Designing Influence: Aesthetic Choices and Group Identity in Decorated Ceramics of Late Postclassic Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico

Summary

During the Late Postclassic (A.D. 1200-1520) in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, aesthetic qualities of ceramics were utilized as both decorative values and tools for negotiating the creation of group identities and ideologies within communities. Through a stylistic analysis of Yanhuitlan Red on Cream type ceramics recovered from excavations at the site of Etlatongo, in the Nochixtlán Valley, I explore how these vessels and the motifs depicted on them were used during the creation of identity-based meanings that were easily recognized during public ceremonies. Since these ceramic types were broadly accessible and relatively abundant, I compare the frequencies of design motifs to others found on at sites throughout the Mixteca Alta, including Yucuita, Chachoapan, and from survey data within the Tamazulapan and Teposcolula valleys. I argue that the stylistic qualities of Yanhuitlan Red on Cream wares were directly involved in dialogic social processes that promoted ideologies shared by elites and commoners within the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22152