoric Puebloan Southwest

The circulation of material goods plays a crucial role in the organization and evolution of social networks in preindustrial societies. In the American Southwest, the study of exchange networks, and particularly of ceramic exchange, has taken a central place in archaeological research that aims at reconstructing changing patterns of community interaction and sociopolitical organization in prehistoric Southwestern societies. This article examines recent models and methods for reconstructing exchange and presents criteria for defining material correlates of the diverse mechanisms of ceramic circulation present in the northern Southwest during the late Pueblo III and Pueblo IV periods (A.D. 1250-1450). Examples from ceramic research in the Grasshopper and Point of Pines regions of east-central Arizona illustrate the proposed criteria.