Local and Imported Ceramics from a Feasting Assemblage at Etlatongo: Preliminary INAA Results

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) conducted on a late Middle Formative ceramic sample recently excavated at Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico, demonstrates both local ceramic production and regional interaction with the Valley of Oaxaca. A total of 78 vessel fragments dating to the Yucuita phase (500-300 BCE) were recovered from one feature at Etlatongo; of these, 30 were selected for INAA in order to test hypotheses about the origin of particular vessels based on their suspected provenance as determined through visual analysis, with a mix of local and imported vessels, particularly graywares, included. INAA indicates the sample is composed of six groups, and that the vessels are predominantly of local origin. Of 30 vessels, INAA indicates that eight grayware specimens were imported from the Valley of Oaxaca. The remainder were locally produced, including two specimens which were left unassigned in our six groups. The presence of imported vessels and the proportion of local versus imported ceramics from this feature, interpreted as the remains of a feasting event, illuminates relationships between elites at this early urban center with their contemporaries in the Valley of Oaxaca.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33263