@article{d9ac7271ddbc4691b055edc78d006cad,
title = "Volcanic Ash Tempered Pottery Production in the Late to Terminal Classic Belize Valley, Belize",
abstract = "Production and consumption of pottery tempered with fresh volcanic ash peaked in the Late to Terminal Classic periods in the Maya lowlands. Differences in the type of volcanic inclusion and vessel form indicate that the pottery was produced in multiple locations by different groups of potters. In this article, we characterize pottery from household contexts at Baking Pot, Belize, using thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis (NAA) to document mineralogical and chemical variability and determine provenance. The pottery was produced by adding fresh volcanic ash to a micritic clay. The petrographic and chemical data indicate that this paste recipe was produced locally in the Belize Valley. Variation in the paste recipes used is likely due to both production differences and postdepositional alteration. We argue that it is critical to use both petrography and NAA to understand pottery production and provenance in the Maya region.",
keywords = "Classic Maya, ceramic technology, neutron activation analysis, petrography, pottery, provenance, volcanic ash",
author = "Jordan, {Jillian M.} and Davenport, {James A.} and Goodwin, {Whitney A.} and Macdonald, {Brandi L.} and Ebert, {Claire E.} and Hoggarth, {Julie A.} and Awe, {Jaime J.}",
note = "Funding Information: Excavations at Baking Pot were conducted by the Belize Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance (BVAR) Project directed by Jaime Awe, Julie Hoggarth, and Claire Ebert. Thank you to the BVAR Project staff, students, and local colleagues for participating in excavation and cataloging of the ceramic sample. We thank John Morris and the Belize Institute of Archaeology (IA) for permission to conduct research and export the pottery analyzed in this study. Permission for excavations was given to Jaime J. Awe by the Belize IA. Funding for ceramic analysis was provided by two Wenner-Gren Foundation Grants to Jillian Jordan (Dissertation Fieldwork Grant [8954] and Post-PhD Research Grant [9701]). This project was supported in part by NSF grant BCS-1912776 to the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor. We appreciate Matthew Longstaffe for reading a draft of the article and providing thoughtful comments. We would also like to thank the three anonymous reviewers. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology.",
year = "2022",
month = sep,
day = "25",
doi = "10.1017/laq.2022.11",
language = "English (US)",
journal = "Latin American Antiquity",
issn = "1045-6635",
publisher = "Society for American Archaeology",
}