Contemporary Central Mexican Ceramics: A View from the Past

Abstract

The technologies and styles of contemporary Central Mexican ceramic complexes are often attributed a substantial time depth reflecting a syncretism of indigenous and Spanish ceramic traditions which occurred during the first century after the conquest. On-going archaeological studies of postconquest data from the rural eastern Teotihuacain Valley suggest that technological syncretism occurred prior to and independent of any stylistic changes. Stylistic developments, which are the foundations for current styles, are a post A.D. I8IO phenomenon, and not a product of sixteenth-century culture contact. This is an exploratory paper, a unique diachronic study of glazed (usually lead glaze), low-fired earthenwares of central Mexico. Seifert (1974a) has demonstrated that most research on these wares has utilised a synchronic approach to study the technology, the aesthetics, and the sociocultural framework associated with the production of the pottery. Although not always formally stated it is generally assumed that the modern ceramic complexes have a substantial time depth and reflect a synthesis of Spanish and indigenous traditions which occurred during the first century following the conquest. Archaeological data which clarify the trends in the historical development of glazed earthenwares will validate or modify hypotheses put forward on the nature of ceramic syncretism after the conquest primarily using contemporary data. In a slightly broader perspective the above mentioned data are of significance as part of a controlled study of methods and processes of archaeological interpretations. A study of the development of wares and styles, which are still being manufactured and which can be studied in an ethnographic context in which some of the socio-cultural correlates are known, will provide basic information for the interpretation of prehistoric archaeological data. In this article I shall present preliminary results from my studies defining the