Fade to Black: The implications of Mount Maloney Black pottery from a Terminal Classic deposit, Cahal Pech, Belize, using a comparative multi-method compositional approach

Douglas, John E.; MacDonald, Brandi L.; Ebert, Claire E.; Awe, Jaime J.; Dussubieux, Laure; Klesner, Catherine

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102666

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Comparative materials demonstrate clear ties between the current sample and existing reference groups from within the Belize River Valley. Euclidean distance searches, which return the top 10 closest, most chemically similar matches for each specimen in the current dataset to other specimens in the database, consistently indicated that other samples from the Belize River Valley were the most similar to the current one, specifically specimens from the nearby site of Cahal Pech (Douglas et al 2021; Ebert et al 2019).…”

Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 71%

Volcanic Ash Tempered Pottery Production in the Late to Terminal Classic Belize Valley, Belize

et al. 2022

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Production and consumption of pottery tempered with fresh volcanic ash peaked in the Late to Terminal Classic periods in the Maya lowlands. Differences in the type of volcanic inclusion and vessel form indicate that the pottery was produced in multiple locations by different groups of potters. In this article, we characterize pottery from household contexts at Baking Pot, Belize, using thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis (NAA) to document mineralogical and chemical variability and determine provenance. The pottery was produced by adding fresh volcanic ash to a micritic clay. The petrographic and chemical data indicate that this paste recipe was produced locally in the Belize Valley. Variation in the paste recipes used is likely due to both production differences and postdepositional alteration. We argue that it is critical to use both petrography and NAA to understand pottery production and provenance in the Maya region.

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Section: Methods and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 71%