Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-23T18:56:45.045Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ceramic Chronology and Chronometric Dating

Stratigraphy and seriation at La Blanca, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Michael W. Love
Michael W. Love
Affiliation:
Community and Organization Research Institute, University of California at Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Stratigraphic and seriational analysis of the ceramics from La Blanca, Guatemala, resulted in the definition of a highly refined sequence. Within the 300 years of the Conchas phase (c. 900–600 b.c.) it is possible to define, minimally, a four-part subdivision. The four-part subdivision is based on a Stratigraphic analysis of the presence or absence of seven ceramic wares. However, experiments with seriational methods suggest that greater resolution may be obtained through the quantitative analysis of attribute frequencies. The chronological resolution obtained by these relative dating methods is at least equal to the resolution possible with chronometric methods.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 17 - 29
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Blake, Michael 1991 An Emerging Early Formative Chiefdom at Paso de la Amada, Chiapas, Mexico. In The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica, edited by Fowler, William R., pp. 27–46. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Blake, Michael, Clark, John E., Love, Michael W., Voorhies, Barbara, Michael, George, Pye, Mary, Demarest, Arthur, and Arroyo, Barbara 1993 A Revised Radiocarbon Chronology for the Pacífic Coast of Southeastern Mesoamerica. Ancient Mesoamerica, in press.Google Scholar
Brainerd, George W. 1951 The Place of Chronological Ordering in Archaeological Analysis. American Antiquity 16:301–313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, John E. 1991 The Beginnings of Mesoamerica: Apologia for the Soconusco Early Formative. In The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica, edited by Fowler, William R., pp. 13–26. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Blake, Michael 1989 El origen de la civilization en mesoamerica: Los Olmecas y Mokayas del Soconusco de Chiapas, México. In El Preclásico o Formativo: Avances y Perspectivas, edited by Macias, Martha Carmona, pp. 385–403. Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D. 1961 La Victoria, An Early Site on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 53. Peabody Museum, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Coe, Michael D., and Flannery, Kent V. 1967 Early Cultures and Human Ecology in South Coastal Guatemala. Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, Vol. 3. Smithsonian Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1968 Archaeological Applications of Factor, Cluster, and Proximity Analysis. American Antiquity 33:367–375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1970 Some Sampling and Reliability Problems in Archaeology. In Archeologie et Calculateurs pp. 161–175. Editions du Centre National de la Récherche Scientifique, Paris.Google Scholar
Cowgill, George L. 1990 Why Pearson's R Is Not a Good Similarity Coefficient for Comparing Collections. American Antiquity 55:512–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drennan, Robert D. 1976 A Refinement of Chronological Seriation Using Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling. American Antiquity 41:290–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ekholm, Susanna M. 1969 Mound 30a and the Early Preclassic Ceramic Sequence of Izapa, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 25. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Fash, William L., and Sharer, Robert J. 1991 Sociopolitical Developments and Methodological Issues at Copán, Honduras: A Conjunctive Perspective. Latin American Antiquity 2:166–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freter, AnnCorinne 1992 Chronological Research at Copan: Methods and Applications. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:117–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatch, Marion P. 1987 Proyecto Tiquisate: Recientes investigaciones arqueológicas en la costa sur de Guatemala. Cuadernos de Investigacion, No. 2–87. Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Harrington, Lady R. 1988 The Archaeological Fauna of La Blanca. Ms. in possession of the author.Google Scholar
Jackson, Thomas L., and Love, Michael W. 1991 Bladerunning: Middle Preclassic Obsidian Exchange and the Introduction of Prismatic Blades at La Blanca, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:47–59.Google Scholar
LeBlanc, Steven A. 1975 Micro-Seriation: A Method for Fine Chronological Differentiation. American Antiquity 40:22–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Love, Michael W. 1989 Early Settlements and Chronology of the Lower Río Naranjo, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Love, Michael W. 1990 La Blanca y el preclásico medio en la costa del Pacifico. Arqueología 3 (Segunda Epoca):67–75. Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico.Google Scholar
Love, Michael W. 1991 Style and Social Complexity in Formative Mesoamerica. In The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica, edited by Fowler, William pp. 47–76. CRC Press, Boca Raton.Google Scholar
Love, Michael W., and Jackson, Thomas L. 1989 Middle Preclassic Exchange in Pacific Guatemala: Sources of Obsidian at La Blanca. Paper delivered at the 56th Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, GA.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W., Lee, Thomas A. Jr, and Espinosa, Eduardo Martinez 1982 Izapa: An Introduction to the Ruins and Monuments. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 31. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Marquardt, William H. 1978 Advances in Archaeological Seriation. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1., edited by Schiffer, Michael B., pp. 257–314. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menzel, Dorothy, Rowe, John Howland, and Dawson, Lawrence E. 1964 The Paracas Pottery of Ica: A Study in Style and Time. Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 50. University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
RogerNance, C. Nance, C., and Kirk, Katherine A. 1991 Obsidian Blades from La Blanca, Guatemala, A Changing Lithic Industry on the South Coast of Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity 2:371–382.Google Scholar
Robinson, W.S. 1951 A Method for Chronologically Ordering Archaeological Deposits. American Antiquity 16:293–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, John Howland 1959 Archaeological Dating and Cultural Process. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 15:317–324.Google Scholar
Rowe, John Howland 1961 Stratigraphy and Seriation. American Antiquity 26:324–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steponaitis, Vincas P. 1983 Ceramics, Chronology, and Community Patterns: An Archaeological Study at Moundville. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Underwood, R. 1969 The Classification of Constrained Data. Systematic Zoology 18:312–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, David, and Freter, AnnCorinne 1990 Settlement History and the Classic Collapse at Copan: A Refined Chronological Perspective. Latin American Antiquity 1:66–85.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, Leland 1986 Systat: The System for Statistics. Systat, Inc., Evanston, IL.Google Scholar