Mesoamerican Ceramic Artwork

The Aztecs or Mixtec dominated much of Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries. Like others before them, the Aztecs created and used pottery in their everyday lives. Their creations have been found all the way in central Guatemala, far from the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. A quirk of the Aztec cultural tradition allows archaeologists to learn a great deal about their pottery. At the end of every 52 year cycle, all the items in a house would be destroyed, so changing styles are quite obvious.

The style most indicative of Aztec design is known as “black-on-orange.” Named for the colors used, this Aztec style also used red and white to a lesser extent. Designs were often simplistic, made up of thin lines running parallel to each other. Over time these simple designs employing geometric shapes were replaced by the use of more naturalistic designs, such as animals and fish. 

While every Aztec family had their own pottery that was usually fairly plain looking, elites living in the capital city of Tenochtitlan required vessels of a superior quality. To fulfill this desire, they turned to the city of Cholula, known for the prowess of its artisans in creating beautiful vessels. Records show that the Aztec leader Moctezuma II would only eat off of Cholula pottery. The Cholula style employs many more colors, including yellow, brown, and blue-gray. Their designs were also more complex than the average Aztec bowl or plate. Cholulan artisans created stylized butterflies, feathers, patterns and figures of gods, similar to what you might find on a codex from this period.

Each Aztec village had its own distinct style of pottery, relying on local materials and inspiration for the design. This lead to a great diversity in form, yet a unified use of the orange clay. Aztec artists had no pottery wheel on which they could throw their pots, relying instead on their keen eye for detail as they layered strips of clay one on top of the other. The results were always beautiful as well as useful.

Sources:

http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-pottery.html

source famsi.org

Research conducted at the Chichen Itza Cenote illustrates how analysis of ceramics can offer a window into the life of past peoples. Before methodological surveys of the cenote were conducted, visitors to the area considered the place a site of ritual and sacrifice. This interpretation was based off of accounts of Spanish colonizers observing the inhabitants, not by any material records. A 2008 study that excavated separate layers of ceramics in the cenote has revealed a surprising wealth of information as to the use of the Cenote and the lives of ancient Itzas.

One method of retrieving objects from the cenote. It broke bones and pots! source famsi.org

  Essentially the survey collected as many ceramics as they could from the cenote and divided the sherds by time period. Before this particular survey, ceramics excavated only dated back to around 800 AD. Because they have been in water so long, much of the details and decoration have been lost, but they can still be identified by their shapes and composition. The pots are divided into different “horizons”. The major findings of the survey include:

  Evidence of Chichen occupation as far back as 700 BC (Middle Preclassic). However, the only ceramics found in this time period are of pitchers indicating the cenote was used strictly as a water source

  From 300-600 AD there is a large influx of ceramics, indicating the site’s first major occupation, though there has been no architectural evidence of habitation. At this time, though, the cenote was still likely used only as a water source

  There is a large amount of ceramics dating to 600-800, many of which are not functional (censors, pots, vases) and decorated. This may indicate ritual use. Many have been made around the mythical date of Chichen Itza’s founding (9. 13. 0. 0. 0 or 690 AD) according to the Chilam Balam of Tizimin. Jades found in the cenote dating to this time are of Palenque style and depict Palenque ruler Chan Bahulum. These findings both give weight to records previously though mythological and link the origin of the site to Palenque.

  Ceramics dating from 850-1150 clear another misperception of the conception of the cenote. Convention assumed that rituals were in reverence to the rain god, Chac Mul. However, designs on pots of this time period depict the feathered serpent as the deity of the cenote, linking it too a site of prophesizing warfare, not rain or agricultural events.

Sherd of a ceramic with image of feathered serpent from Central Mexico source arky.ucalgary.ca 

The final discovery of note is related to ceramics from the 1150-1450 time frame. If the site was in fact used as a place for offerings, the non-functional ceramics uncovered were of less refinement than those previously found, suggesting that the religious cult switched from a higher-class institutionalized religious to a more popular one.

  source famsi.org

  Thus, a handful of pot sherds has revealed quite a lot on the life and chronology of Chichen Itza. However, questions still remain. The idea that it is a place of offerings can still not be verified. It could very well have been a place to dump garbage, including broken or out-of-style ceramics. Accumulation of fine ceramics may also be an indication of a military raid on the site and destruction of property. Also unknown is whether the ceramics of different time periods accumulated after separate deposits over time, or after one large event. 

Mayan Vase from Chama, Guatemala ca. 700 CE

The settlement of Chama was a relatively isolated settlement just North of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes in a highland river valley of present-day Guatemala. It is known for its namesake "Chama-style" pottery that is recognizable by a number of distinctive features. Fortunately, many of these pieces were removed without significant damage from the tombs of the elite rulers. This careful excavation allowed the intricate pictures to be preserved and studied in full detail. 

The Chama style was a real flash-in-the-pan. This type of pottery arose very quickly, was extremely vibrant, but then subsided very quickly. Chama ceramics are widely believed to be from the Late Classic period, specifically the late 7th or early 8th centuries. 

Chama-style pottery typically depicts a combination of humans and deities with exaggerated facial features. The humans in these scenes are most often rulers and those who reside in the court. The animals presented in these scenes include "jaguars, catfish, highly stylized bats, hummingbirds, and a dog" (WSJ). The Chama people did not create these polychromes, however, without color. The figures and scenery were predominantly painted black, orange, and red on tall, cylindrical vases. Chama ceramics usually frame the top and bottom of each scene with a black and white chevron pattern. 

It is still unknown, however, exactly what the specific reasoning behind creating these ceramics was in addition to the identity of the craftsmen. The messages the Chama people tried to send with these were possibly both political as well as mythological. Some hypothesize that Mesoamericans from the Northern Lowlands invaded Chama and used the pottery to announce their reign. To support such an argument, one might point to a pot (first picture in this post) that shows a reddish-orange man on his knees before a superior, physically imposing black man. Translated glyphs reveal that the submissive man was a ruler for eight years. He is apparently being depicted giving up his power to the black figures in this scene. This pot is typical of Chama ceramics in that a jaguar skin is draped over one of the conqueror's spears, and the connection with the deity is symbolized in a purifying cigar held by the new ruler. 

Ratinlinxul Vase

A second piece of evidence that could support this argument is the above scene from the Ratinlinxul Vase which shows a new ruler being carried by his subjects on jaguar skin. These two examples of Chama-style pottery suggest that incoming rulers possibly used ceramics as a form of propaganda, picturing their own rise and the previous ruler's defeat and submission to new rule. 

Nevertheless, despite the proposed explanations and use of painted pottery depicting scenes of conquering, there is no solid explanation as to why this complex, intricate pottery style arose in such an isolated area. These ceramic paintings certainly tell stories of invasion, submission, and dominance, but they do not explain why such skilled craftsmanship went into pottery in a relatively isolated settlement that did not enjoy long-term longevity as a powerful city in the region. 

Picture 1:http://www.penn.museum/blog/museum/maya-vase-from-chama-guatemala-object-of-the-day-28/

Picture 2: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/lps/news_040709

Picture 3: http://www.mayavase.com/jour/journey.html

Works Cited

1. Danien, Elin C. "A Reinterpretation of the Chama Vase." Maya Vase Data Base. Web. 19 March 2013. http://www.mayavase.com/com593.htm

2. Klein, Julia M. "Maya Pottery and Politics." The Wall Street Journal. 5 May 2009. Web. 19 March 2013. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124148062911385269.html

Before ceramics became solely an art form, they had very distinct purposes. These purposes formed each piece of pottery to a specific shape, so it would be most useful to the people creating it. The first archaeological evidence of pottery in the Oaxaca and Tehuacán Valleys is from the Initial Formative period (c. 2000-1200 BC) around the year 1500 BC. The sherds found indicate a very simple style, merely imitating previous vessels made of gourds and other materials. Because ceramics do not break down over time, they offer an excellent window into a region’s past. Every part of Mesoamerica has a distinct style or material they use, so finding even a tiny pot sherd can tell an archaeologist from where exactly it originally came.

  Most of us are used to going to a museum and seeing whole pieces of pottery, all together, looking very clean and even usable. However, that is not how these pieces were found. Pot sherds are the sometimes very small pieces of ceramic that archaeologists are used to finding at excavation sites. To the untrained eye, they may seem to be little more than garbage. But, they can give a lot of information to researchers. It only takes a small piece of a ceramic to figure out what it’s made of, what the design is, where it comes from, and what it might have been used for. In addition, it is possible to see the handiwork that went into these pots from just these small pieces. And, if you can put them all together, you end up with a beautiful piece of pottery that can be put in a museum for the rest of us to look at.

  Archaeologists can classify pottery by five major characteristics: composition, form, function, provenience, and chronology. All different types of pottery can be found in this region, from plates, to jars, and even ritual vessels. Most of the pottery has a practical purpose, mainly cooking, except for the ritual vessels. These would be used for things like burning incense or giving offerings to the gods. Two examples of these ritual vessels are the brazier (or brazero) and censer (or incensario). Both of these pieces were used to burn incense, an important part of Mesoamerican religious practice.

  Works Cited:

"The cult of the serpent in Mesoamerica is very old; there are representation of snakes with bird like characteristics as old as the olmec preclassic (1150-500 BC). The snake represents the earth and vegetation, but it was in Teotihuacan (around 150 BC) where the snake got the precious feathers of the Quetzal, as seen in the Murals of the city."

  Ceramics in Mesoamerica first appeared in the Oaxaca Valley about 1500 BC (Evans 118). Pottery served initially as a means of storage and cooking and was eventually used for ritualistic purposes (121). Through lecture we have learned ceramics serve a vital function to archeologists, as they help indicate the time period in which they were created as well as the lifestyle their users led. Many factors help to date a piece of pottery, from clay, temper and surface treatments (Holeman).

Methods of producing pottery were much the same throughout Mesoamerica for generations. Clay was collected from riverbeds. After being shaped and dried, it was heated in pit fires fueled by wood. Decorations were created using slip paint, a combination of stone pigment, clay and water.  Colors used were black made from manganese, yellows and browns from limonite and oranges and reds from hematite, all of which are stones common in the American rainforests (Morera). In addition, temper was used to prevent cracking while heating, which could be used from a variety of materials such as pebbles or shells (Holeman).

Our group will explore the various decorations and designs of Mesoamerican pottery. While certainly, pottery served a utilitarian function, we will explore its use as an art form. We will try to identify symbolic significance and identify trends and changes over time and across cultures.

Such research is important, as pottery designs are closely associated with specific locations and time periods, helping archeologists narrow down a site’s chronology. Exploring designs may also reveal the function of a certain vessel, and shed light onto the lifestyle of its users. In addition, designs may illustrate a cosmological understanding of the world, which, if accurately interpreted, may reveal greater aspects of the socio-political features of the culture.

Works Cited

Ancient Mexico and Central America: Archaeology and Culture History by Susan Toby Evans

“Colorants Used in Mesoamerican Times for Art” by Jocelyn Morera on www.mesoamericanart.com