Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T20:45:04.722Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sometimes a “Stove” is “Just a Stove”: A Context-Based Reconsideration of Three-Prong “Incense Burners” from the Western Belize Valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Joseph W. Ball  and
Jennifer T. Taschek
Joseph W. Ball
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182 ([email protected])
Jennifer T. Taschek
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182 ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Among the most ubiquitous “functionally identifiable” archaeological artifacts found in the Belize Valley are so-called ceramic “censer horns” or “three-prong incensarios,” sometimes glossed in the literature as “chile mashers” or “pestles.” Since their original identifications in the 1920s, they generally have been regarded as incensarios—or ceremonial objects—and used regularly as indicators of private or public ritual activities. The authors have examined many of these sherds and the restorable vessels represented; adhering residues; the reported depositional contexts; and their functional contextual associations, and submit that the vessels, sherds, and formal types represented had little if anything to do with ceremonial activities, public or private, but were in fact portable domestic braziers or braseros, and are primarily indicative of household or personal domestic activities rather than personal, familial, or corporate ritual observances. In actuality, two distinct classes of three-horned burner stands do exist and can be distinguished by appearance, intactness, and context. We describe and discuss both classes, and reiterate that although previously used to identify household shrines, religious activities, or other ideo-ritual observances, the majority of these vessels had little or nothing to do with anything other than warming beanpots, beans, or hands, or keeping away biting insects.

Resumen

Resumen

Los cuernos de incensarios o incensarios de tres cuernos, a veces citados como majaderos [de chile], son artefactos arqueológicos comúnmente encontrados e “identificables funcionalmente” en el Valle Belice. Tras su identificación en los 1920s, se los ha considerado incensarios sin cuestionamiento y son usados como indicadores de actividades rituales, privadas o públicas. Hemos examinado un gran número de fragmentos; sus residuos adheridos; sus contextos de depositación y asociaciones contextuales, y sugirimos que los vasos y/o sus restos tenían poco o nada que ver con actividades ceremoniales—públicas o privadas—pero si como calentadores portátiles domésticos o braseros. Estos se relacionan más con actividades domésticas en el nivel de la casa o del individuo que con rituales personales, familiares, o de grupos corporativos. En realidad, hay dos clases de mechero-pedestal de tres cuernos y distinguibles fácilmente por sus apariencias, integridad, y contextos. Discutimos ambas clases, y reiteramos que aunque se los ha empleado para identificar santuarios domésticos o familiares, actividades religiosas, y otros rituales, la gran mayoría tiene poca relación con algo más allá de calentar ollas y frijoles, las manos, o ahuyentar insectos.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , December 2007 , pp. 451 - 470
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
Aimers, James J. 2004 Cultural Change on a Temporal and Spatial Frontier: Ceramics of the Terminal Classic to Postclassic Transition in the Upper Belize River Valley. BAR International Series 1325. Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Ball, Joseph W. 1977 The Archaeological Ceramics of Becán, Campeche, México. Middle American Research Institute, Publication 43. Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Ball, Joseph W. 1980 The Archaeological Ceramics of Chinkultic, Chiapas, México. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 43. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Ball, Joseph W. 1994 Type: Variety Analysis and Masterworks of Classic Maya Polychrome Pottery. In Painting the Maya Universe: Royal Ceramics of the Classic Period, edited by Dorie Reents-Budet, pp. 362–365. Duke University Press, Durham & London.Google Scholar
Becker, Marshall J. 1979 Priests, Peasants, and Ceremonial Centers: The Intellectual History of a Model. In Maya Archaeology and Ethnohistory, edited by Norman Hammond and Gordon R. Willey, pp. 3–20. University of Texas Press, Austin and London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becquelin, Pierre, and Baudez, Claude F. 1979 Toniná, Une Cite Maya du Chiapas. 1st ed. Collection Etudes Mesoamericaines VI–I. Mission Archéologique et Ethnologique Française au Mexique, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1962 Archaeology as Anthropology. American Antiquity 28:217–225.Google Scholar
Binford, Lewis R. 1965 Archaeological Systematics and the Study of Culture Process. American Antiquity 31:203–210.Google Scholar
Blake, Michael, Bryant, Douglas D., Lee, Thomas A. Jr., Agrinier, Pierre, and Ekholm, Susanna M. 2005 Late Classic Ceramics. In Ceramic Sequence of the Upper Grijalva Region, Chiapas, Mexico, Part 2, edited by Douglas D. Bryant, John E. Clark, and David Cheetham, pp. 415–547. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 67. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Borhegyi, Stephen F. 1951a A Study of Three-Pronged Incense Burners from Guatemala and Adjacent Areas. In Notes on Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology No. 101. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Borhegyi, Stephen F. 1951b Further Notes on Three-pronged Incense Burners and Rim-head Vessels in Guatemala. In Notes on Middle American Archaeology and Ethnology No. 105. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Borhegyi, Stephen F. 1959 The Composite or “Assemble-It-Yourself” Censer: A New Lowland Maya Variety of the Three-Pronged Incense Burner. American Antiquity 25:51–58.Google Scholar
Bryant, Douglas Donne, and Clark, John E. 2005 Protoclassic Ceramics. In Ceramic Sequence of the Upper Grijalva Region, Chiapas, Mexico, Part I, edited by Douglas D. Bryant, John E. Clark, and David Cheetham, pp. 283–349. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No.67. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Cancian, Frank 1965 Economics and Prestige in a Maya Community: The Religious Cargo System in Zinacantan. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F. 1994 A Contextual Approach to the Ceramics of Caracol, Belize. In Studies in the Archaeology of Caracol, Belize, edited by Diane Z. Chase and Arlen F. Chase, pp. 157–182. Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., and Chase, Diane Z. 1987 Investigations at the Classic Maya City of Caracol, Belize: 1985–1987. Monograph 3, Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., and Chase, Diane Z. 2004a Terminal Classic Status-Linked Ceramics and the Maya “Collapse”: De Facto Refuse at Caracol, Belize. In The Terminal Classic in the Maya Lowlands: Collapse, Transition, and Transformation, edited by Arthur A. Demarest, Prudence M. Rice, and Don S. Rice, pp. 342–366. University Press of Colorado, Boulder.Google Scholar
Chase, Arlen F., and Chase, Diane Z. 2004b Searching for Support-staff and Kitchens: Continued Investigation of Small Structures in Caracol’s Epicenter. 2004 Field Report of the Caracol Archaeological Project. Submitted to Belize Institute of Archaeology. Belmopan (also at http://www.caracol.org/2004report.htm).Google Scholar
Chase, Diane Z., and Chase, Arlen F. 1998 The Architectural Context of Caches, Burials, and Other Ritual Activities for the Classic Period Maya (as Reflected at Caracol, Belize). In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Stephen D. Houston, pp. 299–332. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Clancey, Erin H. 1997 The 1997 Excavations on El Castillo at Structure A—32. In Xunantunich Archaeological Project-1997 Field Season, edited by Richard M. Leventhal, pp. 56–75. Department of Anthropology, UCLA.Google Scholar
Clark, John E., and Hansen, Richard D. 2001 The Architecture of Early Kingship: Comparative Perspectives on the Origins of the Maya Royal Court. In Royal Courts of the Ancient Maya, edited by Takeshi Inomata and Stephen D. Houston, pp. 1–45. Westview Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Clowery, Sara 2005 What’s on the Menu? Faunal Resource Exploitation and Utilization in Late Classic Royal Feasting at the Buenavista del Cayo Palace, Belize. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University.Google Scholar
Coe, William R., and Coe, Michael D. 1956 Excavations at Nohoch Ek, British Honduras. American Antiquity 21:370–382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowgill, George L., Altschul, Jeffrey H., and Sload, Rebecca S. 1984 Spatial Analysis of Teotihuacán: A Mesoamerican Metropolis. In Intrasite Spatial Analysis in Archaeology, edited by H. J. Hietala, pp. 154–195. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. Patrick, and Rands, Robert L. 2007 Multiple Classifications: An Alternative Approach to the Investigation of Maya Ceramics. Latin American Antiquity 18:181–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diccionario Maya Cordemex 1980 Diccionario Maya Cordemex. Edited by Alfredo Barrera Vásquez, Juan Ramón Bastarrachea Manzano, William Brito Sansores, Refugio Vermont Salas, David Dzul Góngora, and Domingo Dzul Poot. Ediciones Cordemex, Mérida.Google Scholar
Driver, William David, Garber, James F., and McWilliams, Jennifer K. 1997 Betwixt and Between: Boundary Sites in the Belize Valley. In The Belize Valley Archaeology Project: Results of the 1996 Field Season, edited by James F. Garber, pp. 34–78. Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos.Google Scholar
Everton, Macduff 1991 The Modern Maya: A Culture in Transition. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Ferree, Lisa 1972 The Pottery Censers of Tikal, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Southern Illinois University.Google Scholar
Garber, James F. 1994 Cosmology and Sacred Landscapes: Settlement Patterns in the Belize Valley. In The Belize Valley Archaeology Project: Results of the 1993 Field Season, edited by James Garber, pp. 30–56. Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos.Google Scholar
Gilmer, JoAnne D. 1999 A Late Classic Royal Artifact Assemblage from the Palace Complex at Buenavista del Cayo, Belize, Central America. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1978 Cacao and Cobaneros: An Overland Trade Route between the Maya Highlands and Lowlands. In Mesoamerican Communication Routes and Cultural Contacts, edited by Thomas A. Lee, Jr., and Carlos Navarrete, pp. 19–25. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No.40. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman 1988 Ancient Maya Civilization. 2nd ed. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.Google Scholar
Harrison, Margaret A. 1976 Sources Cited. In Sources Cited and Artifacts Illustrated, edited by Margaret A. Harrison, pp. 3–255. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 16, Robert L. Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Haviland, William A. 1981 Dower Houses and Minor Centers at Tikal, Guatemala: An Investigation into the Identification of Valid Units in Settlement Hierarchies. In Lowland Maya Settlement Patterns, edited by Wendy Ashmore, pp. 89–117. University of New México Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
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, UCLA.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W. 1962 Mound 5 and Minor Excavations, Chiápa de Corzo, Chiapas, México. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 12. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Lowe, Gareth W., and Mason, James Alden 1965 Archaeological Survey of the Chiapas Coast, Highlands, and Upper Grijalva Basin. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica, edited by Gordon R. Willey, pp. 195–234. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 2, Robert L. Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas. Press, Austin.Google Scholar
MacKie, Euan W. 1985 Excavations at Xunantunich and Pomona, Belize, in 1959–70. BAR International Series 251. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.Google Scholar
Merwin, Raymond E., and Vaillant, George C. 1932 The Ruins of Holmul Guatemala. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 3, No. 2. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Miller, Donald E., Bryant, Douglas D., Clark, John E., and Lowe, Gareth W. 2005 Middle Preclassic Ceramics. In Ceramic Sequence of the Upper Grijalva Region, Chiapas, Mexico, Part I, edited by Douglas Donne Bryant, John E. Clark, and David Cheetham, pp. 141–264. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation, No. 67. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Morley, Sylvanus G., and Brainerd, George W. 1956 The Ancient Maya. 3rd ed. Stanford University Press, Stanford.Google Scholar
Peterson, Frederick A. 1963 Some Ceramics from Mirador, Chiapas, Mexico. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation No. 15. Brigham Young University, Provo.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L., and Smith, Robert E. 1965 Pottery of the Guatemalan Highlands. In Archaeology of Southern Mesoamerica: Part One, edited by Gordon R. Willey, pp. 95–145. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 2, Robert L. Wauchope, general editor. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Reents-Budet, Dorie, Bishop, Ronald L., Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 2000 Out of the Palace Dumps: Ceramic Production and Use at Buenavista del Cayo. Ancient Mesoamerica 11:99–121.Google Scholar
Rice, Prudence M. 1999 Rethinking Classic Lowland Maya Pottery Censers. Ancient Mesoamerica 10:25–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1975 Excavations at Seibal: Ceramics. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Vol. 13, No. 2. Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Séjourné, Laurette 1966 Arqueología de Teotihuacán: La Cerámica. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, D.F. Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1952 Pottery from Chipoc, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Contributions to American Anthropology and History, Publication 596, Contribution 56. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Sur La Table 1999 Sur La Table. Catalog Division. Sur La Table, Seattle.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 1986 Guerra: A Late Classic Suburban Paraje of Buenavista del Cayo, Belize. Paper presented at the 51st Annual Meeting, Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 1999 Las Ruinas de Arenal, Belize–Preliminary Report on a Subregional Major Center in the Western Belize Valley (1991–1992 Excavations). Ancient Mesoamerica 10:215–235.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 2003a Buenavista del Cayo, Cahal Pech, and Xunantunich: Three Centers, Three Histories, One Central Place . In The Ancient Maya of the Belize Valley: Half a Century of Archaeological Research, edited by James F. Garber, pp. 191–206. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Taschek, Jennifer T., and Ball, Joseph W. 2003b Nohoch Ek Revisited: The Minor Center as Manor. Latin American Antiquity 14:371–388.Google Scholar
Taube, Karl A. 1998 The Jade Hearth: Centrality, Rulership, and the Classic Maya Temple. In Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture, edited by Stephen D. Houston, pp. 427–478. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Thompson, John Eric S. 1939 Excavations at San José, British Honduras. Publication 506. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Thompson, John Eric S. 1954 The Rise and Fall of Maya Civilization. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Vogt, Evon Z. 1969 Zinacantan: A Maya Community in the Highlands of Chiapas. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Vogt, Evon Z. 1993 Tortillas for the Gods: A Symbolic Analysis of Zinacanteco Rituals. 2nd ed. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Yaeger, Jason 2000a The Social Construction of Communities in the Classic Maya Countryside: Strategies of Affiliation in Western Belize. In The Archaeology of Communities: A New World Perspective, edited by Marcello Canuto and Jason Yaeger, pp. 123–142. Routledge, New York and London.Google Scholar
Yaeger, Jason 2000b Changing Patterns of Community Structure and Organization: The End of the Classic Period at San Lorenzo, Cayo District, Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar