Developments in Ceramic Materials Research

6
Leslie G. Cecil
The main architectural pattern shared by the Petén and Yucatecan Kowoj is the temple
assemblage (Pugh 2001a). First defined by Proskouriakoff (1962) at Mayapán, this complex
is present at Topoxté Island and Zacpetén and variants also occur at Ixlú and Muralla de León
in central Petén (Pugh 2001b:253), Tipuj in western Belize (Cecil and Pugh 2004), and Isla
Cilvituk in Campeche, México (Alexander 1998). In addition to temple assemblages,
ossuaries and individual skull deposits are common among the Kowoj (Duncan 2005).
Given this ethnohistorical and archaeological context, it is important to make use of the
Postclassic slipped pottery of the central Petén lakes area to delineate differences among
sociopolitical identities, especially between sites/territories of the Kowoj and Itza. One way to
accomplish this task is through the analysis of the stylistic and technological characteristics of
the pottery. These pottery characteristics will demonstrate that: 1) technological and stylistic
choices have a social context; 2) style and technology are social reproductions of Postclassic
society; 3) some stylistic and technological choices were more compatible than others within
Postclassic Maya society; and 4) these compatible choices reinforced the existing technology
and social ideology. By identifying distinct patterns of choices made during pottery
manufacture through a variety of stylistic, technological, and chemical methods, it will be
possible to refine our understanding of the sociopolitical relations and exchange networks of
the Kowoj and Itza of central Petén.
METHODOLOGY
In order to identify stylistic and technological patterns manifest in pottery manufacture
and exchange patterns that reflect the Postclassic sociopolitical group identities discussed
above, three kinds of analyses were conducted to gather stylistic (type-variety classification),
technological (petrographic analysis), and chemical compositional data (INAA and LA-ICP-
MS) of the three ceramic wares discussed below. These three different levels of analyses are
complementary in nature as each provides a different kind of data so as to create a more
robust and comprehensive dataset. Because I seek to identify manufacturing and exchange
patterns in the central Petén lakes region, one kind of analysis cannot take precedence over
another (Blomster et al. 2005; Flannery et al. 2005; Neff et al. 2006; Neff et al. 2006; Sharer
et al. 2006; Stoltman et al. 2005). Past experience has demonstrated that a combination of
these three kinds of analyses is a productive methodology for understanding the stylistic,
technological, and chemical parameters of pottery manufacture and exchange and its
associations with different sociopolitical groups (Cecil 2001, 2004; Cecil and Neff 2006).
Stylistic Analysis—Type-Variety Classification
The first level of study consisted of a typological analysis using the type-variety system
(Smith et al. 1960). This hierarchical system uses a series of categories—ware, group, type,
and variety, in descending inclusiveness—to organize levels of variability in archaeological
pottery. Postclassic slipped sherds from Ch’ich’, Ixlú, Zacpetén, and Tipuj were classified as
to ware, group, type, and, where possible, variety. For purposes of studying technological and
stylistic attributes, it is particularly useful to consider pottery at the ware and group levels