Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 72 nr 2 (2020)

il. ; 25 cm

ill. ; 25 cm

Although the notion that the past was populated by cultural spheres containing relatively homogenous populations is pervasive, nuanced considerations of intra-culture variability allow for the recognition of local or regional identities that were simultaneously connected to but distinct from an overarching cultural sphere. This requires the identification of multiple interrelated cultural constituents and the recognition of a kind of cultural layering in which the identity or identities salient for members of a particular group are conceptualized as con-sisting of variably articulating categories that interact with and depend upon each other. Our approach to cultural variability and identity construction is based on this view and posits that cultural spheres studied in archaeological contexts can be divided into distinct but related cultural subgroups or dialects based on variations in material cultural data and studied independently or comparatively