Ceramic Metatypology for Northwestern Mesoamerica

This project involves the development of a regional ceramic metatypology for the Zacatecas area of Northwestern Mesoamerica. This metatypology will vastly improve our chronological control at a regional scale. The development of metatypologies in other regions has proven to be groundbreaking in terms of understanding sociopolitical developments. In Northwest Mesoamerica, a metatypology will allow us to address how complex societies develop in frontier regions. Investigations of this nature have been thwarted due to the lack of information about intraregional chronology and social interaction. Research has focused heavily on the co-development of, and interaction between, the US Southwest and Central and West Mexico, as well as the archaeology of local social phenomena in individual sites or settlement clusters. While these questions are important, we want to draw attention to the development of sociopolitical complexity within Northwestern Mesoamerica and the role intraregional interaction may have played in this process. The application of the ceramic metatypology to site assemblages will provide a clearer understanding of the timing and adoption of regional ceramic traditions and interpret the chronological patterns of those traditions. Ultimately, this project will provide information on the synchronicity of growth and the character of interactions among regional polities. An accompanying "digital-ceramoteca" is currently under development.