Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T06:12:04.207Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Multiple Classifications: An Alternative Approach to the Investigation of Maya Ceramics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

T. Patrick Culbert  and
Robert L. Rands
T. Patrick Culbert
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, 109 Old Galisteo Road, Santa Fe NM 87508
Robert L. Rands
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, 27898 Old Village Road, Mechanicsville MD 20659
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The introduction of the type-variety system as a means of classifying Maya ceramics had considerable success in promoting communication among researchers. There was hope that it would prove to be possible to devise a single unitary system of ceramic analysis based on type-variety. We believe that such a hope was doomed to failure. Ceramic complexity is too great to be subsumed in any single typological system. Attempts to incorporate the many variables involved within a type-variety analysis have usually resulted in neglect of some and the loss of important information. Instead, we advocate the use of multiple systems of classification. We suggest that at least three separate classifications should be done based on (1) surface finish, (2) vessel shapes (forms), and (3) pastes. For ceramics having highly decorated vessels, another separate classification of decoration is desirable. A final and vitally important objective is to investigate covariation among the classifications of shape, surface, decoration, and paste. We believe that these relationships can be seen more clearly by the use of multiple classifications than by incorporating all into a single typological system in which such variation is all too often hidden.

Resumen

Resumen

La introducción del sistema de diversidad de tipos como medio clasificatorio de la cerámica maya ha tenido considerable éxito en promover la comunicación entre los investigadores. Se esperaba que puediera desarrollar un sistema analítico único basado en la variedad de tipos cerámicos presentes. Nosotros creemos ese deseo estaba condenado al fracaso ya que la complejidad en la cerámica es tan grande que no puede ser asumida en un simple sistema tipológico. Los intentos de incorporar todas las variables involucradas en un análisis de la diversidad de tipos muchas veces han resultado tanto en el abandono como en la pérdida de información importante. Como alternativa, proponemos el uso de múltiples sistemas clasificatorios. Sugerimos que al menos tres clasificaciones independientes deberían realizarse según 1) el acabado de la superficie, 2) la forma de la vasija, y 3) las pastas. En el caso de cerámicas altamente decoradas, una cuarta clasificación de las decoraciones es deseable. El objetivo final y más importante es investigar la covariación entre las clasificaciones de forma, superficie, decoración y pasta. Creemos que esas relaciones serán más claras mediante el uso de clasificaciones múltiples que incorporando todo esto en un simple sistema tipológico en el cuál esa variación muchas veces se pierde.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 181 - 190
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2007

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

Adams, Richard E. W. 1971 The Ceramics of Altar de Sacrificios. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 63, No. 1. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Ball, Joseph W. 1977 The Archaeological Ceramics of Becan, Campeche, Mexico. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 43. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Bishop, Ronald L. and Lange, Frederick W. (editors) 1991 The Ceramic Legacy of Anna O. Shepard. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Bishop, Ronald L., Rands, Robert L., and Holley, George R. 1982 Ceramic Compositional Analysis in Archaeological Perspective. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Vol. 5, edited by Michael B. Schiffer, pp. 275–330. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Brew, John O. 1946 Archaeology of Alkali Ridge, Southeastern Utah. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 21. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Coggins, Clemency C. 1975 Painting and Drawing Styles at Tikal: An Historical and Iconographic Reconstruction. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Fine Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. Patrick 1965 The Ceramic History of the Central Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 19. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. Patrick 1993 The Ceramics of Tikal: Vessels from the Burials, Caches and Problematical Deposits. Tikal Report No. 25A. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. Patrick 2003 The Ceramics of Tikal. In Tikal: Dynasties, Foreigners, & Affairs of State, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, pp. 47–81. School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
DeBoer, Warren R. 1980 Vessel Shape from Rim Sherds: An Experiment on the Effect of the Individual Illustrator. Journal of Field Archaeology 7:131–135.Google Scholar
Ferree, Louisa 1968 The Censers of Tikal, Guatemala: A Preliminary Sequence of the Major Shape-Types. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Flannery, Kent V., and Marcus, Joyce 1994 Early Formative Pottery of the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Memoirs No. 27. Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsyth, Donald W. 1983 Investigations at Edzna, Campeche, Mexico: Volume 2, Ceramics. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 46. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro 1995 Preclásico a Clásico en Tikal: Proceso de Transformación en Mundo Perdido. In The Emergence of Lowland Maya Civilization: The Transition from the Preclassic to the Early Classic, edited by Nikolai Grube, pp. 17–33. Acta Mesoamericana, Vol. 8. Verlag Anton Sauerwein. Mockmuhl.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro 2003 Thirty Years Later: Some Results of Recent Investigations in Tikal. In Tikal: Dynasties, Foreigners, and Affairs of State, edited by Jeremy A. Sabloff, pp. 281–318. School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series, Santa Fe.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, and Vilma, Fialko C. 1987 La Cerámica del Clásico Temprano desde Mundo Perdido, Tikal: Una Reevaluación. In Maya Ceramics: Papers from the 1985 Maya Ceramic Conference, edited by Prudence M. Rice and Robert J. Sharer, pp. 123–181. BAR International Series, No. 345, Part 1. Oxford.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, and Vilma, Fialko C. 1990 New Perspectives on Old Problems: Dynastic References for the Early Classic at Tikal. In Vision and Revision in Maya Studies, edited by Flora Clancy and Peter D. Harrison, pp. 33–66. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, Hermes, Bernard, de Zea, Lilian Vega, and Iglesias, María Josefa 1992 Nuevos Entierros y Escondites de Tikal, Subfaces Manik 3a y3b. Cerámica de Cultura Maya 16:30–68.Google Scholar
Laporte, Juan Pedro, and Iglesias, María Josefa 1992 Unidades Cerámicas de la Fase Manik 3, Tikal, Guatemala. Cerámicade Cultura Maya 16:69–101 Google Scholar
Moholy-Nagy, Hattula 2003 The Artifacts of Tikal: Utilitarian Artifacts and Unworked Material. Tikal Report No. 27B. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Neff, Hector, Blomster, Jeffrey, Glascock, Michael D., Bishop, Ronald L., Blackman, M. James, Coe, Michael D., Cowgill, George L., Diehl, Richard A., Houston, Stephen, Joyce, Arthur A., Lipo, Carl P., Stark, Barbara L., and Winter, Marcus 2006a Methodological Issues in the Provenance Investigation of Early Formative Mesoamerican Ceramics. Latin American Antiquity 17:54—76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, Hector, Blomster, Jeffrey, Glascock, Michael D., Bishop, Ronald L., Blackman, M. James, Coe, Michael D., Cowgill, George L., Diehl, Richard A., Houston, Stephen, Joyce, Arthur A., Lipo, Carl P., Stark, Barbara L., and Winter, Marcus 2006b Smokescreens in the Provenance Investigation of Early Formative Mesoamerican Ceramics. Latin American Antiquity 17:104–118.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L. 1967 Ceramic Technology and Trade in the Palenque Region, Mexico. In American Historical Anthropology: Essays in Honor of Leslie Spier, edited by Carroll L. Riley and Walter W. Taylor, pp. 137–151. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L. 1987 Ceramic Patterns and Traditions in the Palenque Area. In Maya Ceramics: Papers from then 1985 Maya Ceramic Conference, edited by Prudence M. Rice and Robert J. Sharer, pp. 203–238. BAR InternationalSeries No. 345, Part 1. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L., and Bishop, Ronald L. 1980 Resource Procurement Zones and Patterns of Ceramic Exchange in the Palenque Region, Mexico. In Models and Methods in Regional Exchange, edited by Robert E. Fry, pp. 19–46. SAA Papers No. 1. Society for American Archaeology, Washington.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L., and Bishop, Ronald L. 2003 The Dish-Plate Tradition at Palenque: Continuity and Change. In Patterns and Process: A Festschrift in Honor of Dr. Edward V. Sayre, edited by Lambertus van Zelst. pp. 109–132. Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education, Suitland, Maryland.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L., and Rands, Barbara C. 1959 The Incensario Complex of Palenque, Chiapas. American Antiquity 25:225–236.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L., and Bishop, Ronald L. 1965 Pottery Figurines of the Maya Lowlands. In Handbook of Middle American Indians, edited by Gordon R. Willey and Robert Wauchope, Vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 535–560. University of Texas Press, Austin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1976 Rethinking the Ware Concept. American Antiquity 41:538–543.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1987 Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1952a Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1949. Anales del Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 4, No. 32. INAH, Mexico, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1952b Exploraciones en Palenque: 1951. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 5, No. 33. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1955 Exploraciones en Palenque: 1952. Anales del Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 6, Part 1. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1956a Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1953. Anales del Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 10, No. 39. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1956b Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1954. Anales del Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 10, No. 39. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1956c Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1955. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 10, No. 39. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1956d Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1956. Anales del Institute Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 10, No. 39. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1962a Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1957. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 14, No. 43. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1962b Exploraciones Arqueológicas en Palenque: 1958. Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Vol. 14, No. 43. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Ruz Lhuillier, Alberto 1973 El Templo de las Inscripciones, Palenque. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia Colección Cientifica. No. 7. INAH, México, D.F.Google Scholar
Rye, Owen S. 1981 Pottery Technology: Principles and Reconstruction. Tarascum, Washington.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1975 Excavations at Seibal, Department of the Peten, Guatemala: The Ceramics. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 13, No. 2. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A., and Smith, Robert E. 1972 Ceramic Wares in the Maya Area: A Clarification of an Aspect of the Type-variety System and Presentation of a Formal Model for Comparative Use. Estudios de Cultura Maya 8:97–115.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J., Balkansky, Andrew K., Burton, James H., Feinman, Gary M., Flannery, Kent V., Grove, David C., Marcus, Joyce, Moyle, Robert G., Price, T. Douglas, Redmond, Elsa M., Rice, Robert G, Reynolds, Prudence M, Spencer, Charles S., Stoltman, James B., and Yaeger, Jason 2006 On the Logic of Archaeological Inference: Early Formative Pottery and the Evolution of Mesomerican Societies. Latin American Antiquity 17:90–103.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1936a Preliminary Shape Analysis of the Uaxactun Pottery. Mimeographed for distribution to students. Manuscript on file at the Archives of the Instituto de Antropología e Historía de Guatemala. Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1936b Ceramics of Uaxactun: a Preliminary Analysis of Decorative Techniques and Design. Mimeographed for distribution to students. Manuscript on file at the Archives of the Instituto de Antropología e Historía de Guatemala. Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1955 Ceramic Sequence at Uaxactun, Guatemala. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 20. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1971 The Pottery of Mayapan. 2 vols. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 66. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E., and Gifford, James C. 1966 Maya Ceramic Varieties, Types and Wares at Uaxactun: Supplement to ”Ceramic Sequence at Uaxactun, Guatemala.” Middle American Research Institute, Publication 28. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E., Willey, Gordon R., and Gifford, James C. 1960 Type-Variety Analysis of Maya Pottery. American Antiquity 23:330–340.Google Scholar
Thompson, Raymond H. 1958 Yucatecan Pottery Making. Memoirs of the Society for American Archaeology 15. Society for American Archaeology, Washington.Google Scholar
Vaillant, George C. 1927 The Chronological Significance of Maya Ceramics. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R., Culbert, T. Patrick, and Adams, Richard E. W. 1967 Maya Lowland Ceramics: A Report from the 1965 Guatemala City Conference. American Antiquity 32:289–315.Google Scholar
Willey, Gordon R., Leventhal, Richard M., Demarest, Arthur A., and Fash, William L. Jr. 1994 Ceramics and Artifacts from Excavations in the Copan Residential Zone. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol.80. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar