Pottery-making practices and technological choices during Early Period (ca. 200 bC ? 600 AD) at southern sector of Abaucán Valley (Dept. Tinogasta, Province of Catamarca, Argentina): a view from ceramic petrography.

DE LA FUENTE, G. A. ; VERA, S. D.

San Francisco

Congreso; 86th SAA Annual Meeting; 2021

Society for American Archaeology

The southern sector of Abaucán valley presents an important prehispanic occupation belonging to the Early Formative Period (ca. AC 200 ? AD 600). The main material evidences of this occupation are given by the presence of small household units characterized by a quadrangular settlement pattern associated to agricultural infrastructure, mainly large cultivation canchones, simple and multiple grinding stones, together with a typical gray polished pottery, named Saujil, distributed along the residence compounds as well as in the cultivation areas. Saujil pottery is mainly characterized by a reduced firing atmosphere, and several ceramic forms such as bowls, jars, globular ollas, small ollitas, and infant funerary urns. In this paper, we present a technological characterization of ceramic pastes through ceramic petrography together with a morphological analysis of the main Saujil ceramic forms from La Florida archeological site, Department of Tinogasta, Province of Catamarca, Argentina. Technological analyses were carried out at two different levels, and ceramic petrography was performed using image analysis software in a representative sample of sherds. Additionally, a cross-cultural comparison with other nearby geographical areas for this chronological period is given.