Sorry, I came in on the tail end of the pearlware dates discussion. A rose by
any other name is still a rose. I do not have a problem with terminology for
body (paste) or decorative types. Regardless of what you call your type
descriptions, you must be sure that the particular ceramic specimens adhere
to the definition of the type designation as it was defined and/or adjusted
through historical documentation. I do, however, believe in using a
comprehensive and well-defined system as that initially presented by George
L. Miller in his 1980 and 1991 articles of economic scaling of refined white
earthenwares.

However, I am somewhat skeptical of the use of manufacture dates or
popularity dates with the mean ceramic date formula. I believe the dates for
ceramic types based on a combination of attributes must be adjusted for the
specific chronological history of the region or area that produces site
assemblages. A quick example I hope will suffice. The earliest date for the
introduction of pearlwares in the Maumee Valley of Ohio based on the market
economy of the United States is 1817, but is more probably 1823 with the
establishment of the first retail store. Modifying the use of manufacture or
popularity dates for this ware type given the particular economic history of
this area would give a date range of 1817-1835 for pearlware for this area.
The mean ceramic date for this ware would be 1825.5 to be used in any
computations of the formula for site assemblages containing pearlware from
this particular area. Without adjusting for economic develop of the
particular area, using the mean ceramic date formula for any decorative type
of pearlware would require a mean date of 1797.5 using the beginning
manufacture date of 1765, or 1805 if using the beginning manufacture date of
1780 for site assemblages containing pearlware from the Maumee Valley of
Ohio. Using these unadjusted mean dates will seriously skew an computations
using the mean ceramic date formula, and it makes no sense since the first
permanent settlement of the valley with an economic infrastructure begins by
1817.

Pat Tucker