Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community
by Dean E. Arnold
University Press of Colorado, 2008 Cloth: 978-0-87081-923-0 | eISBN: 978-0-87081-991-9 Library of Congress Classification F1435.3.P8A76 2008 Dewey Decimal Classification 972.65
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
How and why do ceramics and their production change through time? Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community is a unique ethno-archaeological study that attempts to answer these questions by tracing social change among potters and changes in the production and distribution of their pottery in a the Mexican community of Ticul between 1965 and 1997.
Dean E. Arnold made ten visits to Ticul, Yucatan, Mexico, witnessing the changes in transportation infrastructure, the use of piped water, and the development of tourist resorts. Even in this context of social change and changes in the demand for pottery, most of the potters in 1997 came from the families that had made pottery in 1965. This book traces changes and continuities in that population of potters, in the demand and distribution of pottery, and in the procurement of clay and temper, paste composition, forming, and firing.
In this volume, Arnold bridges the gap between archaeology and ethnography, using his analysis of contemporary ceramic production and distribution to generate new theoretical explanations for archaeologists working with pottery from antiquity. When the descriptions and explanations of Arnold’s findings in Ticul are placed in the context of the literature on craft specialization, a number of insights can be applied to the archaeological record that confirm, contradict, and nuance generalizations concerning the evolution of ceramic specialization. This book will be of special interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, and ethnographers.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Dean E. Arnold adjunct curator of anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and professor emeritus of anthropology at Wheaton College in Illinois. He has taught anthropology for forty-three years; done field work in Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, and the Southwest; and has published three books, including the highly regarded seminal work Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process and more than sixty articles about potters, pottery, and pottery production and related subjects (such as Maya Blue). Arnold was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and Peru, a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall at University of Cambridge in 1985, and a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Archeology there in 1985, 1992, and 2000. He received the Society for American Archaeology's Award for Excellence in Ceramic Studies in 1996. In 2003, he received the Charles R. Jenkins Award for Distinguished Achievement from the National Executive Council of Lambda Alpha (the National Collegiate Honor Society for Anthropology). He received the Wheaton College Senior Faculty Scholarship Achievement Award in 2001 and the Wheaton College Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Service to Alma Mater in 2008.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Paradigms of Pottery and Social Change
The Limits of Ethnographic Analogy
Collecting Data in the Field
Data Reduction and Analysis
The Plan of the Book
Chapter 2: How Have the Population and Organization of Potters Changed?
The Social Context
Changing Production Organization
Forces of Social Continuity
Forces of Social Change
Social Change and Increased Production-unit Size
Conclusion
Chapter 3: How Have Demand and Consumption Changed?
Demand and Cultural Evolution
Demand from Traditional Uses of Pottery
New Demand and New Uses of Pottery
Cycles of Demand and Their Changes
Quantitative Measures of Change in Demand
Conclusion
Chapter 4: How Has Distribution of the Pottery Changed?
Changes in Transportation Infrastructure
Changes in the Types of Distribution
Vertical Integration
Conclusion
Chapter 5: How Has Clay Procurement Changed?
Under What Conditions Does Clay Procurement Change?
How Do Changes in Clay Procurement Affect Procurement Organization?
A Surrogate Measure of Production Intensity
Procurement Intensity, Organization, and Production-unit Size
Do Changing Clay Sources Reflect Evolutionary Social Change?
Chapter 6: How Has Temper Procurement Changed?
Changes in Temper for Cooking Pottery
Changes in Temper for Non-cooking Pottery
A Surrogate Measure of Production Intensity
Control and Access to Temper Sources
Conclusion
Chapter 7: How Has Composition of the Pottery Fabric Changed?
Behavioral Changes in Paste Preparation
Changes in Paste Composition over Time
Conclusion
Chapter 8: How Has the Forming Technology Changed?
Why Were New Fabrication Techniques Adopted?
Changes in Forming Technology
Choosing a Technique
Changing Explanations of Dimensional Variability
Conclusion
Chapter 9: How Has Firing Technology Changed?
Changes in the Procurement and Use of Fuel
Changes in Kiln-making Technology
Task Segmentation and Specialization in Firing
Changes in Kiln Sizes and Their Distribution among Potters
Conclusion
Chapter 10: Conclusion
Summary of Changes
The Conservative Nature of Household Production
Efficiency
Paradigms: Social Change and Specialization
References Cited
Index
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Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community
by Dean E. Arnold
University Press of Colorado, 2008 Cloth: 978-0-87081-923-0 eISBN: 978-0-87081-991-9
How and why do ceramics and their production change through time? Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community is a unique ethno-archaeological study that attempts to answer these questions by tracing social change among potters and changes in the production and distribution of their pottery in a the Mexican community of Ticul between 1965 and 1997.
Dean E. Arnold made ten visits to Ticul, Yucatan, Mexico, witnessing the changes in transportation infrastructure, the use of piped water, and the development of tourist resorts. Even in this context of social change and changes in the demand for pottery, most of the potters in 1997 came from the families that had made pottery in 1965. This book traces changes and continuities in that population of potters, in the demand and distribution of pottery, and in the procurement of clay and temper, paste composition, forming, and firing.
In this volume, Arnold bridges the gap between archaeology and ethnography, using his analysis of contemporary ceramic production and distribution to generate new theoretical explanations for archaeologists working with pottery from antiquity. When the descriptions and explanations of Arnold’s findings in Ticul are placed in the context of the literature on craft specialization, a number of insights can be applied to the archaeological record that confirm, contradict, and nuance generalizations concerning the evolution of ceramic specialization. This book will be of special interest to anthropologists, archaeologists, and ethnographers.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Dean E. Arnold adjunct curator of anthropology at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and professor emeritus of anthropology at Wheaton College in Illinois. He has taught anthropology for forty-three years; done field work in Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, and the Southwest; and has published three books, including the highly regarded seminal work Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process and more than sixty articles about potters, pottery, and pottery production and related subjects (such as Maya Blue). Arnold was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and Peru, a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall at University of Cambridge in 1985, and a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Archeology there in 1985, 1992, and 2000. He received the Society for American Archaeology's Award for Excellence in Ceramic Studies in 1996. In 2003, he received the Charles R. Jenkins Award for Distinguished Achievement from the National Executive Council of Lambda Alpha (the National Collegiate Honor Society for Anthropology). He received the Wheaton College Senior Faculty Scholarship Achievement Award in 2001 and the Wheaton College Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Service to Alma Mater in 2008.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Paradigms of Pottery and Social Change
The Limits of Ethnographic Analogy
Collecting Data in the Field
Data Reduction and Analysis
The Plan of the Book
Chapter 2: How Have the Population and Organization of Potters Changed?
The Social Context
Changing Production Organization
Forces of Social Continuity
Forces of Social Change
Social Change and Increased Production-unit Size
Conclusion
Chapter 3: How Have Demand and Consumption Changed?
Demand and Cultural Evolution
Demand from Traditional Uses of Pottery
New Demand and New Uses of Pottery
Cycles of Demand and Their Changes
Quantitative Measures of Change in Demand
Conclusion
Chapter 4: How Has Distribution of the Pottery Changed?
Changes in Transportation Infrastructure
Changes in the Types of Distribution
Vertical Integration
Conclusion
Chapter 5: How Has Clay Procurement Changed?
Under What Conditions Does Clay Procurement Change?
How Do Changes in Clay Procurement Affect Procurement Organization?
A Surrogate Measure of Production Intensity
Procurement Intensity, Organization, and Production-unit Size
Do Changing Clay Sources Reflect Evolutionary Social Change?
Chapter 6: How Has Temper Procurement Changed?
Changes in Temper for Cooking Pottery
Changes in Temper for Non-cooking Pottery
A Surrogate Measure of Production Intensity
Control and Access to Temper Sources
Conclusion
Chapter 7: How Has Composition of the Pottery Fabric Changed?
Behavioral Changes in Paste Preparation
Changes in Paste Composition over Time
Conclusion
Chapter 8: How Has the Forming Technology Changed?
Why Were New Fabrication Techniques Adopted?
Changes in Forming Technology
Choosing a Technique
Changing Explanations of Dimensional Variability
Conclusion
Chapter 9: How Has Firing Technology Changed?
Changes in the Procurement and Use of Fuel
Changes in Kiln-making Technology
Task Segmentation and Specialization in Firing
Changes in Kiln Sizes and Their Distribution among Potters
Conclusion
Chapter 10: Conclusion
Summary of Changes
The Conservative Nature of Household Production
Efficiency
Paradigms: Social Change and Specialization
References Cited
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE