A Visual Analysis of Manufacturing Techniques and Ceramic Technology from Puerto Hormiga, Colombia: Re-evaluations of Observations by Reichel-Dolmatoff
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22380/26652773.2623Keywords:
Puerto Hormiga, early pottery, manufacturing techniques, technologyAbstract
The adoption of ceramics has been a major signature of the onset of the Neolithic in archaeology, especially in the Old World. However, the timing of the emergence, associated technology, and behavioral context vary. Puerto Hormiga, a shell midden site of the Caribbean region of Colombia has among the first ceramics in South America. Reichel-Dolmatoff described the manufacturing techniques that irregular pieces were placed together and fewer sherds were made with the a coil technique. Using pottery from Puerto Hormiga, we visually examined production processes with an attention to the manufacturing techniques. The selected samples were produced mainly by layering small slabs and possibly often combining with strip-like short coils, if not small nodules. We found no clear evidence of the sole application of building vessel walls with long coils. Samples with inclusions dominated
with plant fiber and those dominated with sand sized minerals and rock fragments are found as previously reported. It is possible that ease of manufacture was prioritized in the production adopting the slab techniques and fiber temper. Vessels with sand-sized minerals and rock inclusions may have been used to obtain impact resistance and heating effectiveness than fiber tempered ware. Light fiber tempered ware increases transportability giving compatibility with some degrees of mobility. The adoption of the slab (and short coil) methods and their relations with other technical steps and behaviors in the production requires further explanations. Our study serves as the first step toward such understanding and contributes to the broader debate related to the origins of ceramics and the applicability of the concept of Neolithic.
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