Cerro Zapotecas Sandy Plain

Cerro Zapotecas Sandy Plain occurs as undecorated utilitarian and ceremonial wares with the diagnostic feature of a relatively sandy, or gritty, texture.

Paste and Firing Techniques

The paste is of local tepetate, but is coarse with a higher than normal proportion of sand temper inclusions. The paste color is usually tan to light brown. Vessel fragments occasionally exhibit a gray firing core and fire clouds.

Surface Treatment

Vessel walls range from rough to lightly burnished, occasionally with streaks or pock marks from having been wiped while the clay was still wet. Braseros were probably intentionally roughened so that the stucco covering would bond to the vessel walls. The surface is generally unslipped (other than braseros), although some examples retain a fugitive wash in the same tan color as the paste.

Decoration

Cerro Zapotecas Sandy Plain is usually undecorated. The major exception is the brasero form, which often has a white stucco coating that was occasionally painted blue, green and/or black. Some braseros are decorated with clay appliques and then covered with stucco. One common motif was a decorative pinched rim, and others were studded with appliqué cones.

Vessel Forms

This type generally occurs as large utilitarian vessels (Table ), especially outleaned wall and conical cazuelas, but other common forms include conical bowls and braseros. Cazuelas have thick walls, and rim diameters ranging from about 30 to 50 cm. Conical cazuelas occur in several rim forms, including everted and flared rims. Outleaned wall cazuelas are distinguished by having low sloping vessel walls, and relatively greater rim diameters than conical cazuelas. Conical bowls have medium wall thickness, and the rim diameter is usually about 20 cm. Conical bowls also occur with everted lips and flared rims. Braseros have thick vessel walls and the rim diameter is about 25 cm. Rim forms are often vertical, but may also include an acute rim flange and a decorative appliqué.  Some braceros are of the xantil variety, with applique representations of supernaturals; two of these were found in association with the altar in Room 1 of Structure 1 of UA-1 (Fig. 1).

Figure 1: Xantil style braceros

Discussion

Cerro Zapotecas Sandy Plain is similar to the predominant utilitarian ware found at the type site of Cerro Zapotecas, a volcanic outcrop located just west of Cholula (Mountjoy and Peterson 1973; Mountjoy 1987). Although a detailed ceramic analysis has not been published for the site, examples of this type are illustrated by Mountjoy (1987:142, fig. 4a-b). Similar pottery has been observed on the surface at the site of Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala. Both of these sites date to the Epiclassic period (A.D. 600-900). However, it was found as only a trace (<2%) in recent excavations at the Patio of the Carved Skulls (McCafferty and Suárez 1995; McCafferty 1996a).

Müller (1978:79, 87, 97, 109) described this type at Cholula for the Epiclassic and Postclassic, particularly the stucco covered braseros. Noguera (1954:117-120) also provided detailed descriptions of the decorative elements of braseros.

Coxcatlán Coarse is a comparable type from the Tehuacán Valley (MacNeish, Peterson and Flannery 1970:212-217) that occurs as braseros and utilitarian vessels.

Cerro Zapotecas Sandy Plain was identified as "San Pedro Plain" in the UA-79 ceramic analysis (Caskey and Lind n.d.), where it appeared in utilitarian wares. The type was found in the deepest levels of stratigraphic pits at UA-79, beneath the Late Postclassic component.

This type was found in very low frequencies (3% of the total assemblage, n=365) at UA-1. It appeared in very low but significant amounts in both Well 2 and the Trash Midden, and as a trace in the other contexts. No clear pattern is apparent for diachronic differences in its use. Based on the UA-1 ceramics and other contextual information, it is likely that the type was most popular during the Epiclassic period (Early Tlachihualtepetl phase), although its relative scarcity at the Patio of the Carved Skulls is curious. It seems to have continued into the Early Postclassic period (Late Tlachihualtepetl phase), with certain ceremonial vessel forms used into the Colonial period.