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The Color of Influence: A Provenance Study of Hematite-Based Paints on Early Olmec Carved Pottery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Clarus J. Backes Jr. ,
David Cheetham  and
Hector Neff
Clarus J. Backes Jr.
Affiliation:
Sapphos Environmental, Inc., 430 N. Halstead Street, Pasadena, CA 91107 (cbackes@sapphosen-vironmental.com)
David Cheetham
Affiliation:
Arizona State University, School of Human Evolution & Social Change, P.O. Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402 (dcheeth@asu.edu)
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
California State University-Long Beach, Department of Anthropology, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840-0001 (hneff@csulb.edu)
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Abstract

Recent research and debates regarding the origin and spread of Olmec iconography during the Early Formative have centered on provenance and stylistic analyses of carved and incised pottery. Studies by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) have indicated that Gulf Coast-style carved-incised pots were exported extensively from the area of the first Olmec capital, San Lorenzo, to several other regions of Mesoamerica. More recently, excavations at the Pacific Coast site of Cantón Corralito have shown that carved-incised pottery and other Olmec-style artifacts dominate strata contemporary with Early Olmec, suggesting the site may represent a settlement enclave of Gulf Olmec peoples. In this study we provide additional evidence of exchange between the Gulf Olmec and the Pacific Coast region by using laser ablation time-of-flight inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-TOF-ICP-MS) to characterize hematite-based paints on Olmec-style pottery from Cantón Corralito, and to compare these paints to raw hematite recovered from Cantón Corralito and San Lorenzo. When examined in combination with sherd provenance data, the LA-TOF-ICP-MS data demonstrate that Olmec vessels were decorated in the San Lorenzo region before being exported to the Pacific Coast, and that Gulf Coast hematite was exported to Cantón Corralito, where it was used to enhance Olmec-style symbolism on locally produced vessels.

Recientes investigaciones y debates sobre el origen y la extensión de la iconografía olmeca durante el Formativo Temprano se han centrado en los análisis estilísticos y de procedencia de la cerámica tallada y cincelada. Estudios utilizando análisis de activación de neutrones (INAA) han indicado que vasijas talladas-cinceladas en el estilo de la Costa del Golfo fueron exportadas extensivamente desde el área de la primera capital olmeca de San Lorenzo a otras regiones de Mesoamérica. Recientemente, excavaciones en el sitio de Cantón Corralito, ubicado en la costa del Pacífico, han mostrado que la cerámica tallada-cincelada y otros artefactos de estilo olmeca dominan los estratos contemporáneos con o olmeca temprano, lo que sugiere que el sitio puede representar un posible asentamiento de una población olmeca del Golfo. En este estudio, presentamos evidencia adicional acerca del intercambio entre los olmecas del Golfo y la región de la costa del Pacífico, usando espectroscopia de masas acoplada inductivamente con ablación laser de tiempo de vuelo (Laser Ablation Time-Of-Flight Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry -LA-TOF-ICP-MS), para caracterizar colorantes a base de hematita en la cerámica de estilo olmeca de Cantón Corralito, y para comparar estos colorantes con hematita sin procesar recuperada de Cantón Corralito y San Lorenzo. Cuando los datos de LA-TOF-ICP-MS son examinados junto con información de procedencia de los fragmentos, demuestran que las vasijas olmecas fueron decoradas en la región de San Lorenzo antes de ser exportadas a la costa del Pacífico, y que la hematita de la costa del Golfo fue exportada a Cantón Corralito, donde se usó para acentuar el simbolismo de estilo olmeca en los recipientes localmente producidos.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 70 - 92
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by the Society for American Archaeology

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