Papers by Dorothy Washburn
American Mathematical Monthly, Apr 1, 1991
... folio format and illustrated designs from one area or medium, such as Perleberg's Pe... more ... folio format and illustrated designs from one area or medium, such as Perleberg's Peruvian Textiles (nd), Clouzot's Tissus Negres (nd), Flem-ming's An Encyclopaedia of Textiles (nd), Dolmetsch's Der Ornamentenschatz (1889), and Racinet's L'Ornement Polychrome (1869). ...
American Journal of Archaeology, Jul 1, 1984
ABSTRACT Designs on Red on Cream and Cream on Red wares were reconstructed from sherds excavated ... more ABSTRACT Designs on Red on Cream and Cream on Red wares were reconstructed from sherds excavated from the Early Neolithic site of Nea Nikomedeia, Macedonia. Eight whole patterns (Classes A-H) and nineteen fragmentary patterns (Groups I-XIX) are described and illustrated.
Journal of Archaeological Science, Apr 1, 2013
ABSTRACT Theobroma cacao was detected in the ceramic assemblage at the 8th century Site 13, Alkal... more ABSTRACT Theobroma cacao was detected in the ceramic assemblage at the 8th century Site 13, Alkali Ridge, southeastern Utah. The presence of this Mesoamerican beverage during the Pueblo I period is the earliest reported use of cacao in the northern American Southwest, coming centuries earlier than the recently documented Pueblo II consumption of cacao in cylinder jars, sharp-shouldered pitchers and shallow bowls at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon. Analogous to the situation at Chaco, cacao was found at Site 13 in a new vessel form decorated with a distinctive design system that contrasted markedly with designs and vessel forms in the local black-on-white ceramic assemblage. We postulate that Abajo R/O at Site 13 represents a ceramic tradition brought by one of the many groups moving into the northern Southwest. The detection of cacao in their ceramic vessels represents new evidence for the migration model that for centuries brought people with Mesoamerican beliefs, ritual practices and a new subsistence lifeway into the American Southwest.
Journal of Archaeological Science, Oct 1, 2014
ABSTRACT We address the issue of contamination in sampling and storage procedures and the require... more ABSTRACT We address the issue of contamination in sampling and storage procedures and the requirements of sample size and controls necessary to assay ceramic vessels for absorbed chemical residues. We focus our discussion on the detection and quantification of the three methylxanthines – caffeine, theobromine and theophylline as a means to infer whether Mississippian and Southwestern vessels had been used for the consumption of a stimulating drink made from the seeds of Theobroma cacao, a tree that grows in the Mesoamerican tropics. Our research detected two statistically differentiated concentration levels of methylxanthines on objects in museum storage: vessels with low levels of methylxanthines from airborne particulates that we attribute to environmental contamination, and vessels with significant higher levels of the methylxanthines that we attribute to the archaeological record reflecting prehistoric cacao consumption. We propose that cacao was imported into the American Midwest/Southeast during the Mississippian platform mound tradition AD 1000–1300 and into the American Southwest during the Chaco Great House tradition AD 900–1200 and the Hohokam platform mound tradition AD 1300–1400.
... folio format and illustrated designs from one area or medium, such as Perleberg's Pe... more ... folio format and illustrated designs from one area or medium, such as Perleberg's Peruvian Textiles (nd), Clouzot's Tissus Negres (nd), Flem-ming's An Encyclopaedia of Textiles (nd), Dolmetsch's Der Ornamentenschatz (1889), and Racinet's L'Ornement Polychrome (1869). ...
Latin American Antiquity, 2019
This paper uses plane pattern symmetries to describe the structural arrangement of motifs in Siky... more This paper uses plane pattern symmetries to describe the structural arrangement of motifs in Sikyatki-style patterns on textiles depicted in fourteenth and fifteenth century AD kiva murals from Awat'ovi and Kawaika'a in Arizona and Pottery Mound in New Mexico. The analysis reveals that these textiles have pattern structures in common with designs on textiles, ceramic artifacts, and architectural decorations in the Postclassic Mixteca-Puebla style. These shared patterns and pattern structures were introduced into the American Southwest woven on fabric structures of textiles brought north from Mesoamerica via trade and migration routes along the Mexican West Coast and through the Sierra Madre.
Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, May 10, 2022
Practicing artists, art students and non artists were asked to respond to 6 different two-dimensi... more Practicing artists, art students and non artists were asked to respond to 6 different two-dimensional infinite patterns presented as iterating dots on a computer screen. They were asked to pause the iterations when they perceived a pattern and draw that pattern. Most searched for shapes with clearly defined edges in the "negative" background space rather than for shapes as defined by clusters of dots. The process of shape definition using the figure/ground distinction and the issue that past experience influences human perception are discussed.
Science (New York, N.Y.), Jan 29, 2014
Residues on pottery suggest close ties between Mesoamerica and cultures to the north.
Curator: The Museum Journal, 1990
I explore the advantages of using maker and user categories of function and meaning asthe basis f... more I explore the advantages of using maker and user categories of function and meaning asthe basis for presenting objects in visible storage. Visitors are able to relate to objects groups by these concepts rather than standard museum categories of date, material, place.
Structure and cognition in art, 1983
This paper presents 2 tests on painted and incised ceramic designs from Early and Late Neolithic ... more This paper presents 2 tests on painted and incised ceramic designs from Early and Late Neolithic Greece that demonstrates how the attribute pattern structure as measured by plane pattern symmetries is sensitive to tempora land spatial factors.
Washburn and Crowe have published texts and studies documenting the procedure for and application... more Washburn and Crowe have published texts and studies documenting the procedure for and application of the use of plane pattern symmetries to classify cultural patterns [8, 9]. This paper contrasts the difference in cultural insights gained between pattern studies that simply describe patterns by motif type and shape and those that describe the way motifs are repeated by plane pattern symmetries.
Aesthetics of Interdisciplinarity: Art and Mathematics, 2017
Washburn and Crowe have published texts and studies documenting the procedure for and application... more Washburn and Crowe have published texts and studies documenting the procedure for and application of the use of plane pattern symmetries to classify cultural patterns [8, 9]. This paper contrasts the difference in cultural insights gained between pattern studies that simply describe patterns by motif type and shape and those that describe the way motifs are repeated by plane pattern symmetries.
Two tabletops carved by a Bakuba wood-carver reveal a surprising duality. Although the carvings a... more Two tabletops carved by a Bakuba wood-carver reveal a surprising duality. Although the carvings at first glance appear completely different, closer attention shows that the carved portion of each is exactly the uncarved portion of the other. Hence, in a certain sense, they have exactly the same symmetries. We discuss the cultural insights suggested and supported by this observation.
Emory Sekaquaptewa dedicated most of his life to promoting Hopi literacy and creating written mat... more Emory Sekaquaptewa dedicated most of his life to promoting Hopi literacy and creating written materials to strengthen the language and lifeway of his people. He understood how intimately cultural ideas are embedded in language, and by transcribing and translating early recordings of katsina songs he helped strengthen the continuity of Hopi religious thought and cultural practices. Sekaquaptewa believed that the advice contained in the katsina songs, some of which were recorded over a century ago, could be used by future generations as guideposts for navigating contemporary life. Hopi Katsina Songs contains Hopi transcriptions, English translations, and detailed commentaries of 150 katsina songs, recorded throughout the twentieth century from all three Hopi mesas, as well as twenty-five recorded by Sekaquaptewa himself. To further continue the creative process of the Hopi legacy, Sekaquaptewa included song fragments with the hope that readers would remember the songs and complete them. These features make his collection an invaluable resource for preserving and teaching Hopi language and culture.
Choice Reviews Online, 2005
... Patterned Representations Dorothy K. Washburn Symmetry Schemes on Paracas Necropolis Textiles... more ... Patterned Representations Dorothy K. Washburn Symmetry Schemes on Paracas Necropolis Textiles Anne Paul Jazz: An Andean Sense of Symmetry Ed Franquemont The Ghost in the Machine: Symmetry and Representation in Ancient Antillean Art Peter G. Roe Symmetry for ...
KIVA, 2011
Abstract This study addresses the relationship between two well-excavated Chacoan great houses in... more Abstract This study addresses the relationship between two well-excavated Chacoan great houses in the Middle San Juan (MSJ), Aztec and Salmon, and great houses in Chaco Canyon. We examine a common ceramic database to ascertain whether technological features o f paste and temper in conjunction with a design symmetry analysis of patterns in the Chaco Design System (CDS) show evidence for an initial migration of Chacoan craftspeople north into the MSJ and later emulation of Chacoan ceramic traits by local potters. Our results indicate that about half the vessels with hachured designs within the CDS at these two great houses were made somewhere in the Chaco-Cibola production area, suggesting they were brought to the sites. The remaining half were made with local clay and temper resources in the MSJ, indicating that they were either made as copies of Chaco designs or made by immigrant Chacoan potters. Abstract Este estudio trata la relación entre dos grandes casas Chacoan que han sido bien excavadas en Middle San Juan (MSJ), Aztec y Salmon, y las grandes casas de Chaco Canyon. Nosotros examinamos una base de datos común para discernir si los rasgos tecnológicos de pasta y temperante en conjunto con un análisis de diseño simétrico de patrones en el Chaco Design System (CDS) demuestran evidencia de una migración inicial de los artesanos Chacoan del norte hacia MSJ y más tarde la emulación de diseños Chacoan en la cerámica producida por artesanos locales. Nuestros residtados indican que aproximadamente la mitad de las vasijas con diseños hatchured dentro del CDS de estas dos grandes casas fueron hechas en algún lugar del área de producción Chaco-Cíbola, sugiriendo que éstas fueron traídas a los sitios. La mitad restantefue hecha con arcilla local y temperante procedente de MSJ, indicando que fueron hechas como copias de diseños Chaco ó hechas por inmigrantes ceramistas Chacoan.
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Papers by Dorothy Washburn