Pottery Kilns of Ancient Ejutla, Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

In contemporary Mesoamerica, traditional methods of ceramic production are highly variable. Tracing this diversity to its prehispanic antecedents has been limited by a major empirical difficulty: the identification of production sites, especially kilns and other firing features, in archaeological contexts. As a consequence, Mesoamerican archaeologists have rarely recognized technological variation in firing methods, thereby limiting their capacity to discern spatio-temporal variation in ceramic production. The discovery and excavation of relatively ephemeral ceramic firing features at the Ejutla site in Oaxaca, Mexico, offers an archaeological perspective into the variability of pottery production techniques that were employed in ancient Mesoamerica. The excavated firing features and associated indicators of ceramic production at Ejutla are described and compared to similar features at other sites. An experimental study was conducted to understand how these firing features worked and the nature of the remains that they would have left. Our research suggests that impermanent methods of ceramic firing were more common in ancient Mesoamerica than previously supposed. The ephemeral nature of these firing procedures may contribute to the overall scarcity of excavated firing features to date. Consideration of ceramic firing technologies is argued to be a significant research concern since variation in firing methods may indicate prehispanic differences in the intensity of ceramic production.