Pots, People and Pacific Nicaragua: Misconceptions about Migrant Mesoamericans and Material Culture

Summary

The production of polychrome pottery in Pacific Nicaragua during the Sapoá and Ometepe Periods (AD 800-contact) has traditionally been attributed to various migrant cultural groups of vague Mesoamerican origin who were living in the region at the time of Spanish contact and who are usually assumed to have displaced the autochthonous inhabitants of Greater Nicoya. Supposed links between specific ceramic types and specific Mesoamerican groups that were originally based more on speculation than on actual evidence have often been treated as "facts", to the extent that archaeological evidence questioning these links is often dismissed or otherwise ignored. This paper will examine some of the challenges associated with tying evidence of distinct potting traditions in Pacific Nicaragua to specific ethnic entities, and discuss whether or not modern archaeology is ready to provide definitive answers to all or even most of our questions about cultural identity in pre-contact Pacific Nicaragua.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Nica News: Recent Archaeological Research in Nicaragua   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15353