Archaeological investigation of trade and exchange

A compositional perspective on the origins of the “Nasca cult” at Cahuachi

“…However, given the results of this analysis, there appears to be several compositional spaces (e.g., Neff, 1998) that characterize the Formative wares found at La Puntilla. The homogeneity of some classes of Formative ceramics such as grater bowls and plainwares at La Puntilla suggests local production, perhaps organized around household production.…”

Estudios cerámicos y líticos de la región norte de la cuenca del río Lacanhá y sus implicaciones para las interacciones políticas y económicas durante el Clásico Tardío

“…En cuanto a su funcionamiento, esta herramienta trabaja bajo la premisa del análisis de procedencia en el cual las variaciones dentro de un área de origen son menores que las variaciones entre dos o más áreas. Dado que este es un estudio de procedencia química de obsidiana interregional, la probabilidad de asignar con éxito las áreas de origen a los artefactos analizados es alta (Cobean et al 1991;Neff 2010). La determinación de procedencia de los artefactos de obsidiana ayuda a deducir los sistemas de intercambio y la conformación político-económica de una región (Braswell 2003, Glascock 1994.…”

Testing technological practices: neutron activation analysis of neolithic ceramics from Valencia, Spain

“…To counter these issues, many archaeologists have approached the sourcing of prehistoric pottery in a different manner (e.g. [40,51]). With the analysis of large samples of pottery, compositional or reference groups of chemically similar potsherds are created.…”

“…If modern clays are available, researchers only attempt to assign the pottery compositional groups to geographical locations based on compositional similarities (as opposed to exact matches) to clays that have been collected from the study area [15]. Due to the problems with assigning compositional groups to geographical areas (see [1,40,41,49,53]), a cautious approach in the interpretation of compositional groups should be taken. In addition, potters may select chemically distinct clays from the same areas because of their differences in functional properties.…”