Evaluating the Evidence for Ceramic Exchange with the Valley of Oaxaca during the Late to Terminal Formative

Summary

In the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, Mexico, ceramics resembling those found in the Valley of Oaxaca are a common component of Late to Terminal Formative assemblages. Prior compositional analyses indicated that at least some of these wares represent actual imports, and further, that ceramic trade between the two regions was possibly two-way. More recently, our knowledge of ceramic compositional variability in the Valley of Oaxaca has expanded greatly, allowing us to refine our understanding of potential source areas for ceramics exported to the Mixteca Alta. Here we report on a sample of 53 Late to Terminal Formative ceramics from Cerro Jazmin; these represent wares traditionally thought to be Valley of Oaxaca imports or imitations (gris and café fino) and wares thought to be of local manufacture. In order to identify possible imports and their sources, compositional data for these materials were evaluated against contemporaneous ceramics from the Valley of Oaxaca as well as a valley-wide database of natural clays previously analyzed at the OSU Archaeometry Laboratory. The project serves to expand the compositional database for Formative ceramics from the Mixteca Alta region, and contributes to research on ceramic trade and exchange between the two regions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• The Cerro Jazmín Archaeological Project 2008-2015: discussing early urbanism and city life in Late and Terminal Formative Mixteca Alta, Mexico

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