Reconsidering the Age and Typological Character of “Pox Pottery” from Guerrero, Mexico

We revisit the age and typological character of “Pox Pottery” that was reported in the 1960s by Charles Brush who considered it to be uniquely early (~2440 BC). Investigating the same two sites in coastal Guerrero where Brush excavated, we recovered Early Formative ceramics, some with the “pox” attribute. Here, we report potsherd frequencies for these deposits at both sites according to regional ceramic typologies, as well as AMS 14C dates used to establish a Bayesian stratigraphic chronology for each site to better constrain the age of these Early Formative period deposits. We argue that “Pox Pottery” is not a ceramic type per se and that the “pox” attribute occurs in multiple Early Formative period ceramic types. The earliest pottery is similar to other Red-on-Buff ceramic traditions from the Central Mexican Highlands and west of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Our chronological work demonstrates that these ceramics date between 1820 and 1400 cal BC, consistent with other recent studies indicating an early age of Red-on-Buff ceramics and suggesting shared cultural traditions distinct from the contemporary Locona interaction sphere that emerged in parallel.

THE MIDDLE FORMATIVE OF YUCATAN IN CONTEXT: The view from Yaxuna

Assumptions concerning the late dating of Middle Formative ceramics in the northern Maya lowlands and similarities between this region and areas to the south underlie mainstream interpretations that the northern Maya lowlands was slower to develop cultural complexity. This paper is a re-evaluation of these assumptions and their impact on interpretations of Formative interaction. Recent research at Yaxuna, Yucatan, Mexico is discussed in light of alternative approaches to the study of sociopolitical interaction among early complex societies.

Refining an Early Formative Ceramic Sequence From the Chiapas Coast of Mexico

Analysis of Early Formative ceramics from the site of Paso de la Amada, on the coast of Chiapas, Mexico, yields a refined sequence for the period 1400–1000b.c.A simple key has been developed to classify midden assemblages. Its utility for creating chronologically sensitive groupings is confirmed by multidimensional scaling of 32 units. The refined ceramic sequence provides a basis for investigating short-term sociopolitical dynamics during the Early Formative period.