Petrography, Pots and People: Determining the source of Hohokam plainwares at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico.

Summary

Late prehistoric Sonora, Mexico was a dynamic landscape of warfare, mass migration and trade networks spanning modern international borders. At around AD1300 archaeologists have clear evidence of Hohokam populations moving from southern Arizona and displacing indigenous Trincheras populations in the Altar River Valley of Sonora. With a ceramic type called Sells Plain, Hohokam potters introduce a new ceramic manufacturing technology –paddle-and-anvil ceramics- to the region. In response to this migration, the indigenous Trincheras Tradition population built the site of Cerro de Trincheras 60 km away in the Middle Magdalena valley. The presence of large quantities of Sells Plain ceramics at Cerro de Trincheras suggests that Trincheras and Hohokam populations interacted, but not how the process occurred, nor the impact those actions had. My research uses ceramic petrography and stylistic analysis to test for trade, community migration and the movement of women. This poster presents the petrofacies model and its correspondence to sherds recovered from northern Sonora. My analysis shows that the predominant form of interaction between the two cultures were Hohokam women moving to the site, likely under coercion or violence.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• People, Pottery, and Petrography: Recent research in ceramic petrography

Keywords

Spatial Coverage