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A Ceramic Perspective on the Formative to Classic Transition in Southern Veracruz, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christopher A. Pool  and
Georgia Mudd Britt
Christopher A. Pool
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506
Georgia Mudd Britt
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130
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Abstract

For any particular historical circumstance, explanations of ceramic evolution should consider the performance characteristics of pottery vessels in their behavioral contexts, as well as the varying effects of evolutionary processes operating at different social, spatial, and temporal scales. The replacement of tempered black and differentially fired serving vessels by fine-paste wares during the Formative to Classic transition in the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, Mexico illustrates these points. New radiocarbon assays from the Bezuapan site document the rapidity of this transition. Evaluation of visual performance characteristics and contextual associations suggest that the Tuxtlas fine-paste tradition began as a Late Formative prestige technology. Adoption of updraft kilns in the Terminal Formative period lowered the risk of firing losses and allowed savings in paste preparation and resource procurement costs to be realized. As a result, the fine-paste tradition spread to wider segments of society, ultimately replacing earlier traditions. A volcanic eruption at the close of the Formative period and subsequent immigration of Central Mexican settlers constituted evolutionary sorting mechanisms, which perturbed general trends in ceramic evolution within a restricted area of the central Tuxtlas.

Resumen

Resumen

Para cualquier caso histórico particular, las explicaciones de la evolución de una tradición alfarera deben considerar las características de ejecución de las vasijas en sus contextos de manufactura y uso, así como los efectos variables de los procesos evolutivos que operan en diferentes escalas distintas de la sociedad, es decir la espacial y la temporal. Estos puntos pueden ejemplificarse con el proceso de sustitución de cerámica negra con cocción diferencial por cerámicas de pasta fina anaranjado y gris durante la transición entre el periodo Formativo y el Clásico en la Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz, México. Los nuevos fechamientos por radiocarbono del sitio de Bezuapan, documentan la rapidez de esta transición. Con base en las características visuales de las lozas y sus asociaciones contextuales, proponemos que la tradición de vasijas de servicio de pasta fina constituyó una tecnología de prestigio durante el Formativo Tardío. En el Formativo Terminal se adoptaron hornos de tiro verticales, lo que disminuyó las posibilidades de pérdidas en el proceso de cocción y a la vez permitió un uso más eficiente de los recursos y un ahorro en la energía invertida en la preparación de la pasta. Como resultado, el uso de las vasijas de pasta fina se amplió a otros segmentos de la sociedad, hasta que finalmente sustituyeron a las tradiciones más antiguas. A resultas de una erupción de fines del Formativo y la subsiguente llegada de migrantes del centro de México, ocurrieron una serie de mecanismos evolutivos de selección, que afectaron las tendencias generales del desarrollo de la alfarería en un área restringida de la porción central de los Tuxtlas.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 2000 , pp. 139 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2000

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