Mineralogy Without Minerals: A Proposed Methodology for Reconstructing the Original Compositions of Highly Altered Ceramic Bodies Using Thin Section Petrography

Summary

The rock and mineral fragments present in archaeological pottery, whether naturally occurring in the clay component or intentionally added as a temper, often serve as the primary geologic basis for provenance ascription in petrographic analysis. In certain contexts, however, the original compositional characteristics of pottery have been highly altered through technological or postdepositional processes. In these situations, accurate characterization and sourcing of original raw material ingredients must be based on a wider range of microscopic attributes than the rock and mineral assemblage alone. This is especially the case when diagnostic aplastic components have been completely removed.

We present two case studies of Late Classic Maya pottery from archaeological sites in Belize in which the original mineralogy of the raw material ingredients and paste recipes were reconstructed in the complete absence of actual rock and mineral fragments. We discuss the factors contributing to the removal of these essential fabric components, which are different in each case, and their identification. We propose a methodology for the reconstruction and description of the original compositions of highly altered ceramic bodies using a descriptive systems approach that integrates an appropriately broad range of microstructural and textural criteria, which are oftentimes otherwise ignored.

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): 22478