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Ceramic Production and Exchange in Late/Terminal Formative Period Oaxaca

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Arthur A. Joyce ,
Hector Neff ,
Mary S. Thieme ,
Marcus Winter ,
J. Michael Elam  and
Andrew Workinger
Arthur A. Joyce
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Hale Building, Boulder, CO 80309-0233
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, California State University-Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840-1003
Mary S. Thieme
Affiliation:
Gulf Coast Community College, 5230 West Highway 98, Panama City, FL 32401
Marcus Winter
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Centro INAH Oaxaca, Pino Suárez 715, 68000 Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico
J. Michael Elam
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996-0720
Andrew Workinger
Affiliation:
Sociology, Anthropology, and Geography Department, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Chattanooga, TN 37403
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Abstract

Patterns of Late/Terminal Formative period (ca. 500 B.C.–A.D. 300) ceramic exchange in Oaxaca are examined through instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Samples of 453 Late/Terminal Formative period sherds were submitted to the Missouri University Research Reactor for INAA to determine elemental composition. The sherds came from 20 excavated sites and two surveys in the following regions: the Valley of Oaxaca, Mixteca Alta, Mixteca Baja, lower Río Verde Valley, and Cuicatlán Cañada. Selected for the study were vessel fragments from three recognized paste categories: grayware (gris), fine brownware (café fino), and creamware (crema). We also sampled clays and sherds from known sources in four modern pottery-making towns in the Oaxaca Valley. The research adds to the INAA database for Oaxaca by identifying the chemical signatures of six source groupings that we can link to specific regions and, in two cases, to particular source zones within regions. The evidence from chemical composition and typology indicates continuity in resource use and production practices in both Atzompa and Coyotepec from pre-Hispanic into modern times. The data show that the exchange of ceramics in Late/Terminal Formative Oaxaca was multidirectional, with ceramics imported both to and from the Oaxaca Valley.

Se examinaron patrones de intercambio de cerámica en Oaxaca durante el Formativo Tardío/Terminal (500 a.C.–300 d.C.) por medio de análisis instrumental de activación de neutrones (INAA). Se analizaron 453 muestras de tiestos de cerámica correspondientes al Formativo Tardío/Terminal en el Research Reactor de la Universidad de Missouri mediante INAA con la finalidad de determinar su composición elemental. Los tiestos de cerámica provinieron de 20 sitios excavados y de dos prospecciones en las regiones del Valle de Oaxaca, Mixteca Alta, Mixteca Baja, Valle del Bajo Río Verde, y Cañada Cuicateca. Se seleccionaron para el estudio fragmentos de vasijas correspondientes a tres categorías de pasta reconocidas: gris, café fino, y crema. Además, se muestrearon arcillas y tiestos de cerámica procedentes de fuentes de aprovisionamiento conocidas en cuatro comunidades alfareras contemporáneas del Valle de Oaxaca. Este estudio amplia la base de datos de INAA para Oaxaca al identificar las características químicas de seis grupos de yacimientos que podemos relacionar con regiones específicas, y en dos casos adscribir a determinadas zonas de las fuentes de aprovisionamiento dentro de las regiones. La evidencia, tanto de composición química como tipológica, indica una larga tradición de producción de cerámica en Atzompa y Coyotepec, desde los tiempos prehispánicos hasta el presente. Los datos demuestran que el intercambio de cerámica en Oaxaca durante el Formativo Tardío/Terminal era multidireccional, con cerámica producida e importada en el valle de Oaxaca y en otras regiones.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , December 2006 , pp. 579 - 594
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2006

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