Faculty Publications

Purépecha Pottery Ethnoarchaeology

Document Type

Article

Keywords

Census, Michoacán, Model-fitting, Pottery, Use life

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association

Volume

16

Issue

1

First Page

47

Last Page

56

Abstract

Most pottery studies begin with production and end with use. Yet every pot and sherd was discarded to enter the archaeological record, and archaeologists neglect this critical passage. We must know more about how long pots lasted and why they were discarded. For five years we studied the use life of ethnographic Purépecha pottery in Michoacán, Mexico. Use life affects discard rate, which affects assemblage size and composition, which affect inferences to social context of production, occupation span, precision and validity of seriation, and other things. Use life is not so trivial or tedious as it may seem but instead is a vital concern in any intelligent archaeological analysis of pottery. © 2006 Wiley Publisher. All rights reserved.

Department

Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology

Original Publication Date

1-1-2006

DOI of published version

10.1525/ap3a.2006.16.1.47

Link to Full Text

Comments?

Share

COinS