The Monagrillo Ceramic Complex of Panama in Subsistence and Social Contexts (original) (raw)
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2014
Monagrillo (3520–1300 cal BC) is Panama’s oldest pottery. Archaeologists assumed it was a low-fired expedient ware made with any available clay. We studied 1) clay sources (thin sections; DTA; shrinkage, porosity, and plasticity tests), 2) manufacturing techniques (xeroradiography; thin sections; visual inspection), and 3) firing temperature (SEM-EDS; porosity tests). We identified two clay types, one restricted to the Pacific coast, one widely distributed. Vessels were made by layering slabs and occasionally lumps. Rimand lip-finishing is variable. Firing temperature (>800–950°C) is relatively high for open firing. Porosity is quite low. These aspects indicate that Monagrillo is not an experimental or expedient ware. 1. Monagrillo, Panama's first pottery In the Americas, the earliest known pottery becomes progressively younger along the Central American isthmus and into Mexico. Therefore, some archaeologists have reasonably assumed that diffusion was the primary mechanism fo...
The most characteristic feature of the archaeology of Chontales, Nicaragua, is the high amount of earthen and stone mounds present throughout the landscape. However, traditionally in the archaeology of this region, the focus has predominantly been on building a ceramic sequence. This sequence is used to correlate the Prehispanic Chontales people to those of the Greater Nicoya region on the Pacific coast, and in its current state views ceramic types as representative of ethnic groups of people migrating from one region to the next. In this thesis, a new theoretical framework is used to argue that the relationship between ceramic style and ethnic identity is not straightforward. This warrants a revaluation of the data that was used to build the sequence, in which the ceramics, mounds, and other archaeological features are analysed together per site. The resulting site-complexes reveal a pattern of ethnic identity formation on a micro-scale, where contact with outside influences is predominantly visible in the material culture, rather than the habitus.