UA-1 Ceramic Typology

By Geoffrey McCafferty (2008)

The definition of pottery types was based on surface treatment and decorative techniques, with vessel form treated as an independent variable that was considered separately. The diversity of polychrome styles from Postclassic Cholula provides an exceptional basis for defining types that are potentially sensitive to temporal as well as social variability. Surface treatment, decoration, and vessel form are meaningful criteria associated with consumer-choice (Spencer-Wood 1986; Lind 1987).

Classification of the UA-1 ceramic assemblage identified 13 major pottery types (Table 2), with an additional 23 minor types that were either foreign imports or else were anachronistic, i.e., from a time period other than the Postclassic. In the UA-1 analysis the definition of a "major" type was based on the arbitrary figure of 2% of the total assemblage, with types that appeared as less than 2% designated as "minor" types. In practice, this generalization worked quite well, with the exception of Coapan Laca Polychrome, a highly decorated type that is the proto-typical "Cholula Polychrome" in most previous studies. The type was rare in the UA-1 assemblage, however, probably due to temporal and/or social factors. It is included among the "major" types because it is so well known.

Many of the types exhibited variation in decorative treatment that could be subdivided as distinct subtypes deriving from the basic type. For example, the type Ocotlán Red Rim is defined by its polished orange slip and a red painted band on the rim. When it occurs with only these decorative elements it is classified as the subtype Sencillo ("simple"). This basic subtype, however, is often elaborated using such techniques as incising (usually in a horizontal panel that is painted brown/black), or different degrees of painted decoration (ranging from simple horizontal bands to complex polychrome motifs). Yet regardless of the degree of elaboration, the fundamental attributes of the type are maintained. Subtype variation can thereby be discriminated without losing the underlying consistency of the type identity.

Minor types are those that can be identified as imported or are most common at Cholula during other time periods. These were grouped by the time period for which they are diagnostic: Colonial/Historic Period, Late Postclassic Period, Early Postclassic Period, Classic Period, and Preclassic Period.

TABLE 1

CERAMIC TYPES AND SUBTYPES

MAJOR POSTCLASSIC DECORATED TYPES    

APOLO BLACK AND RED ON ORANGE POLYCHROME 

Sencillo 

Geometrico 

Elegante 

Carmen Grey on Orange 

AQUIAHUAC BURNT ORANGE POLYCHROME 

Sencillo 

Santa Catarina Black and Red on Orange 

Zocalo Black on Orange 

COAPAN LACA POLYCHROME 

COCOYOTLA BLACK ON NATURAL 

Sencillo

Incised 

Banded 

Banded Elegante 

Chalco Black on Orange 

CUAXILOA MATTE POLYCHROME 

Polished Cream

Fugitive Paint 

Xicotenco Black and Red on Orange 

OCOTLAN RED RIM IMITATION WHITE ON CREAM

Sencillo 

Incised

Banded 

Elegante

Banded Elegante

Cristina Matte 

SAN PEDRO POLISHED RED

Sencillo

Sencillo Incised

Incised Red Rim

Black on Red Incised

Graphite on Red 

Graphite on Red Incised 

Graphite on Red Banded 

Graphite on Red Elegante 

Modelled 

TORRE RED AND ORANGE ON WHITE POLYCHROME 

Unburnished Matte 

Polished Cream 

MAJOR POSTCLASSIC UNDECORATED TYPES 

CERRO ZAPOTECAS SANDY PLAIN

MOMOXPAN METALLIC ORANGE 

SAN ANDRES RED 

Dark Red Incised

TEPONTLA BURNISHED 

Incised

Red Rim 

XICALLI PLAIN 

Two categories were created for rim sherds that were classified as Unidentifiable, either because they were too eroded or burnt, or because they were too small to give consistently accurate information. An additional 19 categories of Unidentified types were created for unique sherds that could not be assigned to any established type. Unidentified types are assumed to be either spatially or temporally foreign to Postclassic Cholula, but they could not be securely identified as to where or when they were used.

For the 13 major types, each description includes five categories: 1) Paste and Firing Effects; 2) Surface Treatment; 3) Decoration; 4) Vessel Forms; and 5) Discussion.

The first category, Paste and Firing Effects, considers such attributes as paste color, temper, compactness, hardness, firing core, and firing clouds. Noguera (1954:60-64) identified minor differences in the fineness of the paste relating to utilitarian as opposed to decorated serving wares, and also noted that the paste color tended to be slightly darker brown in the thicker utilitarian wares, probably as a result of firing technique.

The most detailed discussion of Cholula paste appears in Mountjoy and Peterson (1973:33-34), who report on a total of 46 sherds (representing each of their type categories) that were subjected to thin section analysis. Temper was uniform in all samples, with plagioclase feldspar and mica as the two most common materials. Minor differences did occur in paste color, packing of the paste, and the amount of temper, but these differences could not be correlated with specific types and were considered idiosyncratic variations in the production process. The general homogeneity of Postclassic paste was recently confirmed by an independent paste analysis conducted by INAH (Suárez 1994:50).

In a recent study designed to distinguish Cholula polychromes from other Mixteca-Puebla style laca polychromes (Neff et al. 1994), three compositional "fingerprints" were identified from the Puebla/Tlaxcala valley relating to Cholula, Huejotzingo, and Tlaxcala. The values used to define these different regional types were very similar, however, with considerable overlap, suggesting a general similarity in raw materials used in ceramic production.

Discussion of Surface Treatment includes the quality of the surface appearance, considering such factors as streaking, pock marks, and symmetry. It also describes the treatment; for example, wiped (defined by parallel ridges of clay left from the wiping implement) as opposed to burnished surfaces. Finally, an attribute that overlaps with decoration is the use of a slip, often with a thin undercoat. Subtypes were occasionally defined on the basis of variations in surface treatment; for example, Cuaxiloa Matte Polychrome is usually lightly burnished, but some examples were burnished to a high luster, and were tentatively classified as subtype Polished Cream.

The description of Decoration includes a more detailed discussion of slip, as well as other decorative techniques. Painted decoration was the most common technique used in Postclassic Cholula, usually involving the colors orange, white, red and black. Incising also occurred, but was most common in the Early Postclassic period. Since most of the subtypes were discriminated on the basis of decorative elaboration, this is the section where subtype definitions usually appear.

The section on Vessel Forms identifies and describes the most common forms found in each type and subtype. This usually applied to those forms that appeared as over 10% of the total type assemblage. Ceremonial forms are also described when they occurred in significant quantities.

The Discussion section summarizes details of each type and relates it to other pottery types found in Cholula and surrounding regions. Comparisons of type frequencies from related excavations with those from UA-1 provide an initial basis for interpreting the chronological placement of the types.

Each of the major type descriptions includes a frequency table of subtypes and forms, relating to the four primary depositional contexts (i.e., Wells 1, 2, and 3, and the Trash Midden) and to the total assemblage. These indicate an initial range of variation for the different types, and also provide a preliminary pattern of change that is further developed in the seriation analysis in Chapter V.