Observations Concerning Ash-Tempered Pottery from the Archaeological Site of Los Soldados

Summary

The use of volcanic ash as temper in Olmec pottery is generally known, unfortunately its temporal and spatial distribution at the site and regional levels remains poorly understood in the Gulf lowland regions. This paper presents the results of conventional microscopy and thin section petrographic analysis identifying the distribution of ash temper within the Los Soldados' pottery assemblage. This is done with an attempt to illustrate the relationship of ash temper in proportion to other paste components and pottery types. Results indicate that ash-tempered pottery from Los Soldados, possibly represents similar trends identified at Sierra de Los Tuxtlas underlining the importance of ash temper as a marker of technological, cultural and behavioral changes influencing the manufacturing, distribution, and use of pottery. Taking a domestic economy and household archaeological perspective, the results of this research addresses implications regarding typological, chronological, and polity influence perspectives in the Olmec lowlands.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Household and Ritual in the Eastern Olmec Heartland

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