New Observations on Ancient Maya Ceramic/Textile Composites: A Technological, Conceptual and Contextual Re-Appraisal
Author(s): Melanie Saldana; Michele Bleuze; James Brady
Year: 2024
Summary
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
In 1993, a previously unknown composite material made of layers of finely woven cotton fabric saturated in ceramic slip were recovered by the Petexbatun Regional Cave Survey in the Cueva del los Quetzales, Petén, Guatemala. An analysis of the sherds was conducted by the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Analytical Laboratory (now the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education [SCMRE]) in 2004. A recent revisiting of the materials included micro-CT scan imaging that has led the authors to question the established position that the technology used to produce these sherds was highly specialized, and that they were made exclusively for the elite. This presentation chronicles our reanalysis and rethinking of these rare artifacts.
Cite this Record
New Observations on Ancient Maya Ceramic/Textile Composites: A Technological, Conceptual and Contextual Re-Appraisal. Melanie Saldana, Michele Bleuze, James Brady. Presented at The 89th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 2024 ( tDAR id: 499626)
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Keywords
Geographic Keywords
Mesoamerica: Maya lowlands
Spatial Coverage
min long: -94.197; min lat: 16.004 ; max long: -86.682; max lat: 21.984 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 39974.0