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.

Geographic Keywords
La Quemada

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-10 of 10)

Documents
  • Catálogo Virtual de la Cerámica Arqueológica del Cerro de Coamiles, Nayarit (2014)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Mauricio Garduño Ambriz.

    En este documento se presenta el catálogo visual de tipos cerámicos que fueron recuperados en el transcurso de los trabajos de campo del proyecto "Investigaciones arqueológicas en el Cerro de Coamiles, Nayarit (2005-2010)", procedente de contextos de excavación explorados en las plataformas superiores del sitio. Consideramos que la muestra analizada (24,312 tiestos) es representativa de la variabilidad tipológica de la industria alfarera de la costa central de Nayarit.

  • THE EPICLASSIC MIDDLE MALPASO VALLEY CERAMICS (La Quemada, Zacatecas): A Visual Guide Toward A Standardized Taxonomy (2014)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Charles D. Trombold.

    Success in the creation of any ceramic meta-typology hinges on the inclusiveness of its constituent geographical parts and the degree to which the ceramics of those regions are described. In this instance we are using the meta-typology concept as a tool to more fully explain questions that have vexed archaeologists of northern Mesoamerica for years. Some of these problems include understanding the underlying processes of northward expansion of complex societies, the degree to which some regions...

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