Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T07:14:23.718Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS IN CERAMIC ANALYSIS: A case study from peripheral Tikal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2003

Robert E. Fry
Robert E. Fry
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-1365, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper examines the evidence for status and wealth differentiation within the peripheral areas of Tikal, Guatemala, and intersite areas north and south of Tikal. Frequency counts of differing major shape classes show that large groups had significantly higher frequency of serving forms and more associated pottery. The technique of multidimensional scaling is used to see whether there are any qualitative differences in pottery reflecting higher status or wealth. Results of the analysis indicate that qualitative differences are present only for Ik Complex vases. There are also indications of a special relationship between central Tikal and the minor center of Navahuelal located beyond the edges of the Tikal settlement zone.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , January 2003 , pp. 85 - 93
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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

Ball, Joseph W. 1993 Pottery, Potters, Palaces and Polities: Some Socioeconomic and Political Implications of Late Classic Maya Ceramic Industries. In Lowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century a.d., edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and John S. Henderson, pp. 243–272. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC.
Blanton, Richard E., Stephen Kowaleski, Gary Feinman, and Jill Appel 1982 Monte Alban's Hinterland. Part 1: Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in of the Central and Southern Parts of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. In Prehistory and Human Ecology of the Valley of Oaxaca, vol. 7, edited by Kent V. Flannery and Richard E. Blanton. Memoirs of the University of Michigan, No. 15. Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.
Culbert, T. Patrick, and L.A. Schwalbe 1987 Analytic Measures of Variability and Group Differences in X-Ray Fluorescence Data. Journal of Archaeological Science 15:669–681.Google Scholar
Deetz, James 1965 The Dynamics of Stylistic Change in Arikara Ceramics. Studies in Anthropology No. 4. University of Illinois Press, Chicago.
Feinman, Gary 1984 Modeling Ceramic Production and Organizational Change in the Pre-Hispanic Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. In The Many Dimensions of Pottery: Ceramics in Archaeology and Anthropology, edited by S.E. Van der Leeuw and A. Prichard, pp. 295–338. Cingvla VII. University of Amsterdam.
Feinman, Gary, Stedman Upham, and Kent Lightfoot 1981 The Production Step Measure: An Ordinal Index of Labor Input in Ceramic Manufacture. American Antiquity 46:871–884.Google Scholar
Fry, Robert E. 1969 Ceramics and Settlement of the Peripheries of Tikal, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson.
Fry, Robert E. 1972 Manually Operated Post-Hole Diggers as Sampling Instruments. American Antiquity 37:259–261.Google Scholar
Fry, Robert E. 1979 The Economics of Pottery at Tikal, Guatemala: Models of Exchange for Serving Vessels. American Antiquity 44:494–512.Google Scholar
Fry, Robert E. 1980 Models of Exchange for Major Shape Classes of Lowland Maya Pottery. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Robert Fry, pp. 3–18. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC.
Fry, Robert E. 2003 Peoples of Tikal. In Tikal: Dynasties, Foreigners, and Affairs of State, edited by Jeremy Sabloff, pp. 143–170. School of American Research Press, Albuquerque.
Fry, Robert E., and Scott C. Cox 1974 The Structure of Ceramic Exchange at Tikal, Guatemala. World Archaeology 6:209–225.Google Scholar
Gifford, James C. 1960 The Type-Variety Method of Ceramic Classification as an Indicator of Cultural Phenomena. American Antiquity 25:341–347.Google Scholar
Gifford, James C. 1976 Prehistoric Pottery Analysis and the Ceramics of Barton Ramie in the Belize River Valley. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 18. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Green, Ernestene 1970 The Archaeology of Navajuelal, Tikal, Guatemala and Test of Interpretive Method. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Haviland, William A. 1985 Excavations in Small Residential Groups of Tikal: Groups 4F-1 and 4F-2. Tikal Report No. 19. University Museum Monographs 58. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Heredia, Verenice 1998 Material Possessions as Communicators of Wealth Status in a Rural Lowland Maya Community. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
Heredia, Verenice, and Robert E. Fry 2003 Material Possessions as Communicators of Wealth Status in a Rural Lowland Maya Community. In New Horizons for Ancient Maya Ceramics, edited by Heather McKillop and Shirley Boteler-Mock. University of Florida Press, Gainesville. In press.
Kosakowsky, Laura H. 2003 Shaping Ceramic Research at the Maya Site of Cuello, Belize. Ancient Mesoamerica 14:61–66.Google Scholar
Jones, Christopher 1996 Excavations in the East Plaza of Tikal. Tikal Report No. 15. University Museum Monograph 92. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
LeCount, Lisa J. 1996 Pottery and Power: Feasting, Gifting and Displaying Wealth among the Late and Terminal Classic Lowland Maya. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.
LeCount, Lisa J. 1997 Polychrome Pottery, Primitive Wealth and Social Power in Late and Terminal Classic Lowland Maya Society. Paper presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Archaeology, Nashville, TN.
Longacre, William A. 1970 Archaeology as Anthropology: A Case Study. Anthropological Papers No. 17. University of Arizona, Tucson.
McAnany, Patricia A. 1993 The Economics of Social Power and Wealth among Eighth-Century Maya Households. In Lowland Maya Civilization in the Eighth Century a.d., edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff and John S. Henderson, pp. 65–89. Research Library and Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.
Puleston, Dennis E. 1973 Ancient Maya Settlement Patterns and Environment at Tikal, Guatemala: Implications for Subsistence Models. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Puleston, Dennis E. 1983 The Settlement Survey of Tikal. Tikal Report No. 13. University Museum Monograph 48. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Thompson, Raymond H. 1958 Modern Yucatecan Maya Pottery Making. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology, No. 15. Salt Lake City, UT.
Willey, Gordon R., T. Patrick Culbert, and Richard E.W. Adams 1967 Maya Lowland Ceramics: A Report from the 1965 Guatemala City Conference. American Antiquity 32:289–315.Google Scholar