Chemical paste characterization of Late Middle Preclassic-period ceramics from Holtun, Guatemala and its implications for production and exchange

Abstract

This study uses type: variety-mode classification, digital stereomicroscopy, and Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) to characterize the paste composition of Late Middle Preclassic-period pottery at the site of Holtun, Guatemala. The sample consists of 98 sherds including unslipped utilitarian ware, slipped serving ware, and Mars Orange fine paste serving ware. NAA reveals four paste composition groups that approximate types produced through type: variety-mode classification and paste groups recognized by digital stereomicroscopy. The analysis suggests a pattern of production in which unslipped utilitarian vessels, slipped serving vessels, and Mars Orange fine paste serving vessels were produced using different paste recipes. While unslipped utilitarian vessels and slipped serving vessels may have been produced and consumed locally, Mars Orange fine paste serving vessels were likely produced in or around Holtun but consumed more widely. Results of this research suggest the Late Middle Preclassic-period ceramic economy at Holtun was characterized by incipient specialized production, and exchange of at least one ceramic ware. These results advance our understanding of Late Middle Preclassic-period ceramic production and exchange at Holtun, and inform the study of the development of socio-political complexity in the Maya lowlands. 2 Archaeological Background Geographically, the Maya lowlands encompass the department of Peten Guatemala, Belize, eastern Mexico including parts of the states of Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan; and a portion of western Honduras (the state of Copan). Chronologically, the Middle Preclassic period spans approximately 700 years from 1000-300 BCE, with sites seeing occupation most frequently during the Late Middle Preclassic (600-300 BCE). It is during this time that multiple forms of settlements appear in the lowlands ranging from communities like Cuello (Hammond 1999), K'axob

Preclassic ceramic economy in Belize: neutron activation analysis at Cahal Pech

“…Comparison to the MURR database indicates a compositional similarity to ceramics collected from the Petén Lakes region of Guatemala and Middle Preclassic Mars Orange ceramics from Holtun, Guatemala (see Callaghan et al . 2017a & b, 2018).…”

An atlas of paste fabrics and supplemental paste compositional data from late middle preclassic-period ceramics at the Maya site of Holtun, Guatemala

“…The materials for this study consisted of 97 samples of archeological ceramics from eight contexts dating to the Late Middle Preclassic-period at the Maya site of Holtun, Guatemala [6]. The archeological site of Holtun is an intermediate sized civic-ceremonial center with documented occupation beginning in the Late Middle Preclassic through Terminal Classic periods (600 BCE – AD 900) [14], [17], [7], [8], [9].…”

“…The interpretation of compositional data obtained from the analysis of archeological materials is discussed in detail elsewhere (e.g., [1], [2], [3], [11], [13], [16]). The approach used to interpret chemical data for pottery involves hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) to establish initial groupings within the sample (see [6] Fig. 6).…”

“…6). After constructing base groups through HCA and PCA, bivariate plots were used to refine groups (see [6] Figs. 7–10 and Table 2).…”

“…Finally, Euclidian Distance Searches (EDS) were conducted to identify the most chemically similar previously analyzed samples in MURR׳s Mesoamerican NAA database (Fig. 8, also see [6] Table 1). …”