---
name: amanthro-tables-figures
description: Use when building exhibits for an American Anthropologist (AA) manuscript — photographs, maps, site plans, artifact images, kinship diagrams, transcripts, evidence tables, and multimodal media — so they are self-contained, accessible (alt text), ethically cleared (consent, permissions), and count toward the word budget. Designs exhibits; it does not run analysis or clear permissions for you.
---

# 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 Do not publish images that expose or endanger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`](../../resources/external_tools.md) — mapping/GIS, image, transcription, and plotting tools
- [`../../resources/official-source-map.md`](../../resources/official-source-map.md) — alt-text, permissions, and figure requirements