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Technical Requirements and Technical Choices in Pottery Production: A View From the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jennifer L. Meanwell
Jennifer L. Meanwell*
Affiliation:
Center for Materials Research in Archaeology and Ethnology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 ([email protected])
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Abstract

This article evaluates current models of the influence of functionality and materials properties on pottery production as practiced by potters in the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico, during the Classic period (A.D. 300-900). The research was designed specifically to look for evidence of the influence of materials properties on pottery production in an archaeological context. Research results suggest that a specific clay deposit was selected deliberately by ancient Middle Balsas potters only when producing a subset of restricted vessels that were used for water storage. All other domestic vessels used in the Middle Balsas Region were produced from a variety of clay sources with no apparent link to vessel size, shape, or intended purpose. These production patterns endured with little appreciable change within the region for a time span of over a thousand years, from approximately 300 B.C. to A.D. 900.

Résumé

Résumé

En este artículo se evalúa los modelos actuales para la influencia de las propiedades de los materiales y la funcionalidad sobre la producción de vasijas domésticas en la región Balsas Medio de Guerrero, México, durante elperiodo Clásico (300-900 d.C.).Aquí, se reporta un estudio diseñado específicamente para evaluar la influencia de las propiedades de los materiales sobre la alfarería en un contexto arqueológico. Los resultados de la investigatión sugieren que los alfareros del Balsas Medio seleccionaban un depósito de barro en particular para la producción de tecomates usados para el almacenaje de agua. Los alfareros producían la mayoría de las vasijas domésticas utilizando una variedad de fuentes de barro sin consideración del tamaño, forma o función de la vasija. También, se reporta sobre la experimentación con réplicas hechas de barros locales para documentar las diferencias entre lasfuentes de barro del Balsas Medio. La producción de vasijas domésticas continuó sin cambios en la región por mas de mil años, desde 300 a.C. hasta d.C. 900.

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Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 80 , Issue 2 , April 2015 , pp. 312 - 331
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2015

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