Tables, Figures & Multimodal Exhibits (amanthro-tables-figures)

At AA, exhibits do more than display numbers — a photograph, a map, a site plan, a kinship chart, or a film clip can carry the argument, and the Multimodal Anthropologies section treats media as scholarship in its own right. Exhibits also cost words (the Research-Article count includes figures, tables, references, and notes), and they carry ethical and rights obligations that other fields' charts do not.

When to trigger

• Designing the key photograph, map, site plan, artifact image, kinship/network diagram, or table
• Preparing a transcript or evidence table linking claims to sources
• Building a Multimodal Anthropologies piece where image/sound/film is the argument
• A reviewer found an exhibit unclear, unlabeled, or ethically/rights-problematic

Principles

1. Self-contained. A reader understands each exhibit from its caption, labels, and note alone — state place, date, what is shown, sample/N (for quantitative exhibits), and the source.
2. The exhibit should argue. A photograph or map that merely decorates wastes scarce words; choose exhibits that advance the interpretation (a contrast, a spatial pattern, a relational structure).
3. Consent & dignity. People depicted have consented to that use; faces/identifiers are handled per the consent given (blur or anonymize where required). Do not publish images that expose or endanger interlocutors (see amanthro-transparency-and-data).
4. Permissions & rights. Secure permissions for archival images, museum objects, and others' media; credit lines and licenses are correct. Heritage/community rights over images of cultural property and ancestral remains are respected — some images should not be reproduced at all.
5. Accessible. Provide alt text for figures; colorblind-safe and grayscale-legible where color carries meaning; legible transcripts with transcription conventions stated.
6. Reproducible (quant exhibits). Numbers in tables/plots match the underlying analysis exactly.

Discipline-specific exhibits

• Archaeology: site maps, stratigraphic sections, artifact plates, distribution maps, chronologies.
• Biological: measurement plots with uncertainty, morphological figures, sampling maps.
• Linguistic: interlinear glossed transcripts (with conventions), discourse excerpts.
• Sociocultural: field photographs (with consent), kinship/network diagrams, evidence tables.

Anti-patterns

• A photograph or map that decorates rather than argues (and still costs words)
• Images of identifiable people without consent for that use; exposing vulnerable interlocutors
• Reproducing sacred/heritage objects or ancestral remains against community wishes
• Missing permissions/credit for archival or museum images
• No alt text; color-only encoding that fails in grayscale; unlabeled transcript conventions
• Quantitative exhibit values that don't match the analysis

Output format

【Main exhibit】what it shows + why it argues (not decorates)
【Self-contained?】caption + labels + source + date/place present? [Y/N]
【Consent & rights】people consented / permissions secured / heritage respected? [Y/N]
【Accessible?】alt text + grayscale-legible + transcript conventions? [Y/N]
【Word-budget impact】noted (figures/tables count)
【Next】amanthro-writing-style

Exhibit decision table (by subfield)

If your exhibit is…	The first question an AA editor/reviewer asks	The fix that clears it
A field photograph of people	Did they consent to this image being published?	Consent on file; blur/withhold per the consent; caption with place/date
A map or site plan	Does it reveal a protected/sacred location?	Generalize coordinates; consult the community before publishing
An artifact plate / museum image	Are permissions and credits secured; is it heritage-sensitive?	Clear rights; respect community authority; some objects are not reproduced
An interlinear transcript	Are transcription conventions stated and glosses legible?	State conventions; align glosses; translate fairly
A quantitative plot (bio/archaeo)	Does it show uncertainty, and do values match the analysis?	Plot intervals/effect sizes; reconcile numbers to the source
A multimodal piece (film/sound)	Does the media argue, with consent and access controls?	Make it carry analytic weight; document consent for the medium

Calibration anchors (hedged)

• At AA, an exhibit is an ethical act, not just a display: consent, heritage authority, and the dignity of the people shown can override the cleanest visualization.
• Exhibits cost words in Research Articles (the count includes figures, tables, references, and notes), so a decorative image is doubly expensive — drop it or move support to where it argues.
• AA's current author guidance calls for TIF figures at 300 dpi or greater, captions, credits, alt text, and image descriptions; confirm Research Exchange file prompts before final upload.

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/external_tools.md — mapping/GIS, image, transcription, and plotting tools
• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — alt-text, permissions, and figure requirements