De-mystifying Pottery Production in the Maya Lowlands: Detection of Traces of Use-Wear on Pottery Sherds through Microscopic Analysis and Experimental Replication

Varela, Sandra L. López; Gijn, Annelou van; Jacobs, L.

doi:10.1006/jasc.2002.0760

Cited by 33 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Unlike elaborately decorated polychrome vessels, little is known about utilitarian ceramic production, distribution, and consumption in the Maya Lowlands (e.g., Lopez-Varela et al 2001, 2002; Pool 2009; Rice 2009; Stark 1985). Late Classic elites consumed utilitarian vessels but likely did not participate in their production or distribution (Ball 1993).…”

Section: Ceramic Production In the Maya Lowlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They also are used in the manufacture of new vessels as barriers between unfired pottery and open flames to reduce fire clouding and firing mishaps, as temper to improve the properties of clay, and as tools (Stanislawski 1969). Shaped ceramic production tools, first identified in the Maya Lowlands at K'axob, Belize (Lopez-Varela et al 2002), are fragments of fired ceramic vessels used for production activities including smoothing, scraping, incising, polishing, and boring (Figures 4 and 5). Jordan analyzed all non-diagnostic ceramic fragments collected by the UAP from site core and household contexts.…”

Section: Tools Of Manufacturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Identifying Domestic Ceramic Production in the Maya Lowlands: A Case Study From Uxbenka, Belize

Jordan¹,

Prufer

2017

Latin Am. antiq.

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Utilitarian ceramic vessels form the bulk of artifact assemblages in the Maya Lowlands, but little is known about their production beyond the likelihood that they were made in a domestic context without elite involvement. Characterizing the production and distribution of these vessels is vital to understanding ancient Maya economic systems; nevertheless, this is a difficult task in the absence of primary production locales. We use spatial data, use-wear analyses on stone and ceramic tools, and analyses of finished products to identify households involved in ceramic production at three settlement groups at Uxbenka, Belize, during the Late Classic Period (A.D. 600–800). Our analyses indicate that Uxbenka potters were likely involved in some level of residential specialization focused on specific vessel forms. These data, in conjunction with ceramic data from nearby Lubaantun and Nim Li Punit, suggest that all three polities were self-sufficient in terms of utilitarian pottery production and primarily engaged in intrapolity distribution. We argue that this self-sufficiency is due to widely available resources, smaller population sizes, and the availability of high quality agricultural lands.

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Section: Ceramic Production In the Maya Lowlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tools Of Manufacturementioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying Domestic Ceramic Production in the Maya Lowlands: A Case Study From Uxbenka, Belize

Jordan¹,

Prufer

2017

Latin Am. antiq.

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“…Non‐circular disks were often found in pairs of like shapes in excavation contexts, suggesting that they were used together. López Varela and colleagues () conducted usewear analyses and experimental replication of similarly worked sherds found at Kaxob in the Maya region, and concluded that they were used as tools for ceramic production. They identified pentagonal shaped smoothing tools, triangular‐shaped incising and boring tools, and scraping and polishing tools of various shapes among the worked sherds (López Varela et al.…”

Section: Materials Consequences Of Dwelling (On Top Of) the Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They identified pentagonal shaped smoothing tools, triangular‐shaped incising and boring tools, and scraping and polishing tools of various shapes among the worked sherds (López Varela et al. :1137). Usewear studies have yet to be conducted on the Xaltocan sherd disks, though it is possible that they are production tools of some sort.…”

Section: Materials Consequences Of Dwelling (On Top Of) the Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

7 Dwelling on the Past: The Materiality of Everyday Life at Xaltocan, Mexico

Overholtzer

2015

Archaeological Papers of the American

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This chapter explores the materiality of dwelling on the remains of the past at Postclassic Xaltocan, Mexico, using household archaeology evidence. Such continued occupation in place evinced not only practical concerns of flood control, but also materialized an ethos of repetition and duplication in which reiterative practices created a ritually charged place, an ethos also seen at monumental sites such as the Aztec Templo Mayor. Dwelling on the past created a household landscape ripe with tlazolli, polluting and symbolically powerful garbage; earthly genealogies and social memories that were marshaled as symbolic resources in household negotiations; and material resources, such as potsherds and bone, used in household production and child's play. Everyday life in this context entailed an engagement with material remains of the past at multiple temporal scales. This analytical framework for examining the materiality of household depositional practices-and reconstructing complex philosophies materialized therein-is relevant beyond Mesoamerica. [Materiality, daily life, household archaeology, stratigraphy, cultural logics]

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“…Various methods have been involved so far in analysing the ceramic surface topography or its alteration; for example, hand lens (López Varela et al . ; Martineau ; Lepère ; Fishman ), atomic force microscopy (de Niederhãusen et al . ), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Courty and Roux ; Ionescu et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discrimination of Ceramic Surface Finishing by Vertical Scanning Interferometry

2018

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Finishing techniques are significant markers of the technological 'know-how' involved in the production of the traditional, clay-based ceramic ware. In order to provide a reliable tool to discriminate among two main surface processing techniques-that is, smoothing and burnishing-vertical scanning interferometry (VSI), a recently developed non-destructive technique for analysing the surface roughness and topography, is applied. The smoothed areas have an obvious roughness expressed by linear structures. The latter are made of parallel ridges and trenches with an average depth of 15-20 μm. Burnishing leads to a lower topography and a lower roughness compared to the smoothed surface section. VSI quantifies the spatial distribution of the surface building blocks, which consist of phyllosilicate aggregates of variable size. The statistical treatment of the roughness data obtained by VSI shows that the surface topography provides significant information on the pottery processing and a clear qualitative and quantitative discrimination between different surfaces. VSI supports the reconstitution of the chaîne opératoire for traditional ceramic pottery and the recognition of the surface finishing techniques.

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De-mystifying Pottery Production in the Maya Lowlands: Detection of Traces of Use-Wear on Pottery Sherds through Microscopic Analysis and Experimental Replication

Cited by 33 publications

References 7 publications

Identifying Domestic Ceramic Production in the Maya Lowlands: A Case Study From Uxbenka, Belize

Identifying Domestic Ceramic Production in the Maya Lowlands: A Case Study From Uxbenka, Belize

7 Dwelling on the Past: The Materiality of Everyday Life at Xaltocan, Mexico

Discrimination of Ceramic Surface Finishing by Vertical Scanning Interferometry

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