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Clay Sources, Pottery Production, and Regional Economy in Chalchihuites, Mexico, A. D. 200-900

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Nicola M. Strazicich
Nicola M. Strazicich*
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Materials, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
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Abstract

Pottery and clays from the Chalchihuites region of northwestern Zacatecas are characterized to examine ceramic production and exchange among settlements between A. D. 400 and 900. Instrumental neutron activation and petrographic analysis of 134 pottery and 26 clay samples from three Chalchihuites ceremonial centers identify pottery made from local clays and distinguish pottery found at each center that was not made from local clay deposits. Residents of Alta Vista, the region’s main center, acquired an elaborate painted ware from a second center located 30 km away after A. D. 650. The ceramic compositional data provide a basis for understanding the distance and direction that pottery was exchanged in Chalchihuites as economic activities increased in the region.

La cerámica y las muestras de arcilla de la región de Chalchihuites del noroeste de Zacatecas son analizadas para documentar la producción e intercambio de cerámica entre los asentamientos fechados entre 400 y 900 d. C. El análisis por activación neutrónica y análisis petrográfico de 134 tiestos y 26 muestras de arcilla procedentes de tres centros ceremoniales de Chalchihuites indican una distinción entre las vajillas producidas en cada asentamiento y las vasijas adquiridas de otros lugares. Después de 650 d. C., los residentes de Alta Vista, el centro principal de la región, fueron adquiriendo vasijas pintadas de manera complicada de un segundo centro ubicado a 30 km de distancia. Los datos de composición de la cerámica brindan una base para comprender la distancia y el rumbo del intercambio de la cerámica en Chalchihuites, a medida que se incrementaban las actividades económicas de la región.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , September 1998 , pp. 259 - 274
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1998

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