Maya Ceramics

Based on fieldwork and reflection over a period of almost fifty years, Maya Potters’ Indigenous Knowledge utilizes engagement theory to describe the indigenous knowledge of traditional Maya potters in Ticul, Yucatán, Mexico. In this heavily illustrated narrative account, Dean E. Arnold examines craftspeople’s knowledge and skills, their engagement with their natural and social environments, the raw materials they use for their craft, and their process for making pottery.

Following Lambros Malafouris, Tim Ingold, and Colin Renfrew, Arnold argues that potters’ indigenous knowledge is not just in their minds but extends to their engagement with the environment, raw materials, and the pottery-making process itself and is recursively affected by visual and tactile feedback. Pottery is not just an expression of a mental template but also involves the interaction of cognitive categories, embodied muscular patterns, and the engagement of those categories and skills with the production process. Indigenous knowledge is thus a product of the interaction of mind and material, of mental categories and action, and of cognition and sensory engagement—the interaction of both human and material agency.

Engagement theory has become an important theoretical approach and “indigenous knowledge” (as cultural heritage) is the focus of much current research in anthropology, archaeology, and cultural resource management. While Dean Arnold’s previous work has been significant in ceramic ethnoarchaeology, Maya Potters' Indigenous Knowledge goes further, providing new evidence and opening up different concepts and approaches to understanding practical processes. It will be of interest to a wide variety of researchers in Maya studies, material culture, material sciences, ceramic ecology, and ethnoarchaeology.


This book is now in paperback.

Tesis que plantea los usos de la cerámica policroma  Copador por diferentes estratos sociales durante el periodo Clásico Tardío en el Valle de Zapotitán, Cordillera del Bálsamo y Chalchuapa adscritos a la Fase Payu, (600-900 d.C.) que abarcó el centro y occidente de El Salvador. El estudio se focaliza en el análisis de la muestra parcial de cerámica polícroma Copador procedente del específicamente de las excavaciones arqueológicas efectuadas en sitio arqueológico Tazumal;  sitio arqueológico Joya de Cerén; sitio arqueológico San Andrés y sitio arqueológico Madreselva. Se presentan resultados en base a los contextos monumental y doméstico, al mismo tiempo inducir sobre las funciones, las variaciones morfológicas y decoraciones durante el Período Clásico Tardío detectadas en la muestra, fechadas en base a eventos volcánicos.
Palabras Clave: Cerámica  Policroma Copador, Fase Payu, análisis estadístico, morfología, decoración, análisis cerámico

SUMMARY
Paper work that propose the use of polychrome pottery Copador by different social strata during the Late Classic period in the Valley of Zapotitán, Cordillera del Balsamo and Chalchuapa assigned to Phase Payu (600-900 AD) which covered the central and western El Salvador. The study focuses on the analysis of partial polychrome ceramic Copador specifically from the archaeological excavations at the archaeological site Tazumal; Joya de Ceren Archaeological Site; San Andrés archeological site archaeological site and Honeysuckle.
Results and decorations morphological changes during the Late Classic Period detected in the sample, based on dated volcanic events are presented on the basis of monumental and domestic contexts, while inducing on functions.
Keywords: Polychrome Ware Copador Phase Payu, statistical analysis, morphology, decoration, ceramic analysis

Since the 1970s hundreds of looted ceramics of related style have found their way into public and private collections around the world through the international antiquities and black markets. These objects were later found to have come from the archaeological site of El Zotz, Guatemala. Since their original context has been occluded and their stratigraphic information has been lost, traditional archaeological seriation has proven difficult to develop and apply to these objects. Through the application of formal analysis and paleographic scrutiny, though, some of the original social contexts as well as a partial chronological sequence for them can be recreated. Since some of these vessels contain the names of kings on them, this relative chronology allows for the reconstruction of a dynastic sequence. Demonstrating stylistic change over time, it also reflects the iconographic and conceptual development of particular spiritual practices. It is hoped that this study will provide a methodological framework for future research of problematic collections, which is the status of most Maya ceramics.

El presente trabajo expone los resultados iniciales del análisis epigráfico realizado sobre dos vasos mayas pertenecientes a
la colección 51 P.J. del acervo de la Dirección de Registro Público de Monumentos y Zonas Arqueológicas del INAH, tal y como
fueron presentados el JI de noviembre de 2004 en el marco del XIV Encuentro Internacional "Los Investigadores de la Cultura
Maya", celebrado en la Ciudad de Campeche. Ambas piezas destacaban entre las de dicha colección por ser las únicas que
contenían textos jeroglíficos del tipo conocido como Secuencia Primaria Estándar. A pesar de que el desciframiento de los textos no
está en una fase final, hemos decidido darlos a conocer por las implicaciones históricas que presenta el vaso número 66, pues el
texto menciona como su poseedor a un señor de Chatahn, concepto aún poco entendido dentro de la historia política del Clásico
maya. La otra pieza (número 64) contiene una variante regional de la PSS que puede brindar interesantes resultados en un análisis
comparativo posterior.

INTRODUCCIÓN - Ivan Šprajc;
1. EL SURESTE DE CAMPECHE: NATURALEZA E HISTORIA - Ivan Šprajc;
2. TRABAJO DE CAMPO - Ivan Šprajc;
3. DEFINICIÓN Y JERARQUIZACIÓN DE LOS SITIOS ARQUEOLÓGICOS - Ivan Šprajc;
4. DESCRIPCIÓN DE LOS SITIOS - Ivan Šprajc y Atasta Flores Esquivel;
5. RESCATE DE LAS ESTELAS DE LOS ALACRANES - Ivan Šprajc;
6. INTERVENCIONES EN MUCAANCAH Y ALTAR DE LOS REYES: UN ACERCAMIENTO A TRAVÉS DE SUS MATERIALES ARQUEOLÓGICOS - Daniel Juárez Cossío y Adrián Baker Pedroza;
7. ANÁLISIS DEL MATERIAL DE SUPERFICIE - María Isabel García López;
8. MONUMENTOS ESCULPIDOS: EPIGRAFÍA E ICONOGRAFÍA - Nikolai Grube;
9. ALINEAMIENTOS ASTRONÓMICOS EN LA ARQUITECTURA - Ivan Šprajc;
10. GIS AND REMOTE SENSING ANALYSIS - Tomaž Podobnikar and Krištof Oštir;
11. ARQUEOLOGÍA DEL SURESTE DE CAMPECHE: UNA SÍNTESIS - Ivan Šprajc y Nikolai Grube;
BIBLIOGRAFÍA;
ANEXO 1: MAPAS;
ANEXO 2: TABLA DE COORDENADAS DE LOS SITIOS ARQUEOLÓGICOS;
ANEXO 3: PLANOS DE LOS SITIOS ARQUEOLÓGICOS

Despite a widespread notion that feasting played a major role in the workings of Classic Maya polities, the very concept of feasting in the context of its textual and visual representations remains poorly defined and understood. The present paper reviews the ancient narratives in order to present a more nuanced interpretation of the consumption and display of exquisite food and drinks at the courts of Maya lords and nobles. It also considers some tangible evidence of the socio-political networks created through feasting by looking at the spatial distributions of signed serving vessels which changed hands as gifts.

The archaeological site of Chactún, located in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Campeche, was discovered in 2013, when we started reconnaissance works in the southern portion of the vast archaeologically unexplored territory that extends between the Río Bec and Chenes regions, largely within the northern sector of the depopulated Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. The site’s urban core, composed of three concentrations of monumental architecture, has a number of plazas surrounded by temple pyramids and massive palace-like buildings, two ball-courts, and 20 stelae and 15 altars, several of which preserve relief carvings, including hieroglyphic inscriptions. A large rectangular water reservoir was also found in the immediate vicinity. In view of its extent and the sizes of buildings, Chactún is one of the largest Maya urban centers known so far in the central lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula.
This monograph presents the results of mapping and the descriptions of three complexes of monumental architecture and of some outlying groups, the documentation of sculpted monuments, and analyses of the ceramic and lithic material collected on the surface and during small-scale excavations carried out around a few monuments with the purpose of exposing their carvings. While the ceramic evidence indicates occupation from the Preclassic on, the stelae with hieroglyphic texts and dates suggest the city reached its greatest splendor during the Late Classic, acquiring an important role in the regional political hierarchy. Surprisingly, although the site is located just north of the Río Bec core area, its characteristics link it much more to the Petén tradition. Voluminous buildings arranged around large plazas, numerous temple pyramids and monuments with inscriptions stand in a sharp contrast to the nearby Río Bec sites, where “false” pyramid towers, instead of true pyramids, are common, the architectural groups are typically smaller and with fewer structures, and stelae with inscriptions are quite rare. A peculiarity of Chactún are stone monuments with reliefs modeled in stucco, particularly prominent being the spectacular glyphs on Stela 1. Finally, several monuments found in secondary positions, including fragments of stelae reused as cornerstones of ball courts, and Postclassic ceramics associated with Stela 1 reveal that certain activities took place at the site even in the centuries after its apogee. These and other characteristics disclose the potential of Chactún for future research and its relevance for understanding various aspects of cultural dynamics in this part of the Maya Lowlands.

n la época prehispánica, las llanuras aluviales de Tabasco (correspondientes a la porción norte del estado, donde se encuentran los deltas de los ríos Grijalva y Usumacinta antes de desembocar en el Golfo de México), propiciaron que la población que antiguamente habitaba la región, utilizara con profusión -ante la carencia de piedra-, las materias primas disponibles y predominantes: arcilla y tierra. De tal modo, la arcilla prevaleció en la arquitectura, los adornos, utensilios y herramientas de la gente. La calidad de los aluviones depositados periódicamente en la zona, motivó el desarrollo de cerámicas de pasta fina de gran calidad, las cuales llegaron a exportarse a sitios distantes, como también ocurrió con las características figurillas mayas del período Clásico. Sin embargo, durante la época colonial y la primera mitad del siglo XX tuvieron lugar una serie de acontecimientos que motivaron cambios drásticos en el modo de vida, las actividades productivas y las ideas religiosas de la población, así como serias modificaciones al entorno ambiental de la región. Esto originaría sincretismos culturales, la introducción de nuevas materias primas, pero también que se perdieran rasgos culturales de la población local. 1 E Hoy en día, los indígenas yoko yinikoob -o mayas chontales de Tabasco-, en especial las mujeres, continúan modelando en sus viviendas y con pastas arenosas, vasijas útiles en la vida doméstica y ritual de la comunidad, mientras que sólo en un par de talleres formales, individuos de sexo masculino modelan en torno y a mano, recipientes y objetos (ornamentales en su mayor parte) con las pastas finas que antaño tuvieran importante valor comercial. En este texto presentamos los antecedentes de la alfarería tradicional en Tabasco y la estrecha relación entre la mujer, la Luna como deidad y la manufactura cerámica; los factores de cambio que afectaron su proceso de producción, para evaluar el estado que ahora guarda este tipo de actividad, dentro de un mundo globalizado que Página 362

The recent salvage archaeological project in a large area of Tabasco gave way to the exploration of the San Román site, where a ceramic collection was obtained. This rather large amount of sherds allowed the construction of a ceramic sequence for this important region.

Los vasos dinásticos forman parte de un material cerámico que destaca por su decoración y los contenidos informativos registrados en sus superficies. En el caso de los vasos de la dinastía Kaan, estos sobresalen porque en su narrativa jeroglífica aparecen listados de gobernantes cuyos orígenes parecen perderse en el tiempo; sin embargo, hay excepciones y, en algunos casos, la temática del objeto se complementa con referencias sobre el contenido, el uso y los propietarios en cuestión. En el presente trabajo se abordará, a través de un análisis epigráfico e iconográfico integral, el caso del vaso K955, el cual se utilizó para contener una bebida embriagante empleada en diferentes eventos de tipo ritual. Los resultados de este análisis permiten inferir diferentes contextos socio-políticos en los que el uso de dicho objeto cobró protagonismo.

La presente investigación de grado se centró en el estudio de una muestra parcial de cerámica polícroma Copador procedente de las excavaciones arqueológicas efectuadas en los sitios arqueológicos: sitio arqueológico Tazumal ubicado en la Calle El Cuje en la ciudad de Chalchuapa, departamento de Santa Ana, focalizándose en la muestra parcial de vasijas de cerámica polícroma Copador obtenida durante las temporadas de 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945 y 1950; sitio arqueológico Joya de Cerén, ubicado en Cantón Joya de Cerén, San Juan Opico, departamento de La Libertad




centrándose en la muestra parcial de las vasijas de cerámica polícroma Copador de las temporadas 1989, 1991 y 1992; sitio arqueológico San Andrés ubicado en el kilómetro 32 carretera a Santa Ana, departamento de La Libertad, muestra parcial de vasijas de cerámica polícroma Copador obtenida durante las temporadas de excavación de 1977 y 1978; finalmente, el sitio arqueológico Madreselva ubicado al este de la Embajada de  los Estados Unidos de América, Urbanización Madreselva, Antiguo Cuscatlán, departamento de La Libertad, en temporada 1992.

One of the most virtuosic pictorial traditions in Classic Maya art is the codex style, which was embodied on ceramic vessels between AD 672 and 751. It is a technique characterized by drawings on the light bottom of the slip, which was used in the EI Mirador basin, Guatemala, and the Calakmul region, Campeche. The mythological scenes and texts embodied in this style constitute a rich source of information about the narrative and the sacred pantheon of the Maya. Among its greatest examples is the Princeton Vase, an outstanding work of Mesoamerican pictorial art.

Una de las tradiciones pictóricas con mayor virtuosismo en el arte maya del periodo Clásico es el estilo códice, que fue plasmado sobre vasijas de cerámica entre 672 y 751 d.C. Se trata de una técnica caracterizada por dibujos sobre el fondo claro del engobe, que se utilizaba en la cuenca de EI Mirador, Guatemala, y la región de Calakmul, Campeche. Las escenas y textos mitológicos plasmados en ese estilo constituyen una rica fuente de información sobre la narrativa y el panteón sagrado de los mayas. Entre sus máximos ejemplos se encuentra el Vaso de Princeton, obra destacada del arte pictórico mesoamericano.

The notion of standardization in pottery production has been used as an indicator of ceramic specialization. Yet, this notion and the assumptions behind it are still largely untested ethnographically. This paper attempts to identify some factors that affect the standardization of ceramic vessel shapes in Ticul, Yucatan, Mexico. A sample of 448 ethnographic vessels of three shapes were measured and analyzed statistically. Interpretation of these analyses within the ethnographic context of the workshop industry in Ticul provides insight into the factors associated with variability in dimensional uniformity as a function of market, technique, and the potter's own views of variability. In caution, we suggest that the coefficient of variation should not supplant the use of the standard deviation as an expression of standardization.

ABSTRACT
This book is about the Maya who inhabited northern Yucatán, México, during the centuries around the European arrival, the Late Postclassic (AD c. 1100-1500). The Europeans arrived only decades after the abandonment of Mayapán, the last Maya capital in this region. The nature of Late Postclassic (LP) society is not well understood, primarily because its socioeconomic nature eludes researchers. To gain a better understanding of the Late Postclassic social and economic environment in northern Yucatán, this study focuses on ceramic production, a crucial socio-economic aspect of the ancient Maya society.
Through a combination of analytical methods that include petrographic, chemical, and surface features analyses, this research reconstructs ceramic production technology and examines regional patterns in this technology for vessels from Mayapán, minor north-central sites, and eastern sites. The research questions can be summarised as follows. Were there patterns in raw material selection and ceramic technology reflecting zones of production, groups of potters, technological traditions, or other social divisions? What might such patterns tell us about the organisation of production and the nature of interactions, including networks of ceramic exchange and technological traditions that may reflect social divisions or integration?
The results of this study have provided new insights into the technology involved in the manufacture of Late Postclassic ceramics. The potters who produced these ceramics had a deep working knowledge of the very challenging raw materials available for pottery making in northern Yucatán.
This study shows that raw material selection is not random and follows patterns determined by overarching technological traditions dictating the appropriate materials for different types of vessels at different geographical locations. These traditions can be traced back to, at least, the northern Terminal Classic, and continue up to the present. Furthermore, cultural divisions between Mayapán and minor north-central sites may be reflected in the data. Divisions are also observed
between eastern fabrics in utilitarian vessels and fabrics in north-central vessels. At least two orientations to production are emerging because the association between raw materials and types of vessels at Mayapán differs from minor northcentral sites. This study found that many potters’ groups may have supplied the minor north-central centres, while the compositionally and technologically homogeneity of Mayapán pottery points to few raw materials sources.
New perspectives have been gained on long-standing questions about the location of zones of productions, the extent of the export and import of Mayapán vessels, and the mechanisms of exchange that may have been involved in this movement of vessels. Mayapán imported few vessels and exported many. However, vessels with Mayapán fabric style
are found only at sites less than two days’ march from this major site. A ritual context or a limited sub-regional market context may explain this movement. These findings have informed current views about Late Postclassic ceramic production, exchange, and advanced our understanding of the socio-economic nature of this period.

This article studies the history and contexts of appearance of the so-called “X-ray” mask, an iconographic resource identified by Michael D. Coe in 1978, due to its presence in the scenes of some Maya painted vessels in the Motul de San José area during the 8th century. Masks of this type were like any other. They were even usually attached to the headdresses and chinstraps of the characters who wore them. What is specific about them resides in the conventions for their representation, since the faces of the extras are presented in profile, leaving a gap or empty space between the human face and that of the mask, since the latter is represented in perspective cut or dissected sideways. The Mayas used this resource profusely from ca. 695 AD and until the IX century of our Era. However, it is a resource known since the Preclassic or Middle Formative in the cave painting of Guerrero, so its use in the Late Classic was simply a revitalization. In the author's opinion, the artistic resource of the “X-ray” mask was one of the iconographic counterparts of the complex phenomenon of b'aahil aˀan personification or ritual concurrence, so that anyone who consults this work would do well to read the essay entitled “Naturaleza y papel de las personificaciones en los rituales mayas, según las fuentes epigráficas, etnohistóricas y lexicográficas”, published by the same author in 2010. This article was awarded the honorable mention for the best article on Ancient Mexico published in 2007, by the Comité Mexicano de Ciencias Históricas.

En este artículo se estudia la historia y contextos de aparición de la llamada máscara de “rayos X”, un recurso iconográfico identificado por Michael D. Coe en 1978, debido a su presencia en las escenas de algunas vasijas pintadas mayas del área de Motul de San José durante el siglo VIII. Las máscaras de este tipo eran como cualquier otra. Incluso solían estar unidas a los tocados y a los barboquejos de los personajes que las usaban. Lo específico de ellas reside en las convenciones para su representación, pues los rostros de los figurantes se presentan de perfil, dejando un hueco o espacio vacío entre la cara humana y la de la máscara, ya que esta última se representa en perspectiva cortada o diseccionada lateralmente. Los mayas usaron con profusión este recurso a partir de ca. 695 d.C. y hasta el siglo IX de nuestra Era. No obstante, se trata de un recurso conocido ya desde el Preclásico o Formativo Medio en la pintura rupestre de Guerrero, por lo que su utilización en el Clásico Tardío era simplemente una revitalización. En opinión del autor el recurso artístico de la máscara de “rayos X” constituía una de las contrapartes iconográficas del complejo fenómeno de la personificación o concurrencia ritual b’aahil aˀan, por lo que todo aquel que consulte este trabajo haría bien en leer el ensayo intitulado “Naturaleza y papel de las personificaciones en los rituales mayas, según las fuentes epigráficas, etnohistóricas y lexicográficas”, publicado por el mismo autor en 2010. Este artículo fue galardonado con la mención honorífica otorgada para el mejor artículo sobre el México Antiguo publicado en 2007, por el Comité Mexicano de Ciencias Históricas.

Leticia Miguel……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………233-243 Capítulo XIII. Excavaciones en el Juego de Pelota de El Lodo (Operaciones 52A y 52B) Maria Felicia Rega……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………244-251 Capítulo XIV. Excavaciones preliminares del Juego de Pelota del sitio El Ramonal (Operación 54A) Milan Kováč………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………252-257 Capítulo XV. Recorrido y rescate en Uaxactun y sus alrededores dentro del polígono LiDAR. Tomáš Drápela y Alexandra Rášová……………………………………………………………………………………..……258-275 Capítulo XVI. Recorrido y rescate en los sitios afuera del polígono LiDAR

In this paper we present a review about the murals located in the Temples of the Descending God (Temple 5) and the Frescos (Temple 16) at the pre-Columbian city of Tulum, Quintana Roo. We first study some of the characters dressed as gods, as Chahk, K'awil, Quetzalcóatl, and Xólotl. Secondly, we analyze the ritual paraphernalia, mostly composed of ceramic objects in the form of effigy urns, incense burners, idols, containers with offerings of corn in different preparations, and large jars used to contain liquids, presenting correspondences with the archaeological record. Afterwards, we analyze the intertwined serpents, as well as the vegetal elements that we identify with the flower and fruits of balché tree. Finally, these data are integrated in order to interpret the meaning of the Tulum murals in relation to the practice of bending over the maize stalks in the autumn, and also to the first fruits harvest, which coincides with the flowering of the balché tree and the beginning of the harvest of tajonal honey in Yucatán.

La producción e intercambio de la cerámica impresa del Clásico en la región de Petexbatun, Petén. En IX Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1995 (editado por J.P. Laporte y H. Escobedo), pp.93-114. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala (versión digital).

The term ·'Protoclassic." employed regularly but inex plicitl y in the literature of lowland Maya archaeo logy, has become increasing ly nebulous and ambiguous in both meaning and usage. This paper rev iews the hi story and use of the term and presents a formal redefini tion of the Protoclassic as a ceramic stage based explicitly and exclusive ly on ceramic eritcria . Some suggestions regardi ng future use of the term also are offered. The paper further addresses and resolves a number of persisting questions regard ing Protoclassic orange wares, including problcms concerni ng the actual existence of the "Aguacate ceram ic group," and the relationships of Aguacate·group pottery to other emergent orange wares of the terminal Late Preclassic and initial Early Classic periods. The nature and significance of the "I-I ol mull Style:' the "Floral Park Ceramic Sphere:' and the relationships of the two to each other and the larger. redefined "proloc lassic" ceramic stage also arc examined. A spatial dist ribution for protociassic ceramics considerably expanded over what has ever been reported previously is described. and ch ronometric data arc presented to support a revised chronology for the protoclassic ceramic stage. Finally. ceramic data are offered that suggest a real sulxli vision of the protoclass ic ceramic stage into an early, emergent facet originating entirely within Late Preclassic lowland traditions. and a later. fully "Classic" facet correspond ing to the earl y Tzakol (Tzakol 1) ceramic horizon.