Maya Ceramic Technologies for Avoiding the Catastrophic Failure of Cooking Pots
Author(s): Travis Stanton
Year: 2018
Summary
Maya potters in the towns of Muna, Mama, and Ticul have historically used a calcite crystal to temper cooking pots due to its perceived role in mitigating the negative effects of thermal shock. When a clay cooking pot begins to be used it is exposed to extreme temperature variations which lead it to experience catastrophic failure are a higher rate than many ceramic vessels used for other activities. In this paper we discuss the results of experimental archaeology using calcite crystals in thermal shock tests and compare data to tempering materials in Preclassic and Classic period ceramics from the site of Yaxuna, Yucatan.
Cite this Record
Maya Ceramic Technologies for Avoiding the Catastrophic Failure of Cooking Pots. Travis Stanton. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 444140)
This Resource is Part of the Following Collections
Keywords
General
Craft Production
•
Experimental Archaeology
•
Maya: Classic
Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica: Maya lowlands
Spatial Coverage
min long: -94.197; min lat: 16.004 ; max long: -86.682; max lat: 21.984 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 18868