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Which 13 categories of cultural traits did Clark Wissler compare?

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Map of North America divided by red boundary lines into major indigenous culture areas, including American Arctic, American Subarctic, Northwest Coast, Plateau, Great Basin, California, Southwest, Plains, Northeast, and Southeast, covering regions from Alaska and northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
Culture area

In his work The American Indian (1917), American anthropologist Clark Wissler utilized 13 specific categories to organize his comparative analysis of living indigenous cultures. By categorizing these traits, Wissler aimed to compare cultures functionally, adhering to a scientific model of analysis.1

The 13 categories of cultural traits compared by Wissler are:

  • Food
  • Domesticated animals and transportation
  • Textiles
  • Ceramics
  • Decorative arts
  • Tools
  • Fine arts
  • Social organization
  • Social regulation (such as marriage customs)
  • Ritual
  • Mythology
  • Language
  • Physiology1

By mapping the variation of these traits across regions, Wissler was able to define culture areas and investigate the mechanisms behind the diffusion and conservation of cultural complexes.1