The Provenance and Technology of Paynes Creek Salt Works Pottery and Briquetage

Summary

The pottery recovered from Late Classic Maya salt works sites can reveal important information about both the production and distribution of this highly valued trade item. Determination of the geographic origin of the serving vessels and storage jars recovered from salt works, for example, provides direct evidence of trade connections to other areas, as well as the geographic extent of the exchange networks through which salt was distributed. From local perspective, the technological characteristics of briquetage offers insight into materials investments in salt production and production strategies. In this paper we present the results of a petrographic characterization study of serving vessels, storage jars and salt-making implements recovered from different salt works sites in the Paynes Creek area. The objectives of this study were to: 1) investigate the geographic origins of different functional categories of pottery, 2) identify locally made pottery and 3) to examine the technological characteristics of ceramic salt production implements from a mechanical performance perspective, thereby generating insight into processing strategies. Here we focus on the nature of briquetage technology and the ceramic evidence of trade connections to different areas of the Maya Lowland region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Flooded Ancient Maya Salt Works, Paynes Creek National Park, Belize

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17276