Old World Methods, New World Pots. The Introduction of the Potter’s Wheel to the Spanish Colonies of Concepción de la Vega and Cotuí (Dominican Republic 1495–1562)

Marlieke Ernst

doi:10.24916/iansa.2021.2.10

Abstract

Wheel-made ceramics from early colonial Caribbean sites (1492–1562) have traditionally been labelled as European imports. This paper challenges that assumption, as the intercultural interactions within colonies in the New World have led to the creation of new social identities and changing material culture repertoires. Macro-trace ceramic analysis from the sites of Concepción de la Vega and Cotuí (Hispaniola, present-day Dominican Republic) show that the potter’s wheel was in fact introduced to the Spanish colonies at an early stage. The evidence of RKE (rotative kinetic energy) on sherds and the discovery of parts of a potter’s wheel are the earliest traces of the potter’s wheel found in the Americas. Here we aim to present how the potter’s wheel was introduced within the context of transcultural pottery forming. This paper will show that traditional coiling techniques were supplemented with finishing techniques on the wheel. The transformation processes within ceramic repertoires are assessed through theories of colonialism and learning processes, combined with archaeological and ethnoarchaeological assessment of the ceramic chaîne opératoire. Evidence from ceramic analysis is combined with historical sources to understand social processes surrounding the technological changes behind the introduction of the potter’s wheel to the New World colonies.

Highlights

The early colonial Spanish Caribbean, from the arrival of Columbus in 1492 until 1562, was a space in which many cultures were forced to interact through the process of colonization (Hofman and Keehnen, 2019; Ulloa Hung et al, 2021)
I consider that their agency is reflected within the material culture manufactured and used during the lives of the people of the early colonial Caribbean
Within early colonial Caribbean archaeology, the material culture of the colonies has been studied from a historical bias in which Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean disappeared within a couple of decades after the conquest, with no room for much subaltern agency (Deagan and Cruxent, 2002; Rouse, 1992; Ulloa Hung et al, 2021; Wilson, 1990)

Summary

Introduction

The early colonial Spanish Caribbean, from the arrival of Columbus in 1492 until 1562, was a space in which many cultures were forced to interact through the process of colonization (Hofman and Keehnen, 2019; Ulloa Hung et al, 2021). Within early colonial Caribbean archaeology, the material culture of the colonies has (up until recently) been studied from a historical bias in which Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean disappeared within a couple of decades after the conquest, with no room for much subaltern agency (Deagan and Cruxent, 2002; Rouse, 1992; Ulloa Hung et al, 2021; Wilson, 1990). This was the case for the ceramics presented here. Interpretations will be made about the manufacturing techniques, morphologies, and styles in connection to the historical background of the colonial towns

The Spanish colonies Concepción de la Vega and Cotuí

Ceramic analysis towards ceramic change

Wheel-made ceramics in the colonies

The introduction of the potter’s wheel to colonial Hispaniola

Findings

Final remarks