Exploring the Technology and Meaning behind Early Ceramic Figurines from the Casma Valley, Peru

1995 ◽

Author(s):

Jeffery S. Girard

Keyword(s):

Sandy Soil ◽

River Channel ◽

Short Description ◽

Red River ◽

Initial Visit ◽

River Floodplain ◽

Swan Lake ◽

Early Ceramic ◽

Lake Site ◽

Dark Soil

A pit feature containing Tchefuncte-like pottery, a Gary point, and fauna) remains recently was investigated at the Swan Lake Site (168011) located near Willow Chute Bayou in the Red River floodplain of eastern Bossier Parish. Three charcoal samples from the pit yielded radiocarbon ages of 2020 + /-60 B. P., 1830+/-70 B.P., and 1690+/-80 B.P. making this the earliest well-dated context in northwestern Louisiana containing ceramics. The most conspicuous feature at the site is a mound, now approximately 2.5 m high and about 25 min diameter. Clarence Webb first recorded the site, but only made a short description: "Solitary mound on n-east shore of Swan Lake, which is an old Red River channel. Is circular in shape, approx. 8-10 ft. high, 60 ft. at the base and 20 ft. on summit. Has several shallow trial holes on top, appears to be built up of sand -- no sherds found on or around mound -- trial holes show mostly sandy soil near clay out in field. In one or two places 3 to 4 inches dark soil found. In nearby field, 1 rough spear head found." Since Webb's initial visit the landowners have collected numerous artifacts from the site surface. Most of the decorated pottery consists of Early to Middle Caddoan Period types suggesting that the mound is related to those at the nearby Vanceville (16807) and Werner (16808) sites. However, also present are a large number of Gary points and several sherds similar to those recovered from the Bellevue Site (16BO4) indicating that an earlier occupation is represented as well.

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The Early Ceramic Wares of China

Nature ◽

10.1038/114342a0 ◽

1924 ◽

Vol 114 (2862) ◽

pp. 342-343

Author(s):

WILLIAM BURTON

Keyword(s):

Early Ceramic

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Exploring the Technology and Meaning behind Early Ceramic Figurines from the Casma Valley, Peru

Ceramics of Ancient America ◽

10.5744/florida/9780813056067.003.0004 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 99-130

Author(s):

Shelia Pozorski ◽

Thomas Pozorski

Keyword(s):

New World ◽

Initial Period ◽

North Coast ◽

Andean Archaeology ◽

The North ◽

Early Ceramic ◽

North Coast Of Peru ◽

Stone Carvings ◽

The Temple

The Sechín Alto Polity, centered in the Casma Valley on the north coast of Peru, constructed the largest mound structures in the New World during the Initial Period (2100–1000 B.C.). The polity united at least six inland sites and three coastal satellites into a political and economically cooperative unit within which different sites and different monumental structures had distinct, but complementary, functions. Prominent among the artifacts that define the Sechín Alto Polity are ceramic figurines. Examples are consistently from domestic or residential contexts; most (more than 350 fragments) were recovered from Sechín Alto site, the polity capital, where they were likely manufactured. Iconography within Andean archaeology of the figurines connects them with warrior figures and victims depicted in the Cerro Sechín stone carvings and by extension with anthropomorphic friezes that adorn the temple mound of Moxeke within the Sechín Alto Polity. These data suggest that the Casma figurines may represent distinct groups of people who in turn reflected sacred vs. secular aspects of Casma Valley society.

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The Pre-Arawak Pottery Horizon in the Antilles: A New Approximation

Latin American Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s1045663500007653 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 47-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Reniel Rodríguez Ramos ◽

Elvis Babilonia ◽

L. Antonio Curet ◽

Jorge Ulloa

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Lesser Antilles ◽

Social Implications ◽

Divergent Evolution ◽

Greater Antilles ◽

The Social ◽

Early Ceramic ◽

Early Pottery

Pottery in contexts that predate the entrance of Arawak societies to the Antilles (500 B.C.) by at least one millennium demand a reassessment of the introduction of this technology to the islands. We summarize the available evidence of what we term the Pre-Arawak Pottery horizon and address the social implications of the introduction of such technology to the insular Caribbean, based on the role of pots as tools. We show that this early pottery is more widespread than originally thought, extending from Cuba to Hispanola and perhaps to Puerto Rico and the Lesser Antilles as well. We argue that the paucity of early ceramic contexts discovered thus far could have resulted from the consideration of pottery as intrusive in Pre-Arawak contexts and because of its technological and stylistic overlap with wares associated to the Ostionoid series (A.D. 600-1500) of the Greater Antilles. Based on this evidence, we conclude by suggesting that some of the post-Saladoid manifestations that have been identified in the islands could have resulted from a multifocal development of these pre-Arawak cultures rather than simply from the divergent evolution of Saladoid societies as has been argued thus far.

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The Early Ceramic Wares of China

Nature ◽

10.1038/109705a0 ◽

1922 ◽

Vol 109 (2744) ◽

pp. 705-706

Author(s):

WILLIAM BURTON

Keyword(s):

Early Ceramic

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AN EARLY CERAMIC STYLE FROM ANCON, CENTRAL COAST OF PERU

Ñawpa Pacha ◽

10.1179/naw.1963.1.1.006 ◽

1963 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 47-59

Author(s):

Edward P. Lanning

Keyword(s):

Central Coast ◽

Early Ceramic

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Preceramic, Aceramic or Early Ceramic? The radiocarbon dated beginning of the Neolithic in the Aegean

Documenta Praehistorica ◽

10.4312/dp.42.9 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Agathe Reingruber

Keyword(s):

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Early Period ◽

Human History ◽

Precise Description ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Aegean Prehistory ◽

Early Ceramic

The Pre-Pottery-Neolithic refers to a period in the Eastern Mediterranean when ceramic containers were not yet in use (although small objects made of clay were already being created). This concept, which reflects a specific and quite unique stage in the development of human history, was introduced to Aegean prehistory under the term of Preceramic during the 1950’s (e.g., in Argissa Magoula and Sesklo). Shortly thereafter, a different term, the Aceramic, was applied in the Aegean (e.g., in Knossos) for levels devoid of pottery, although ceramic products were supposedly used in the wider region. In some cases, the thin levels interpreted as Preceramic or as Aceramic contained sherds that were regarded as being intrusive from above (e.g., Argissa-Magoula, Franchthi Cave). The new sequences of radiocarbon dates allow a more precise description of this early period and thereby contribute, not least, also to the clarification of terminological issues.

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