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Black-on-Orange Ceramic Production in the Aztec Empire's Heartland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mary G. Hodge ,
Hector Neff ,
M. James Blackman  and
Leah D. Minc
Mary G. Hodge
Affiliation:
Anthropology Program, University of Houston Clear, Lake, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
Missouri University Research Reactor, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211
M. James Blackman
Affiliation:
Conservation Analytical Laboratory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560
Leah D. Minc
Affiliation:
Museum of Anthropology, University of Michiga, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
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Abstract

Compositional and stylistic analyses of decorated ceramics have provided information about the regional organization of economic systems in the Aztec empire’s core zone, the Basin of Mexico. Late Aztec Black-on-orange ceramics (A. D. 1350–1520) are found at nearly all archaeological sites in the Basin of Mexico, but prior to this study their sources were not verified. This study has investigated whether Black-on-orange ceramics were produced in one or many areas in order to define in greater detail dependent communities’ economic relations with the Aztec empire’s capital. To identify production areas, paste compositions of 85 Late Aztec Black-on-orange ceramic samples were compared using neutron-activation analysis. The analysis distinguished three different production areas in the eastern and southern parts of the Basin of Mexico, indicating that Late Aztec Black-on-orange ceramics represent a style adopted by regional manufacturing centers, and are not products of a single center. Because a number of decorative motifs are exclusive to particular paste groups, the sources of some Black-on-orange vessels can now be identified visually.

El análisis composicional y estilístico de la cerámica pintada ha producido información sobre la organización regional de los sistemas económicos en el centro del imperio azteca, la Cuenca de México. Los tiestos de la cerámica Negro sobre Anaranjado (Azteca III) del período Azteca Tardío (1350–1520 D. C.) se encuentran en casi todos los sitios arqueológicos en la Cuenca de México, pero anteriormente a este estudio sus orígenes no fueron verificados. Esa cerámica está pintada con líneas finas negras sobre una superficie naranja bruñida. La cerámica Negro sobre Anaranjado en el período precedente, el Azteca Temprano, se distingue por tener distintos elementos decorativos característicos de cada zona productiva, pero identificando visualmente a los centros productivos del período Azteca Tardío es difícil porque la cerámica está decorada uniformemente. La notable similitud entre la cerámica Azteca III sugiere que podría haberse hecho solamente en uno o dos centros, quizás en la capital del imperio, Tenochtitlán. Este estudio ha investigado si las vasíjas Negro sobre Anaranjado habían sido hechas en sólo una o muchas áreas; para poder definir en más detalle las relaciones económicas de las comunidades dependientes de la capital del imperio azteca. Para identificar las zonas de producción, se comparó la composición de la pasta de 85 tiestos de las partes del sur y este de la Cuenca de México usando el análisis por activación neutrónica. El análisis identificó tres grupos de tiestos que contienen diferentes elementos. Cada grupo de pasta corresponde a una distinta región geográfica, indicando que la cerámica fue producida en tres regiones: la región alrededor de Texcoco, la zona cercana de Chalco y la parte occidental de la península de Ixtapalapa. Así que podemos decir que la cerámica Negro sobre Anaranjado del período Azteca Tardío es un estilo adoptado por varios centros manufactureros, no sólo el producto de un centro, y que la capital del imperio no controló la producción alfarera. Los resultados nos enseñaron también que algunos motivos decorativos son exclusivos de ciertos grupos de pasta; como resultado, los orígenes de las vasijas Negro sobre Anaranjado que están decoradas con estos distintos temas ahora pueden ser identificados visualmente.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , June 1993 , pp. 130 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1993

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