Imitation games: The exchange and emulation of fine orange pottery in central Chiapas, Mexico

• Published in: Journal of anthropological archaeology Vol. 62; p. 101306
• Main Authors: Paris, Elizabeth H., Bishop, Ronald L., López Bravo, Roberto, Sullivan, Timothy D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Ceramics; Chiapas; Exchange; INAA; Mesoamerica; Exchange; Ceramics; Chiapas; INAA; Mesoamerica
• ISSN: 0278-4165; 1090-2686
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101306

•Evidence for local imitations of fine orange pottery is found in Central Chiapas.•INAA was conducted on samples from Jovel Valley and Central Depression archaeological sites.•Fine orange pottery was produced locally in the Jovel Valley and Central Depression respectively.•Potters in highland Chiapas imitated Gulf Coast fine orange vessels that they perceived as successful. This article examines the complex production and exchange networks through which Central Chiapas polities manufactured and imported fine orange pottery. The Jovel Valley of highland Chiapas formed part of the western frontier of the Maya area, traditionally considered a relatively isolated periphery zone. Conversely, the neighboring Central Depression is considered by many scholars to be a corridor for trade, transportation and cultural contact, inhabited by Zoque cultural groups prior to occupation by Chiapanec-speaking people during the Postclassic period. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) of fine orange pottery samples from sites in the Jovel Valley and Central Depression revealed that they were locally-produced imitations of Balancán Fine Orange ceramic serving dishes from the Lower Usumacinta River region, rather than imported vessels. Our results suggest that potters working independently in the Jovel Valley and Central Depression were making and locally exchanging imitation Balancán ceramics, using many different clay sources/recipes. An interpretive framework of isomorphism adapted from new institutional theory is useful for distinguishing the production of a standardized, elite-attributed, God-N-decorated set of vessels, from multiple, independent potters’ communities, all under the widespread stylistic influence of Balancán-style Fine Orange wares.