Baked In: Remnant Production Gestures from Potters in the Tarascan State

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We examine the traces of production gestures that ceramics producers left behind on the surface of 100 sherds excavated at Urichu, a minor administrative center for the Tarascan (P’urépecha) state (1350–1524 CE), in the Lake Pátzcuaro Basin, Michoacán, México. These sherds represent the Early and Late Postclassic time periods at the site, approximately 625 years (AD 900–1000/1100–1525). Direct information on the potters’ production gestures during the manufacture of ceramic vessels, following the methodology Valentine Roux, enables us to identify production techniques and evaluate how those might have changed over time. The sherds were visually inspected using a 10× pocket loupe, a 10× magnifying table lamp, and a Dino-Lite Edge microscope. Predominant gestures indicated hand-building, rather than mold or rotational modeling. We conclude that the dominant productive techniques used by these potters remained relatively stable through time, even though the potters experienced significant social and economic changes during the emergence of a state.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37773.0