Element network analysis: A method for exploring the syntax of abstract decoration on artefacts

Abstract

Abstract (non-figurative) decoration is ubiquitous in human material culture, yet understanding its cultural purpose or role in specific contexts remains a key challenge for archaeology and other disciplines studying material decoration and art. Arguably, identifying basic structures in abstract decoration by applying formal methods is a useful prerequisite for proceeding to well-grounded interpretation of its role in a given cultural context. It may also inform intermediate, middle-range analyses, such as experimental work. We present a new, network-analytical method designed to identify basic structures in decoration, such as relations between decorative elements, the centrality rank of individual elements included in a given pattern or other relational structures hypothesized to be significant to the perceptual and cognitive effects of a pattern. To demonstrate its use and potential, we apply the method to pottery of the Neolithic Funnel Beaker/TRB period in southern Scandinavia (4000–2600 BCE), which exhibits elaborate abstract decoration. While most formal studies of ceramic morphology and decoration in archaeology have focused on typology and chronology, we argue that structures identified using this method can be used to explore the syntax of decorative patterns, which may reflect underlying aesthetic, ideological and social preferences. Applying network analyses to materially static patterns of decoration differs fundamentally from previous applications of formal network theory and modelling in archaeology, and faces different challenges. In addition to demonstrating the former in practice, we address the potentials and problems of this novel application and discuss its relevance in the wider study of material culture.