A Story Written in Sherds: Ceramic Use Patterns at Río Amarillo Reveal Strategies of Survival in the Terminal Classic to Postclassic Copan Valley, Honduras

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The site of Río Amarillo, on the far eastern side of the Copan Valley, was integrated into the economy of the Copan polity during the Classic period. However, the groups surrounding the core of Río Amarillo long outlasted both Copan’s center and the secondary center of Río Amarillo. This paper will explore the ceramic evidence from the hinterlands to follow the collapse and rural transformation that happened in the eastern section of the valley. In the Postclassic, groups around Río Amarillo continued to thrive with evidence indicating that ceramic production was either local or involved trade links that skirted those that had been controlled by Copan during the Late Classic period. The limited amount of ceramics recovered from the ceremonial core indicates that, while uninhabited in the Postclassic, this area continued to be a location for ritual activities perhaps as many as 400 years after its abandonment.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37378.0