Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:10:01.891Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Ceramic Sequence at Nakbe, Guatemala

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Donald W. Forsyth
Donald W. Forsyth
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The site of Nakbe, located approximately 13 km southeast of El Mirador in the far northern part of the Peten, has been investigated by the RAINPEG Project, directed by Richard Hansen, for the last four field seasons. The ceramic sequence from Nakbe has provided us with a much broader view of cultural development in the north-central Peten. We have defined a series of preliminary ceramic complexes that span Middle Preclassic through Late Classic times.

The earliest complex at Nakbe, called Ox, which belongs to the Mamom horizon, is one of the two best represented at the site, and definitely associated, late in the period, with large-scale architecture. The principal ceramic groups are the Juventud, Chunhinta, and Pital. The main forms are bowls or basins with flaring walls and direct or everted rims, short-necked jars, cuspidors or semicuspidors, and composite-silhouette bowls. Particularly notable, although rare, are the types Muxanal Red-on-Cream and Tierra Mojada Resist. The Ox Complex is characterized by a high frequency of decoration executed by penetration methods, especially incision and chamfering.

The unslipped pottery pertains to the types Achiotes Unslipped and Palma Daub. The latter is marked by a red wash applied to the exterior neck of the jar, the major form in these types. Daub is a form of decoration limited to the Middle Preclassic in this area, as is the chamfering technique on the slipped pottery.

The ceramic complexes most similar to Ox are located to the south of Nakbe at Uaxactun and Tikal. The high frequency of chamfering, daub, and other traits strongly link Nakbe to these southern sites during the Middle Preclassic, while sites to the north and southwest, such as Seibal, Altar de Sacrificios, and Becan exhibit more tenuous connections.

The Kan Complex belongs to the Late Preclassic period, and is characterized by the Sierra, Polvero, Flor, and Sapote Ceramic Groups. Although associated with the large structures in the site center, Kan ceramics are less abundant than Ox ceramics in our samples. Kan pottery corresponds closely to that of El Mirador and is similar to other complexes of the Chicanel horizon. Particularly noteworthy are everted rims with circumferential grooves and lateral, labial, and medial flanges and ridges. The unslipped pottery of the Kan Complex consists almost exclusively of jars bearing exterior striation from the shoulder to the base.

The closest ceramic ties to Kan pottery continues to be with the southern complexes, especially Uaxactun and Tikal. Moreover, the similarity to Seibal is greater during Chicanel times, while Belize appears to differentiate itself ceramically from the Peten during this time. Nevertheless, the Chicanel horizon is the period in which the maximum geographical extent of a ceramic sphere is reached.

“Protoclassic” ceramics are rare, but the small amounts recovered at Nakbe are similar to those from El Mirador. The major type is Iberia Orange, found in small quantities in surface contexts. Characterized by hollow, mammiform supports, hooked rims, and orange slip, this Nakbe pottery seems to be more similar to pottery at Seibal than to other complexes with Protoclassic pottery.

Early Classic pottery is virtually nonexistent in our excavations, suggesting an insignificant occupation during this period.

Late Classic pottery (Uuc Complex) appears in significant quantities at Nakbe, mainly in the outskirts of the site. All of the types and modes defined at El Mirador are found at Nakbe, principally Tinaja Red, Chinja Impressed, Infierno Black, and Carmelita Incised, as well as the polychrome types. Moreover, Codex-style polychrome was also found at the site. As at El Mirador, the Uuc ceramics are not found in association with large-scale architecture, and it appears that Nakbe was not a major center at this time.

The major occupations at Nakbe pertain to the Middle and Late Preclassic periods. The abundance of architecture, ceramics, and other classes of artifacts from the Ox Complex provides us with an opportunity to investigate a Middle Preclassic occupation in which there was a much more complex social organization, at least at Nakbe, than had previously been suspected.

Type
Articles
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , Spring 1993 , pp. 31 - 53
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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

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, MA.Google Scholar
Ball, Joseph W. 1977 The Archaeological Ceramics of Becan, Campeche, Mexico. Publication 43. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Brady, James 1987 A Re-evaluation of Protoclassic Orange wares. In Maya Ceramics: Papers from the 1985 Maya Ceramic Conference, edited by Rice, Prudence M. and Sharer, Robert J., pp. 469–477. BAR International Series 345(ii), Oxford.Google Scholar
Copeland, Denise Ranae Evans 1989 Excavations in the Monos Complex, El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 61. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Culbert, T. Patrick 1985 Descriptions of the Preclassic Ceramics, Tikal, Guatemala. Ms., Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson. Ms. in possession of author.Google Scholar
Demarest, Arthur A. 1984 La cerámica preclásica de El Mirador: Resultados preliminares y análisis en curso. Mesoamerica: Revista del Centro de Investigaciones Regionales de Mesoamerica 7:53–92.Google Scholar
Forsyth, Donald W. 1989a The Ceramics of El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 63. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Forsyth, Donald W. 1989b La cerámica arqueológica de Nakbé y El Mirador. Paper presented at the Tercer Simposio de Arqueologia Guatemalteca, Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City, July 18.Google Scholar
Forsyth, Donald W. 1992 Un estudio comparativo de la cerámica temprana de Nakbé. IV Simposio de Arqueología Guatemalteca, pp. 45–56. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Gifford, James C. 1976 Prehistoric Pottery Analysis and the Ceramics of Barton Ramie in the Belize Valley. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 18. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Graham, Ian 1967 Archaeological Explorations in El Petén, Guatemala. Publication 33. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard 1987 Origines y desarrollo: Un informe de los estudios realizados en el sitio arqueológico Nakbé, Petén, Guatemala. Ms. on file, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de Guatemala, Guatemala City.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard 1989 Archaeological Investigations at Nakbé, Petén, Guatemala: 1989 Season: A Report to Project Donors. Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard 1990 Excavations on Structure 34 and the Tigre Area, El Mirador Petén, Guatemala: A New Look at the Preclassic Maya. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 62. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard 1992a The Archaeology of Ideology: A Study of Maya Preclassic Architectural Sculpture at Nakbe, Peten, Guatemala. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard 1992b Investigaciones arqueológicas en el norte del Petén, Guatemala: Una vista diacrónica de los orígenes mayas. Paper presented at the Simposio 450 Aniversario de la Fundación de Campeche, Mexico.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard, and Berger, C. Rainer 1988 Maya Cultural Process, Early Polity Formation, and the Dynamics of Ideology: Regional Archaeological Investigation of the North Petén, Guatemala. Proposal to the National Endowment for the Humanities, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard, and Forsyth, Donald W. 1987 Late Preclassic Development of Unslipped Pottery in the Maya Lowlands: The Evidence from El Mirador. In Maya Ceramics: Papers from the 1985 Maya Ceramic Conference, edited by Rice, Prudence M. and Sharer, Robert J., pp. 439–468. BAR International Series 345(ii), Oxford.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard D., Bishop, Ronald L., and Fahsen, Frederico 1991 Notes on Maya Codex-Style Ceramics from Nakbe, Peten, Guatemala. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:225–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howell, Wayne K. 1989 Excavations in the Danta Complex at El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 60. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Kosakowsky, Laura J. 1987 Preclassic Maya Pottery at Cuello, Belize. Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona 47. Tucson.Google Scholar
López, Roberto 1992 Excavaciones en el grupo Coral y algunas relaciones internas con otros grupos tardíos en Nakbé, Petén. V Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, pp. 121–128. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Matheny, Ray T. 1986a Early States in the Maya Lowlands during the Late Preclassic Period: Edzná and El Mirador. In City-States of the Maya: Art and Architecture, edited by Benson, Elizabeth P., pp. 1–44. Rocky Mountain Institute for Pre-Columbian Studies, Denver.Google Scholar
Matheny, Ray T. 1986b Investigations at El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala. National Geographic Research 2:332–353.Google Scholar
Matheny, Ray T. 1993 El Mirador, Peten, Guatemala: Introduction. Papers of the New World Archaeological Foundation 59. Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.Google Scholar
Pring, Duncan 1977 The Preclassic Ceramics of Northern Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, London University, London.Google Scholar
Ricketson, Oliver G., and Ricketson, Edith B. 1937 Uaxactun, Guatemala: Group E-1926–1931. Publication 477. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Robertson-Freidel, Robin A. 1980 The Ceramics from Cerros: A Late Preclassic Site in Northern Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1975 Excavations at Seibal, Department of Peten, Guatemala. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol. 13, No. 12. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Smith, Robert E. 1955 Ceramic Sequence at Uaxactun, Guatemala. Publication 20. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.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.” Publication 28. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Valdez, Fred 1987 The Prehistoric Ceramics of Colhá, Northern Belize. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar