The Exchange and Consumption of Incensarios in Middle Postclassic Sauce, Veracruz, Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Incensarios or incense burners are ritual items used in a variety of settings, some in households and some in more formal ritual contexts within Mesoamerica. I analyze residential inventories from the center of Sauce and its hinterland to describe the structure of exchange and consumption of incensarios during the Middle Postclassic period (AD 1200-1350) in south-central Veracruz, Mexico. Many of the incense burners in the Gulf lowlands region are large, elaborate specialty items that could have been restricted in exchange and/or only used by larger households. Information about their production and chronology is scanty, but as a household ritual item not commonly considered in economic analyses, any evaluation of incensarios within the context of local exchange and consumption contributes to a better understanding. Results indicate some restriction for incense burners recovered during the Sauce Archaeological Project (SAP). The largest concentrations of incensarios were found near Sauce, which suggests that political elites may have had more access or use of these items. In the hinterlands of Sauce, incense burners are found with household mounds that were larger, potentially more elite residences, consistent with the interpretation of incensarios recovered with politically elite and potentially wealthier households.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38491.0