Results of a new method for characterizing Casas Grandes polychromes

Summary

Through time, the analyses of archaeological ceramics have produced a diverse number of characterization techniques. These various techniques have allowed us to create multiple understandings of style, production, and exchange patterns, building a formidable toolkit that is able to speak to many aspects of human behavior. However, though our standard set of techniques is imposing and productive, they may not automatically produce data sets that naturally lead to concrete patterns and natural interpretations. For example, typically-used techniques that have successfully characterized polychromes in the American Southwest, NAA and petrography, have not lead my dissertation work with Chihuahuan polychromes to clear or concrete understandings of the production and exchange of these vessels in the Casas Grandes region. This is not to say that either technique has been not-useful in exploring potential patterns. Rather, a combination of cultural choice and natural environment has colluded in making these standard methods less-appropriate techniques for this area. In response to these conditions, I will discuss the results of a pilot study of 18 Ramos and Babicora polychromes, from across the region, using a relatively new mode of analysis, capitalizing on zircons, that could address regional issues in characterizing the ceramics of Northwest Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Casas Grandes: Addressing Key Issues of Chronology, Culture Change, Social Organization, and Exchange

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16044