I
have posted these photos because there seem to be few photographs of
archaeological ceramics available to students and researchers. The
photographs in books are normally printed in black and white because
the cost of publishing them in color is prohibitive. The few
photographs one finds on the web are usually rare museum pieces that
are not representative of what one typically excavates. As a result,
one usually has to go to a ceramic repository or museum to see actual
archaeological examples of these ceramic types. So, I think there is a
real need to have photos like these posted on the web.
These
ceramics were excavated from the site of Mayapán,
Yucatán,
México in the early 1990s as part of an
investigation of the social structure of the site (Brown 1999). The
type and variety names
are drawn from Robert E. Smith’s typology of the ceramics of
Mayapán (Smith
1952, 1953a, 1953b, 1954a, 1954b, 1955, 1971).
Some of these photos are not of good
quality. I'm no Ansel Adams. Moreover, I created the images by scanning
photographic prints, which introduces some distortion. I scanned them
at relatively high resolution (1200 dpi), but I have reduced their
scale and resolution for posting on the web. I have higher resolution
copies available that I will provide to researchers who need them. Feel
free to use the photos for non-profit educational purposes if you
credit me as the photographer. Please do not use them for commercial
purposes or publish them without my written consent.
Note:
- The left-hand sherd in the Acansip
photo might well be Chen Mul because it does exhibit some modeling,
which is diagnostic of the latter.
- All the Chenkeken sherds are
fragments of molcajetes, chile-grinding vessels or
grater-bowls, the interior bottoms of which are incised.
- The Matillas photo in the upper
left has some of the red slip still adhering. The slip has mostly
eroded off the other sherds.
- The two sherds in the upper row of
the Kukulá photo are Kukulá Cream type while the two in
the bottom row are Xkanchakan Black-on-Cream.
- Muna Slateware is a Late and
Terminal Classic type from the Cehpech complex. It does not date from
the main occupation of Mayapán.
- Three of the four Papacal Incised
sherds are also molcajetes.
- The partially reconstructed Tecoh cántaro
is from the cave Ch'een K'ulu.
- The four upper sherds in the
second Tecoh photo, obviously, have red lines on a buff slip. The lower
three are the other type of Tecoh, characterized by having red slip on
one surface and buff slip on the other. These two kinds probably should
be separated into two different varieties.
- The partially reconstructed Yacman
vessel is from the cave Yo' Dzonot.
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Acansip
Painted
