Ancient engineering : selective ceramic processing in the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico

Previous experimental research into ancient pottery production has proven that potters can produce vessels with varying materials properties, such as thermal shock resistance and permeability. These properties are differentially useful for certain tasks, such as cooking or water-cooling. In certain cases, such as the use of shell temper in North America, an improvement in thermal shock resistance seems to provide an explanation for why the new temper was adopted along with the introduction of a new food type -- maize. It remains an unanswered question, however, whether potters in a large variety of situations were choosing to alter their production techniques or materials to produce pots intended for different functions that exhibit different materials properties. I investigated this question by applying techniques and concepts from materials science, anthropology, and archaeology. This combination of materials science and social science was pioneered by Heather Lechtman and Dorothy Hosler, and is called the "materials approach." My research focuses specifically on pottery production in the Middle Balsas Region of Guerrero, Mexico, from approximately 300 BC to AD 1300. I investigated whether potters in the Middle Balsas were using different production techniques or raw materials for vessels that were intended for specific functions. I chose the Middle Balsas Region as the geographical focus for my research because little systematic archaeological investigation has focused on that area, especially in the Late Preclassic and Classic periods (300 BC-AD 900). In order to gather appropriate data, I mapped, surface collected, and excavated at three Middle Balsas sites. I then categorized the pottery and analyzed a selected portion via thin section analysis/petrography.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Meanwell, Jennifer L. (Jennifer Lauren)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dorothy Hosler.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/44388
• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Identifier URI

http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/44388

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44388