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Inter-Regional and Intra-Regional Scale Compositional Variability in Pottery from South-Central Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Barbara L. Stark ,
Robert J. Speakman  and
Michael D. Glascock
Barbara L. Stark
Affiliation:
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 (blstark@asu.edu)
Robert J. Speakman
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Institution Museum Conservation Institute, Museum Support Center (MCI), 4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD 20746 (speakmanj@si.edu)
Michael D. Glascock
Affiliation:
Research Reactor Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 (glascockm @ missouri.edu
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Abstract

Both long-distance and localized chemical relationships in pottery and their implications for studies of Gulf lowland exchange can be examined with instrumental neutron activation. New pottery samples from Classic period (A.D. 300-900) contexts in the western lower Papaloapan basin were subjected to chemical compositional analysis. The sample represents three groups, coarse utility jars, common orange slipped serving bowls, and fine paste, higher-value white slipped serving bowls. At an intraregional scale, four localities in the western basin were sampled, but not all proved to be compositionally distinct. A mangrove zone pottery group contrasts compositionally with groups from riverine farmlands to the west. At a larger interregional scale, pottery from neighboring geomorphological areas as well as distant alluvial systems up and down the Gulf lowlands yielded chemically distinct groups. Considerable intraregional trade is suggested, but little is evident at the interregional scale. The interregional analysis is the first integrated overview of Gulf lowland ceramic chemical compositions, and the intraregional analysis begins assessment of Classic period pottery production and exchange within the western lower Papaloapan basin. Methodologically, we use sand sources in the region to determine if differences in tempering of pastes are likely to account for differences in compositional groups.

Resumen

Resumen

Se analizan a través de activación neutrónica de elementos las relaciones locales y de larga distancia en cerámicas del período clásico (A.D. 300-900) procedentes de la cuenca oeste del bajo río Papaloapan, golfo de México. La muestra incluye tres grupos: ollas utilitarias burdas, cuencos comunes con baño anaranjado, y cuencos con baño blanco de pasta fina y de más valor por su escasez. En la escala intra-regional, se escogieron muestras de cuatro localidades del área pero no todas ellas resultaron distintas en su composición química. El grupo químico procedente del manglar contrasta con los de los terrenos agrícolas del oeste. A una escala interregional mayor, la cerámica de áreas geomorfológicamente vecinas, como las de los sistemas aluviales costeros más distantes, se distinguen en sus diferentes grupos químicos. El intercambio intra-regional es notable, pero es escaso a escala inter-regional en las muestras analizadas. Esta es la primera revisión integral de las composiciones químicas cerámicas de las tierras bajas del golfo e inicia el análisis intra-regional de la producción e intercambio de alfarería en la cuenca oeste del bajo río Papaloapan. Metodológicamente, evaluamos en muestras de arena de la región si la cantidad de desgrasante en la cerámica puede explicar las distinciones en la composición química entre los grupos.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , March 2007 , pp. 59 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2007

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