Characterization of Mendoza and Cortezo Pigments: Communities of Practice and Ceramic Production in Precolumbian Panama (AD 1300–1500)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We present the results of an exploratory pigment characterization of the Mendoza and Cortezo Red-Buff ceramics. These ceramic styles produced from CE 1300 until the first part of the Spanish colonization tend to appear in association (Mendoza-Cortezo complex). Mendoza, distinguished for the ceramic plates decorated with polychrome geometrical designs arranged in concentric panels, marks the end of the polychrome tradition in Central Panama. Cortezo Red-Buff is utilitarian pottery with red paint restricted to the lips, rims, or brushstrokes. Previous historical and archaeological research suggests organic and inorganic ingredients potters used to produce pigments. For this research, the surface of 20 samples was analyzed with laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to identify the composition of the black, white, and red pigments. These results are compared with the compositional recipes obtained with NAA to learn more about the production of precolumbian ceramics. This paper contributes to understanding communities of practice production of utilitarian and prestige items circulated in the Gran Coclé right before the Spanish colonization.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40107.0