Luminescence and radiocarbon dates from Plumbate production contexts

Summary

Plumbate, the most widely distributed pottery of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, has been sourced to the Pacific coastal region of Soconusco, near the present international border between Mexico and Guatemala. In recent fieldwork, several Plumbate production contexts were excavated. In addition to large volumes of Plumbate and Plumbate wasters, these deposits contain large amounts of wood ash and solid ceramic cylinders of various sizes, from finger-size up to rolling-pin size. Complicating interpretation of the deposits, salt production by the sal cocida technique was undertaken at some of the production locations both prior to Plumbate production and subsequently, during historic times. Luminescence dates on Plumbate, solid ceramic cylinders, and salt-production vessels together with radiocarbon dates on charcoal from the deposits help unravel the sequences of production activities and provide absolute dates for the temporal span of the Plumbate industry.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Recent Applications of Luminescence Dating in Archaeology

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