TheEvolutionofCeramicProductionOrganizationinaMaya

Community
DeanE.Arnold

CopyrightDate:2015
Publishedby:UniversityPressofColorado
Pages:352

StableURL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1288082

TableofContents

FrontMatter(pp.ivi)

TableofContents(pp.viixii)

ListofFigures(pp.xiiixx)

ListofTables(pp.xxixxii)

Preface(pp.xxiiixxxiv)

1Introduction:CraftSpecializationandSocialComplexity(pp.134)
Duringthelastfewdecades,researchinethnoarchaeologyhascontributedmuchtothestudyofcraftproduction
anditsrelationshiptotheevolutionofsocioeconomiccomplexity.Oneofthegapsinthisknowledge,asMiriam
Starkargued,isinformationabouttheartisanswhoproducecraftproducts.Althoughthereareexceptionstothis
generalization,amassofinformationexistsconcerningtheecology,organization,andtechnicalanalysesof
crafts,butrelativelylittledataexistsaboutthepeoplewhomakethepots,weavethecloth,orforgethemetal.

Thisworkaimstohelpfillthisgap.Itexaminesthehistoryofproduction...

2Methodology:HowWeretheDataCollected?(pp.3556)
ThefieldresearchforthisbooktookplaceduringtwelvevisitstoYucatn,Mexico,overaperiodofmorethan
fourdecades.IfirstwenttoYucatnin1965,whenIspentsixmonthsstudyingpottersinthecityofTicul.
Between1965and1970Ireturnedfivetimesandthenwentbackagainin1984,1988,1994,1997,2002,and
2008.Thescopeofthisstudythusspansfortyfouryearsandprovidesarelativelyuniqueethnoarchaeological
perspectivethatdetailscontinuityandchangeinthefamiliesofTiculpottersandtheirproductionunits.

Avarietyofparadigmsguidedthisresearch,...

3TraditionalHouseholdsI:TheTzumFamily(pp.57120)
TheTzumfamilyincludedthelargestnumberofmakersofnoncookingpotterybetween1965and1997,andthis
chaptertracesitshistoryfromtheearlynineteenthcenturyto2008.Morethananyother,thehistoryoftheTzum
familyillustrateshowtheforcesofselectionforandagainstpottersaffectedtheongoingpracticeofthecraft.
Theseforcesincludedthedeselectionofindividualswhowerepottersfromthepopulationbecausedisease,slave
labor(debtpeonage),warfare,andgovernmentpoliciesaffectedthecompositionoftheirfamiliesandinfluenced
thetransmissionofthecraftthroughtime.

TheTzumfamilycanbetraced...

4TraditionalHouseholdsII:SevenFamilies(pp.121176)
BesidestheproductionunitsoftheTzumfamily,othertraditionalpottersthathistoricallymadeonlynoncooking
potteryaredistributedacrosssevenotherfamiliesthatincludetheUcan/Yehfamily,thePechFamily,the
descendantsofTimoteoChan,thedescendantsofTiburcioChan,theKehfamily,thedescendantsofJosMara
Huicab,andthedescendantsofJosGernacioHuicab.Potterymakinginallofthesefamilieshasbeenpassed
downforatleastthreegenerations.

DothepatternsidentifiedinthepreviouschapteralsooccuramongotherfamiliesofpottersinTicul?Although
otherfamiliesdonothaveanoralhistoryas...

5ProductionUnitsDerivedfromTraditionalHouseholdsCookingPottery(pp.177196)
Historically,allpotterymadeinTiculdidnotusethesametechnology.Rather,potterymadeforcookinguseda
differenttechnologythanthatusedfornoncookingpottery,anditwasspecializedwithinspecificfamilies.This
familialspecializationwasalsoreflectedinthepotterslanguage.Inthe1960spottersreferredtosomeonewho
madecookingpotsasacookingpotmaker(hmenkum),whilesomeonewhomadenoncookingpotterywas
calledawaterjarmaker(hmenkat).Bothkindsofpottersusedthesameclayandfabricationtechnique,butthe
remainderofthetechnologywasdifferent.Makersofcookingpotteryused...

6EntrepreneurialProduction(pp.197218)
Previouschaptersdealtwiththehouseholdbasedorganizationofpotterswhopossessedtraditionalindigenous
knowledgeofceramicproduction.Thatknowledgewasusually(butnotalways)transmittedfromonepersonto
anotherinawaythatparalleledtheprocessesthatreproducedthehousehold:generally,butnotexclusively,
throughmembersacquiredthroughprocreation,patrilineallandinheritance,and,toamuchlesserextent,
patrilocalresidence.Althoughsuchprocessesappeartoaccountforthetransmissionofthecraftfromgeneration
togeneration,inreality,individualagencyandothervariablesselectedfororagainsthouseholdmembers
becomingpotters.

Incontrasttothepreviouschapters,inwhich...

7NewProductionUnits:NontraditionalPotters(pp.219230)
Asthepreviouschapterindicated,oneofthemajorchangesintheorganizationofpotteryproductionbetween
1965and2008wastheadventofproductionunitsestablishedbypotterswhodidnotcomefromtraditional
potterymakingfamilies.MostofthesenewunitswerecreatedbyentrepreneursfromoutsideofTicul.Asecond
kindofnewunitconsistsofthoseestablishedbyindividualsfromTiculwhowerenotformerlypottersanddidnot
comefrompotterymakingfamilies.Developingaftertheearly1970s,theseunitswereinitiatedbythosewho
learnedhowtomakepotteryinalocalworkshopandthenbegan...

8AttachedWorkshops(pp.231242)
Mostofthetraditionalproductionunitsdescribedinchapters3,4and5couldbestbecalledindependent
specialistsusingthecriteriaofBrumfielandEarle.Originally,theyproducedutilitarianandhouseholdritual
vesselsforordinaryconsumers.

Between1957and1982,someTiculpottersworkedattwotouristhotelsatUxmal.TheyusedtraditionalMaya
ceramictechnology,broughtclayandtemperfromTicul,usedthetraditionalturntabletofabricatetheirpottery,
andfiredvesselsinatraditionalMayakiln.Oneofthehotelmanagerstaughtthemhowtocreateverticalhalf
moldsandthentousethattechniquetocreatea...

9WhyDidtheSpatialFootprintofProductionIncrease?(pp.243276)
Upuntilnow,chaptershavefocusedonhistoriesofthefamiliesofpotters,theorganizationofproductionunits,
andthechangesinproductionspacebetween1965and1997.In1965potteryproductionwassituatedmostlyin
generalized,multipurposespaceusedforsleeping,storage,andotherhouseholdactivities.Thismultipurpose
spacewaspossiblebecausetheMayasleepinhammocksthataretiedupandhungonthewallduringtheday,
freeinghouseholdspaceformakingpottery,weavinghammocks,sewinghuipils,orperformingothercraft
activities.By1984,somegeneralizedhouseholdspacewasstillusedformakingpottery,butoftenthis...

10Conclusion(pp.277290)
Intheintroductiontothiswork,Iarguedthatthepopulationofcraftsmenwasoneofthecriticallinksbetweenthe
ancientcraftitemsandinferencesaboutancientsociety.Now,afterpresentingthedataofthisstudy,Ireturnto
thebasicquestionthatthisworkaddresses:whathappenstothepopulationofpottersandthesocialandspatial
organizationoftheirproductionthroughtime?Theanswertothisquestioninthepresent,itwasargued,provides
hypothesesforinterpretingchangingceramicproductioninthepast,itsrelationshiptoproductionspace,andto
theevolutionofsocialcomplexity.Whatcan...
 Bibliography(pp.291312)

Index(pp.313323)

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