The Rise of Northern Maya Ceramic Chronologies: Emerging Perspectives on Middle to Late Preclassic Processual Dynamics and the Legacy of Joseph W. Ball

Summary

Seminal and persistently relevant work by Ball has shaped and reshaped our understanding of Middle to Late Preclassic population movements on the Yucatan Peninsula and the establishment of local potting communities and traditions. Evidence of Middle Preclassic ceramic production in the northeastern-most Maya Lowlands had remained elusive until the mid 1990s. Early Nabanche affinities observed in the locally produced pottery of northern Quintana Roo suggested an expansion of peoples across the northern plains by the mid 7th century BC. Initial movements of populations from the eastern Petén and northern Belize were assumed to be coeval with the appearance of Chicanel Horizon assemblages in the northeast of the Peninsula However, ongoing research in northernmost Quintana Roo suggests an introduction of the southeastern lowland Mamom tradition at a time earlier than Yucatecan influences from the west. Interestingly, recent excavations in Yucatan have revealed pre-Mamom pottery that may similarly reflect a "heterogenic homogeneity" described by Ball, whereby these earliest of types represent emerging yet distinctive regional traditions with deep ties to the south. Proyecto Costa Escondida (PCE) and Proyecto de Interacción Política del Centro de Yucatán (PIPCY) address these issues as well as Ball’s contributions to northern lowland ceramic studies more broadly.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22085