Page "Ancient Pueblo Peoples" Paragraph 79

* The modern term " style " has a bearing on how material items such as pottery or architecture can be interpreted.

Within a people, different means to accomplish the same goal can be adopted by subsets of the larger group.

For example, in modern Western cultures, there are alternative styles of clothing that characterized older and younger generations.

Some cultural differences may be based on linear traditions, on teaching from one generation or “ school ” to another.

Other varieties in style may have distinguished between arbitrary groups within a culture, perhaps defining status, gender, clan or guild affiliation, religious belief or cultural alliances.

Variations may also simply reflect the different resources available in a given time or area.