Las Etapas Más Tempranas De La Alfarería Maya en El Noroeste De La Península De Yucatan

During the last decade, archaeological investigations carried out by the Mérida Region Archaeological Project through the National Institute of Anthropology and History have focused on the peripheral sites of the current municipality of Mérida. In this article, we will focus on the northeast section covering a polygon that has an area of 7.19 km2, where rural minor sites such as Oxmuul, Cuzam, and Polok Keej are located. This area was explored in various seasons as a result of archaeological salvage and rescue projects, carrying out archaeological prospecting with the aim of creating cartography, systematic excavations, and descriptive analysis of archaeological materials. One of the objectives was to understand and interpret the social organization of the ancient peripheral communities in relationship higher ranking sites such as T'ho and Dzibilchaltun. The results obtained are presented diachronically in order to explain the role that these sites played within the political economy of the region, which turns them into complex rural sites towards the end of the Classic period.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Rural Social Complexity in the Ichcaanziho Region, Yucatan, Mexico

Pantoja Díaz,

Ancona Aragon,

Gomez Coba

et al. 2022

“…Ek-related ceramics at most of these sites, however, are rare or absent, and substantial constructions prior to 700/600 b.c. were probably limited in this area (see Ceballos Gallareta and Robles Castellanos 2012). Architectural developments at many other sites in the Maya lowlands were probably even later.…”

Section: Development Of Monumental Architecture and Communal Ceremonimentioning

confidence: 89%

The Emergence of Standardized Spatial Plans in Southern Mesoamerica: Chronology and Interregional Interactions Viewed From Ceibal, Guatemala

Inomata

2017

Our investigations at the lowland Maya center of Ceibal have demonstrated that a formal spatial pattern consisting of an E-Group assemblage and large platforms started around 1000b.c.and gradually expanded over the next several centuries. A re-evaluation of ceramic and radiocarbon data from other lowland Maya sites suggests that the beginning of sedentary life and ceramic use in various parts of the Maya lowlands started roughly simultaneously around 1000b.c., which may have been triggered by a change in maize productivity. The standardized spatial pattern including the E-Group assemblage probably developed in the Isthmian Interaction Sphere, encompassing the southern Gulf Coast, central Chiapas, the Chiapas-Guatemalan Pacific Coast, and Ceibal, during the transitional period between the decline of San Lorenzo and the rise of La Venta as a major center (1200–800b.c.). Most of the lowland Maya communities adopted the E-Group assemblage after 800b.c., but not other elements of the standardized spatial pattern.

“…With regard to the organization of ceramic technology in the Northern Lowlands, compositional analysis can shed light on questions concerning the production and distribution of Preclassic pottery. Controversy on the nature of early production and distribution in this region has broadly centered on whether Mamom ceramic technology was imported from the Southern Lowlands (as summarized originally by Andrews V 1990) or whether pottery traditions developed indigenously in this region (Ceballos Gallareta and Robles Castellanos 2012;Rissolo et al 2005;Stanton and Ardren 2005).…”

Section: Technologicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ceramic production likely did occur locally, but even in that case, what was the nature of pottery exchange networks in the north during this period? Visual analysis of pastes and fabrics have been undertaken in the Northern Lowlands, but most of the analysis of Preclassic pottery has continued to focus on surface features, especially slip colors and characteristics (Andrews V 1988(Andrews V , 1990Ceballos Gallareta and Robles Castellanos 2012;Kohut et al 2022;Stanton and Ardren 2005). Variability in potting technology through the differential selection of clays and tempers can be identified through chemical characterization studies.…”

Section: Technologicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Preclassic Pottery Production and Exchange in the Northern Maya Lowlands: An Icp-MS Analysis

Parker

Bey

et al. 2022

Evidence of complex and widespread occupations during the Middle Preclassic (1000–350 b.c.) have been identified throughout the Northern Maya Lowlands and are associated with both Mamom and pre-Mamom ceramics. Beyond typological information based on the visual examination of paste, slip, and surface treatment, archaeologists know little about the technology or economics of pottery production and exchange of this period. In this study, we analyze Middle Preclassic ceramics from four sites in northwest Yucatan, using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to determine the chemical variation that exists between and within different ceramic production areas. The analysis indicates that production occurred locally by the late Middle Preclassic (700–350 b.c.), and that the earliest pottery produced in the Northern Maya Lowlands, at the sites of Komchen and Kiuic, was compositionally linked to later phases of production. This means that the first ceramic complexes of the Northern Lowlands were locally produced and not the result of migrants bringing pottery from elsewhere. The study reveals it is possible to identify the origin of Middle Preclassic ceramics by their chemical signature and that compositional variation existed at the site level over time.