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Plumbate Origins and Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hector Neff  and
Ronald L. Bishop
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
Ronald L. Bishop
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
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Abstract

The question of spatial and temporal origins for Plumbate ware is addressed with archaeological evidence from the eastern Soconusco region of the Pacific slope, and evidence from a recent stylistic and compositional study (the latter by neutron-activation analysis). This evidence confirms the Pacific coastal-origins hypothesis proposed by Shepard (1948), suggesting specifically that the first Plumbate, designated "Guayabal Plumbate," was produced in or near the littoral zone of southwest Guatemala. The development of Early Postclassic Tohil Plumbate out of Late Classic San Juan Plumbate is found not to involve a hypothesized intermediate stage (designated "Robles" in previous literature). The fancy abstract-incised and effigy style associated with Tohil Plumbate is argued to represent a stylistic departure of a small group of ceramic artisans who previously had worked in a long-lived "background" tradition.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 53 , Issue 3 , July 1988 , pp. 505 - 522
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1988

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