Ceramic Production during the Terminal Classic at Holtun, Guatemala

Summary

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

The use of provenance studies to answer anthropological questions related to the production and access of ceramics is well documented for the Maya region. Mineralogical and chemical compositional analyses are often used to identify the material origins, or provenance, of ceramics. In this paper, the authors report on Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and ceramic petrography of serving and utilitarian vessels recovered from Terminal Classic period elite and non-elite domestic contexts at the Maya site of Holtun, Guatemala. The research is part of Crawford’s dissertation research, which examines economic resilience expressed through non-elite choices related to production during the Terminal Classic at Holtun. Preliminary INAA results show that Terminal Classic potters were using chemically distinct clays exhibiting different paste fabrics than previously studied Preclassic pottery at Holtun. In addition, chemical composition during the Terminal Classic period does not appear to match other sites in the Maya lowlands. However, petrographic data show that Terminal Classic potters continued to use local carbonate materials for pottery production. This is part of a long-lasting local tradition of potter manufacture that can be traced back to the Middle Preclassic period. The authors will present preliminary data and discuss its implications in light of resilience theory.

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): 33396