A Preliminary Analysis of Early Ramos Phase Ceramics from the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, Mexico

Summary

During the Late Formative period, social relations were transformed due to increasing political centralization and urbanization in regions throughout Oaxaca. In the Nochixtlán Valley of the Mixteca Alta, Early Ramos phase (300-100 B.C.) ceramics from urban centers in the region reflect significant stylistic change from the preceding Yucuita phase (500-300 B.C.) ceramics. This presents an opportunity to explore how social change may be reflected in stylistic changes of material culture from this period. Changes in ceramic styles in this region, as well as the social practices associated with ceramic production, consumption, and exchange, can be considered to provide a more nuanced view of social change during the urban transition in Late Formative Oaxaca. I conducted visual analyses of Early Ramos phase ceramics from Yucuita and Etlatongo in the Mixteca Alta, which provide a foundation for comparative analyses of ceramic styles and paste compositions of Early Ramos phase ceramics from other Late Formative sites in the region. Future stylistic and paste compositional analyses of these ceramic collections will provide insight into the urban dynamics within the Mixteca Alta and the nature of social relations between urban centers in regions throughout Late Formative Oaxaca.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21091