Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T02:05:17.782Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

WORKING WITH CLAY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2015

Rosemary A. Joyce ,
Julia A. Hendon  and
Jeanne Lopiparo
Rosemary A. Joyce*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720–3710
Julia A. Hendon
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325
Jeanne Lopiparo
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee 38112–1690
*
E-mail correspondence to: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Evidence from sites in the lower Ulua valley of north-central Honduras, occupied between a.d. 500 and 1000, provides new insight into the connections between households, craft production, and the role of objects in maintaining social relations within and across households. Production of pottery vessels, figurines, and other items in a household context has been documented at several sites in the valley, including Cerro Palenque, Travesía, Campo Dos, and Campo Pineda. Differences in raw materials, in what was made, and in the size and design of firing facilities allow us to explore how crafting with clay created communities of practice made up of people with varying levels of knowledge, experience, and skill. We argue that focusing on the specific features of a particular craft and the crafter's perspective gives us insight into the ways that crafting contributed to the reproduction of social identities, local histories, and connections among members of communities of practice who comprised multicrafting households.

Type
Special Section: Households Make History in Ancient Mesoamerica
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , Fall 2014 , pp. 411 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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

Beaudry-Corbett, Marilyn, Caputi, Pauline, Henderson, John S., Joyce, Rosemary, Robinson, Eugenia, and Wonderley, Anthony 1993 Lower Ulua Region. In Pottery of Prehistoric Honduras: Regional Classification and Analysis, edited by Henderson, John S. and Beaudry-Corbett, Marilyn, pp. 64–135. Monograph No. 35, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Bowser, Brenda J. 2000 From Pottery to Politics: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Political Factionalism, Ethnicity, and Domestic Pottery Style in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 7:219–248.Google Scholar
Bowser, Brenda J., and Patton, James Q. 2008 Learning and Transmission of Pottery Style: Women's Life Histories and Communities of Practice in the Ecuadorian Amazon. In Cultural Transmission and Material Culture: Breaking Down Boundaries, edited by Stark, Miriam T., Bowser, Brenda J., and Horne, Lee, pp. 105–129. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Dobres, Marcia-Anne 1999 Technology's Links and Chaînes: The Processual Unfolding of Technique and Technician. In The Social Dynamics of Technology: Practice, Politics, and World Views, edited by Dobres, Marcia-Anne and Hoffman, Christopher R., pp. 124–146. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Hammel, Eugene A., and Laslett, Peter 1974 Comparing Household Structure Over Time and Between Cultures. Comparative Studies in Society and History 16:73–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hasemann, George, van Gerpen, Lori, and Velíz, Vito 1977 Informe preliminar, Curruste: Fase 1. Patronato Pro-Curruste, San Pedro Sula.Google Scholar
Henderson, John S. 1992 Variations on a Theme: A Frontier View of Maya Civilization. In New Theories on the Ancient Maya, edited by Danien, Elin C. and Sharer, Robert J., pp. 161–71. University Museum, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Henderson, John S., and Joyce, Rosemary A. 2004 Human Use of Animals in Prehispanic Honduras: A Preliminary Report from the Lower Ulúa Valley, Honduras. In Maya Zooarchaeology: New Directions in Theory and Method, edited by Emery, Kitty F., pp. 223–236. Monograph No. 51, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2004 Living and Working at Home: The Social Archaeology of Household Production and Social Relations. In A Companion to Social Archaeology, edited by Meskell, Lynn and Preucel, Robert W., pp. 272–286. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, MA.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2006 Textile Production as Craft in Mesoamerica: Time, Labor, and Knowledge. Journal of Social Archaeology 10:354–378.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2007 Production as Social Process. In Rethinking Craft Specialization in Complex Societies: Archaeological Analyses of the Social Meaning of Production, edited by Hruby, Zachary X. and Flad, Rowan K., pp. 163–168. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 17. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2010a Houses in a Landscape: Memory and Everyday Life in Mesoamerica. Duke University Press, Durham.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2010b Household Archaeology and the Study of Gender. In Engendering Households in the Prehispanic Southwest, edited by Roth, Barbara, pp. 260–265. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A. 2012 Producing Goods, Shaping People: The Materiality of Crafting in Mesoamerica. Paper presented at the 77th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Memphis.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A., Joyce, Rosemary A., and Lopiparo, Jeanne 2014 Material Relations: The Marriage Figurines of Prehispanic Honduras. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Hendon, Julia A., and Lopiparo, Jeanne 2004 Investigaciones recientes en Cerro Palenque, Cortés, Honduras. In Memoria VII Seminario de Antropología de Honduras “Dr. George Hasemann,” edited by Rubén Ávalos, Kevin, pp. 187–195. Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Hirth, Kenneth G. 2009 Craft Production, Household Diversification, and Domestic Economy in Prehispanic Mesoamerica. In Housework: Craft Production and Domestic Economy in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Hirth, Kenneth G., pp. 13–32. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, No. 19. American Anthropological Association, Alexandria, VA.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 1985 Cerro Palenque, Valle de Ulua, Honduras: Terminal Classic Interaction on the Southern Mesoamerican Periphery. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 1987 Intraregional Ceramic Variation and Social Class: Developmental Trajectories of Classic Period Ceramic Complexes from the Ulua Valley. In Interaction on the Southeast Mesoamerican Frontier: Prehistoric and Historic Honduras and El Salvador, edited by Robinson, Eugenia J., pp. 280–303. BAR International Series 327. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 1991 Cerro Palenque: Power and Identity on the Maya Periphery. University of Texas Press. Austin.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 2007 Building Houses: The Materialization of Lasting Identity in Formative Mesoamerica. In The Durable House: House Society Models in Archaeology, edited by Beck, Robin A., pp. 53–72. Occasional Paper No. 35, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 2011 In the Beginning: The Experience of Residential Burial in Prehispanic Honduras. In Residential Burial: A Multiregional Exploration, edited by Adams, Ron L. and King, Stacie M., pp. 33–43. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association No. 20. Wiley, Malden.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A. 2012 Thinking About Pottery Production as Community Practice. In Potters and Communities of Practice: Glaze Paint and Polychrome Pottery in the American Southwest, a.d. 1200–1700, edited by Cordell, Linda S. and Habicht-Mauche, Judith A., pp. 149–154. Anthropological Papers No. 75. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Joyce, Rosemary A., and Henderson, John S. 2003 Investigaciones recientes de la arqueología del periodo formativo en Honduras: Nuevos datos según el intercambio y cerámica pan-mesoamericana (o estilo “olmeca”). In XVI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2002, edited by Laporte, Juan Pedro, Arroyo, Barbara, Escobedo, Héctor, and Mejía, Héctor, pp. 819–832. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología and Asociación Tikal, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Keller, Charles 2001 Thought and Production: Insights of the Practitioner. In Anthropological Perspectives on Technology, edited by Schiffer, Michael B., pp. 33–45. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Keller, Charles M., and Keller, Janet Dixon 1996 Cognition and Tool Use: The Blacksmith at Work. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lave, Jean, and Wenger, Etienne 1991 Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lemonnier, Pierre 1992 Elements for an Anthropology of Technology. Anthropological Papers, No. 88. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Lemonnier, Pierre 2012 Mundane Objects: Materiality and Non-Verbal Communication. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA.Google Scholar
Lincoln, Charles E. 1979 Architectural Test Excavations at Travesía, Honduras: 3–14 July 1978. Human Mosaic 13:15–25.Google Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L. 1994 Stones and Bones at Home: Reconstruction Domestic Activities from Archaeological Remains in a Terminal Classic Residence, Ulúa Valley, Honduras. Unpublished senior honors thesis, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L. 2003 Household Ceramic Production and the Crafting of Society in the Terminal Classic Ulua Valley, Honduras. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L. 2004 La evidencia arqueológica de la producción doméstica de la ceramica en el valle del río Ulúa. In Memoria VII Seminario de Antropología de Honduras “Dr. George Hasemann,” edited by Rubén Ávalos, Kevin, pp. 151–160. Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L. 2006 Crafting Children: Materiality, Social Memory, and the Reproduction of Terminal Classic House Societies in the Ulua Valley, Honduras. In The Social Experience of Childhood in Ancient Mesoamerica, edited by Ardren, Traci and Hutson, Scott R., pp. 133–168. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L. 2007 House Societies and Heterarchy in the Terminal Classic Ulúa Valley, Honduras. In The Durable House: House Society Models in Archaeology, edited by Beck, Robin A., pp. 73–96. Occasional Paper No. 35. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L., and Hendon, Julia A. 2009 Honduran Figurines and Whistles in Context: Production, Use, and Meaning in the Ulua Valley. In Mesoamerican Figurines: Small-Scale Indices of Large-Scale Social Phenomena, edited by Halperin, Christina T., Faust, Katherine A., Taube, Rhonda, and Giguet, Aurore, pp. 51–74. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopiparo, Jeanne L., Joyce, Rosemary A., and Hendon, Julia A. 2005 Terminal Classic Pottery Production in the Ulua Valley, Honduras. In Geographies of Power: Understanding the Nature of Terminal Classic Pottery in the Maya Lowlands, edited by López Varela, Sandra L. and Foias, Antonia E., pp. 107–119. BAR International Series 1447. Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Luke, Christina, and Tykot, Robert H. 2007 Celebrating Place Through Luxury Craft Production: Travesìa and Ulua Style Marble Vases. Ancient Mesoamerica 18:315–328.Google Scholar
Miller, Heather M.L. 2007 Archaeological Approaches to Technology. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Minar, Jill C. 2001 Motor Skills and the Learning Process: The Conservation of Cordage Final Twist Direction in Communities of Practice. Journal of Anthropological Research 57:381–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morell-Hart, Shanti 2011 Paradigms and Syntagms of Ethnobotanical Practice in Pre-Hispanic Northwestern Honduras. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Pope, Kevin O. 1985 Paleoecology of the Ulua Valley, Honduras: An Archaeological Perspective. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Robinson, Eugenia J. 1989 The Prehistoric Communities of the Sula Valley, Honduras: Regional Interaction in the Southeast Mesoamerican Frontier. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI.Google Scholar
Robinson, Eugenia J., Hasemann, George, and Velíz, Vito 1979 An Archaeological Evaluation of Travesía, Honduras: July 3–15, 1978. Human Mosaic 13:1–14.Google Scholar
Rye, Owen S. 1981 Pottery Technology: Principles and Reconstruction. Taraxacum, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Sheehy, James 1978 Informe preliminar sobre las excavaciones en Travesía en 1976. Yaxkin 2:175–201.Google Scholar
Sheehy, James 1982 Cerámica pasta fina de Travesía. Yaxkin 5:119–127.Google Scholar
Sheehy, James J., and Velíz, Vito 1977 Excavaciones recientes en Travesía, Valle de Sula. Yaxkin 2:121–124.Google Scholar
Speakman, Robert J., and Glascock, Michael D. 2003 Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Terminal Classic Period Pottery from the Ulúa Valley, Honduras. Technical report on file, Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia.Google Scholar
Stone, Doris Z. 1941 The Archaeology of the North Coast of Honduras. Memoir Vol. 9, No. 1. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Urban, Patricia A., Wells, E. Christian, and Ausec, Marne T. 1997 The Fires Without and the Fires Within: Evidence for Ceramic Production Facilities at the Late Classic Site of La Sierra, Naco Valley, Northwestern Honduras, and in its Environs. In The Prehistory and History of Ceramic Kilns, edited by Rice, Prudence M., pp. 173–194. The American Ceramic Society, Westerville.Google Scholar
Vitelli, Karen D. 1998 “Looking Up” at Early Ceramics in Greece. In Pottery and People, edited by Skibo, James and Feinman, Gary, pp. 184–198. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Wells, E. Christian 2004 La organización de la producción de cerámica en La Sierra y sus implicaciones para la administración local. In Memoria VII Seminario de Antropología de Honduras “Dr. George Hasemann,” edited by Ávalos, Kevin Rubén, pp. 231–248. Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Wenger, Etienne 1998 Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Williams, Howell, and McBirney, Alexander R. 1969 Volcanic History of Honduras. Publications in Geological Sciences, Vol. 85, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar