Ceramic variability and social interaction in the Middle Orinoco: On multi ethnic communities and ceramic traditions in the Late occupation period (500-1500 AD)

Summary

The Átures Rapids in the Middle Orinoco region are mentioned in the historical sources as a key trading center linking the Western Llanos of the Orinoco and the Guyana, where people, goods and ideas were exchanged. A recent study in Picure Island, located in the rapids, present a variety of ceramic temper wares, beads and quartz crystals associated in stratigraphically excavated contexts. The ceramic sherds recovered in Picure are closely related to other archaeological sites in the Middle Orinoco. Besides the presence of common ceramic traditions and complexes, it confirms a dual temper ware assemblage for the late occupation composed by the Arauquinoid and Valloid ceramic traditions. Both traditions exhibit distinctive temper wares and stylistic traits that under the normative approach have been related with different cultural groups. Nonetheless, both have been associated with Carib speaking parties and in certain contexts appear to share decorative motifs, usually explained as a product of contact and diffusion. From a communities of practice perspective, the characterization of technical traditions through macroscopical and microscopical analysis of ceramic sherds from Picure intends to contribute novel insights to the discussion of how to understand ceramic variability in a multi-ethnic interaction context in pre-Hispanic times.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Connectivity and Communities of Practice in Lowland South America

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14630