ABSTRACT
Style and function are intuitively appealing concepts we can bring to archaeological classification based on our interaction in daily life with our own artifacts. In this interaction, we routinely distinguish between functional and stylistic aspects of artifacts and it is but a short step to extend our experiential knowledge to the domain of artifact classification by introducing a distinction between functional and stylistic types. 1 The usefulness of this distinction is virtually self-evident when we consider the manner in which style and function can refer to different ways in which we integrate material culture and behavior. For example, explanatory arguments regarding the spatial and temporal patterns for the relationship between production and use of artifacts may be of a different kind when we are concerned with functional—as opposed to stylistic—aspects of artifacts. This, and other behavioral consequences relating to the difference between function and style, implies the need for a distinction between functional and stylistic traits that can be implemented analytically.
