Pottery-Making Practices and Technological Choices during the Early Period (ca. 200 BC–AD 600) at the Southern Sector of Abaucán Valley (Dept. Tinogasta, Province of Catamarca, Argentina): A View from Ceramic Petrography

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Scaling Potting Networks: Recent Contributions from Ceramic Petrography " session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The southern sector of the Abaucán Valley presents an important prehispanic occupation belonging to the Early Formative period (ca. 200 BC–AD 600). The main material evidence of this occupation is given by the presence of small household units characterized by a quadrangular settlement pattern associated with agricultural infrastructure, mainly large cultivation *canchones, simple and multiple grinding stones, together with a typical gray polished pottery, named Saujil, distributed along the residence compounds as well as in the cultivation areas. Saujil pottery is mainly characterized by a reduced firing atmosphere and several ceramic forms such as bowls, jars, globular ollas, small ollitas, and infant funerary urns. In this paper, we present a technological characterization of ceramic pastes through ceramic petrography together with a morphological analysis of the main Saujil ceramic forms from La Florida archeological site, Department of Tinogasta, Province of Catamarca, Argentina. Technological analyses were carried out at two different levels, and ceramic petrography was performed using image analysis software in a representative sample of sherds. Additionally, a cross-cultural comparison with other nearby geographical areas for this chronological period is given.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Scaling Potting Networks: Recent Contributions from Ceramic Petrography   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33649