Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:30:44.679Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Ceramic Compositional Perspective on the Formative to Classic Transition in Southern Mesoamerica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hector Neff ,
Frederick J. Bove ,
Eugenia J. Robinson  and
Barbara Arroyo L.
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
Missouri University Research Reactor and Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211
Frederick J. Bove
Affiliation:
Mesoamerican Research Center, Community and Organization Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Eugenia J. Robinson
Affiliation:
Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118
Barbara Arroyo L.
Affiliation:
Gua 006, P.O. Box 02-5368, Miami, FL 33102
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We use neutron-activation analysis data on Formative- and Classic-period pottery along with analyses of modern ceramics and raw materials to examine changes in ceramic production and consumption on the central Guatemalan Pacific slope at the beginning of the Classic period. In particular, we wonder if the processes that generated regional distributions of two Formative-period wares (White Paste and Fine Red) were the same as or different from the processes that generated regional distribution of Classic-period Flesh ware. We identify probable production zones for the three regionally distributed wares based on raw-material analyses, consideration of the geological context of different zones, and distributional evidence. We find major differences between production/consumption of the Formative and Classic regionally distributed wares. This reinforces the notion that some kind of dramatic historical discontinuity affected the lives of Pacific-slope people around A. D. 200.

Usamos datos de composición producidos por medio de análisis por activación de neutrones para examinar cambios de producción y consumo de alfarería a los inicios del horizonte Clásico en el declive Pacífico de Guatemala central. Queremos averiguar si los procesos que engendraron distribuciones regionales de dos vajillas Formativas (Rojo Fino y Pasta Blanca) son iguales o no a los procesos responsables para la distribución regional de la vajilla “Flesh” del horizonte Clásico. Identificamos probables zonas de producción de las tres vajillas con base en el análisis de material crudo, información sobre el contexto geológico, e información sobre sus distribuciones arqueológicas. Nuestra conclusión es que hubieron diferencias grandes entre producción y consumo de vajillas de distribución regional entre el Formativo y el Clásico. Esta conclusión refuerza la idea de que un evento repentino y dramático afectó la vida de la gente de esta región alrededor de 200 D.C.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , December 1994 , pp. 333 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1994

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 Cited

Arnold, D. E. 1978a Ethnography of Pottery-Making in the Valley of Guatemala. In The Ceramics of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, edited by R. K. Wetherington, pp. 327–400. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyu. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. E. 1978b Ceramic Variability, Environment and Culture History Among the Pokom in the Valley of Guatemala. In Spatial Organisation of Culture, edited by I. Hodder, pp. 39–60. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. E., Neff, H., and Bishop, R. L. 1991 Compositional Analysis and “Sources” of Pottery: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach. American Anthropologist 93:70–90.Google Scholar
Arnold, D. E., Rice, P. M., Jester, W. A., Deutsch, W. N., Lee, B. K., and Kirsch, R. I. 1978 Neutron Activation Analysis of Contemporary Pottery and Pottery Materials from the Valley of Guatemala. In The Ceramics of Kaminaljuyu, edited by R. K. Wetherington, pp. 543–586. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park.Google Scholar
Baudez, C. 1986 Southeast Mesoamerican Periphery: Summary Comments. In The Southeast Maya Periphery, edited by P. Urban and E. M. Schortman, pp. 333–337. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Beaudry, M. P. 1989 Las cerámicas de Sin Cabezas, resultados de las excavaciones de 1986. In Investigaciones arqueológicas en la costa sur de Guatemala, edited by D. S. Whitley and M. P. Beaudry, pp. 125–130. Monograph No. 31. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Beaudry, M. P., and Whitley, T. K. 1989 Descripciones de tipos cerámicos provisionales. In Investigaciones argueológicas en la costa sur de Guatemala, edited by D. S. Whitley and M. P. Beaudry, pp. 135–162. Monograph No. 31. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Berlo, J. C. 1980 Teotihuacán Art Abroad: A Study of Metropolitan Style and Provincial Transformation in Incensario Workshops. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of History of Art, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Bishop, R. L. 1984 Análisis por activatión de neutrones de la cerámica de El Mirador. Mesoamérica 7:103–111.Google Scholar
Bishop, R. L., and Neff, H. 1989 Multivariate Analysis of Compositional Data in Archaeology. In Archaeological Chemistry IV, edited by R. O. Allen, pp. 576–586. Advances in Chemistry Series No. 22. American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Bishop, R. L., Demarest, A. A., and Sharer, R. J. 1989 Chemical Analysis and the Interpretation of Late Preclassic Intersite Ceramic Patterns in the Southeast Highlands of Mesoamerica. In New Frontiers in the Archaeology of the Pacific Coast of Southern Mesoamerica, edited by F. J. Bove and L. Heller, pp. 135–145. Anthropological Research Papers No. 39. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Bishop, R. L., Rands, R. L., and Holley, G. 1982 Ceramic Compositional Analysis in Archaeological Perspective. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 5., edited by M. B. Schiffer, pp. 275–330. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bobrowsky, P. T., and Ball, B. F. 1989 The Theory and Mechanics of Ecological Diversity in Archaeology. In Quantifying Diversity in Archaeology, edited by R. D. Leonard and G. T. Jones, pp. 4–12. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Bove, F. J. 1994 The Terminal Formative-Early Classic Transition. In The Balberta Project: The Terminal Formative-Early Classic Transition on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala, edited by F. J. Bove, S. Medrano B., B. Lou P., and B. Arroyo L., pp. 177–193. Memoirs in Latin American Archaeology No. 6. University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Bove, F. J., Neff, H., Lou, B., and Medrano, S. 1992 Early Classic Ceramic Traditions of Pacific Coastal Guatemala: Compositional Evidence. In Chemical Characterization of Ceramic Pastes in Archaeology, edited by H. Neff, pp. 189–202. Prehistory Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Dahlin, B. H. 1979 Cropping Cash in the Protoclassic: A Cultural Impact Statement. In Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory, edited by N. Hammond and G. R. Willey, pp. 21–37. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlin, B. H., Quizar, R., and Dahlin, A. 1987 Linguistic Divergence and the Collapse of Preclassic Civilization in Southern Mesoamerica. American Antiquity 52:367–382.Google Scholar
Davis, J. C. 1986 Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
de Borhegyi, S. F. 1950 Estudio arqueológico en la falda norte de Volcán de Agua. Antropología e Historia de Guatemala 2: 3–22.Google Scholar
de Borhegyi, S. F. 1965 Archaeological Synthesis of the Guatemalan Highlands. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, Pt. 1, edited by G. R. Willey, pp. 3–58. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 2., R. Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Demarest, A. A. 1986 The Archaeology of Santa Leticia and the Rise of Maya Civilization. Publication No. 52. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Demarest, A. A., and Sharer, R. J. 1986 Late Preclassic Ceramic Spheres, Culture Areas, and Cultural Evolution in the Southeastern Highlands of Mesoamerica. In The Southeast Maya Periphery, edited by P. Urban and E. M. Schortman, pp. 194–223. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dengo, G., Bohnenberger, O., and Bonis, S. 1970 Tectonics and Volcanism Along the Pacific Marginal Zone of Central America. Geologische Rundschau 59:1215–1232.Google Scholar
Drexler, J. W., Rose, W. I. Jr., Sparks, R. S. J., and Ledbetter, M. T. 1980 The Los Chocoyos Ash, Guatemala: A Major Stratigraphic Marker in Middle America and in Three Ocean Basins. Quaternary Research 13:327–345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glascock, M. D. 1992 Characterization of Archaeological Ceramics at MURR by Neutron Activation Analysis and Multivariate Statistics. In Chemical Characterization of Ceramic Pastes in Archaeology, edited by H. Neff, pp. 11–26. Prehistory Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Hatch, M. P. [de] 1987 La importancia de la ceramica utilitaria en arqueología, con observaciones sobre la prehistoria de Guatemala. Anales de la Academia de Geografía de Guatemala 39:151–183.Google Scholar
Hatch, M. P. [de] 1989 Observaciones sobre el desarollo cultural prehistorico en la costa sur de Guatemala. In Investigaciones arqueológicas en la costa sur de Guatemala, edited by D. S. Whitley and M. P. Beaudry, pp. 38–81. Monograph No. 31. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Heller, L., and Stark, B. L. 1989 Economic Organization and Social Context of a Preclassic Center on the Pacific Coast of Guatemala: El Balsamo, Escuintla. In New Frontiers in the Archaeology of the Pacific Coast of Southern Mesoamerica, edited by F. J. Bove and L. Heller, pp. 43–64. Anthropological Research Papers No. 39. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Kidder, A. V., Jennings, J. D., and Shook, E. M. 1946 Excavations at Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala. Publication No. 561. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Kintigh, K. W. 1984 Measuring Archaeological Diversity by Comparison with Simulated Assemblages. American Antiquity 49:44–54.Google Scholar
Koch, A. J., and McLean, H. 1975 Pleistocene Tephra and Ash Flow Deposits in the Volcanic Highlands of Guatemala. Geological Society of America Bulletin 86:529–541.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, H. 1992a A Role for “Sourcing” in Evolutionary Archaeology. Paper presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Neff, H. 1992b Ceramics and Evolution. In Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 4, edited by M. B. Schiffer, pp. 141–193. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.Google Scholar
Neff, H. 1993 Theory, Sampling, and Technical Studies in Archaeological Pottery Analysis. American Antiquity 58: 23–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, H., and Bishop, R. L. 1988 Plumbate Origins and Development. American Antiquity 53:505–522.Google Scholar
Neff, H., Bishop, R. L., and Arnold, D. E. 1988 Reconstructing Ceramic Production from Ceramic Compositional Data: A Guatemalan Example. Journal of Field Archaeology 15:339–348.Google Scholar
Neff, H., Bishop, R. L., and Arnold, D. E. 1990 A Reexamination of the Compositional Affiliations of Formative Period Whiteware from Highland Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, H., Bishop, R. L., and Bove, F. J. 1989 Compositional Patterning in Ceramics from Pacific Coastal and Highland Guatemala. Archeomaterials 3:97–109.Google Scholar
Neff, H., Bove, F. J., Lou, B., and Piechowski, M. F. 1992 Ceramic Raw Materials Survey in Pacific Coastal Guatemala. In Chemical Characterization of Ceramic Pastes in Archaeology, edited by H. Neff, pp. 59–84. Prehistory Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Parsons, L. A. 1967 Bilbao, Guatemala: An Archaeological Study of the Pacific Coast Cotzumalguapa Region, vol. 1. Publications in Anthropology No. 11. Milwaukee Public Museum, Milwaukee.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1977 Whiteware Pottery Production in the Valley of Guatemala: Specialization and Resource Utilization. Journal of Field Archaeology 4:221–233.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1978 Ceramic Continuity and Change in the Valley of Guatemala. In The Ceramics of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, edited by R. K. Wetherington, pp. 511–542. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyu. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1987 Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M., and Saffer, M. 1982 Cluster Analysis of Mixed-Level Data: Pottery Provenience as an Example. Journal of Archaeological Science 9:395–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, E. J. 1990 Reconocimiento de los municipios de Alotenango y Sumpango, Sacatepéquez. Final report of the Proyecto Encuesta Arqueológica Kaqchikel, submitted to the Institute de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala. Copies available from the author.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1972 Population, Agricultural History, and Societal Evolution in Mesoamerica. In Population Growth: Anthropological Implications, edited by B. Spooner, pp. 101–153. MIT Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Sanders, W. T. 1977 Ethnographic Analogy and the Teotihuacan Horizon Style. In Teotihuacan and Kaminaljuyu: A Study in Prehistoric Culture Contact, edited by W. T. Sanders and J. W. Michels, pp. 397–410. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyu. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Sheets, P. D. 1979 Environmental and Cultural Effects of the Ilopango Eruption in Central America. In Volcanic Activity and Human Ecology, edited by P. D. Sheets and D. K. Grayson, pp. 525–564. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1965 Rio Grande Glaze Paint Ware: A Test of Petrographic Analysis. In Ceramics and Man, edited by F. R. Matson, pp. 62–87. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology No. 41. Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Shook, E. M. 1952 Lugares arqueológicos del altiplano meridional central de Guatemala. Antropología e Historia de Guatemala 4(2).Google Scholar
Shook, E. M., and Hatch, M. P. 1978 The Ruins of El Balsamo. Journal of New World Archeology III(1).Google Scholar
Shook, E. M., and Hatch, M. P. 1980 Ceramics of Monte Alto. Manuscript in possession of F. J. Bove.Google Scholar
Shook, E. M., Hatch, M. P., and Donaldson, J. K. 1979 Ruins of Semetabaj, Dept. Solola, Guatemala. Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility 41:7–142. Berkeley.Google Scholar
Stark, B. L., Heller, L., Nelson, F. W., Bishop, R. L., Pearsall, D. M., Whitley, D. S., and Wells, H. 1985 El Balsamo Residential Investigations: A Pilot Project and Research Issues. American Anthropologist 87:100–111.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. R. 1969 Geochemistry of Andesites. In Origin and Distribution of the Elements, edited by L. H. Ahrens, pp. 559–583. Pergamon Press, New York.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. E. S. 1948 An Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Cotzumalhuapa Region, Escuintla, Guatemala. Publication No. 574. Contributions to American Anthropology and History No. 44. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Wedepohl, K. H. 1969 Chemical Fractionation in the Sedimentary Environment. In Origin and Distribution of the Elements, edited by L. H. Ahrens, pp. 999–1016. Pergamon Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wetherington, R. K. 1978a The Ceramic Chronology of Kaminaljuyu. In The Ceramics of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, edited by R. K. Wetherington, pp. 51–114. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyu. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar
Wetherington, R. K. 1978b Descriptive Taxonomy of Kaminaljuyu Ceramics. In The Ceramics of Kaminaljuyu, Guatemala, edited by R. K. Wetherington, pp. 3–50. Monograph Series on Kaminaljuyu. Pennsylvania State University, University Park.Google Scholar