ABOUT THIS BOOK

Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya summarizes archaeological researchers’ current views on the adoption and first use of pottery across the Maya lowlands. Covering the early Middle Preclassic period, when communities began using and producing pottery for the first time (roughly 1000–600 BC), through to the establishment of a recognizably Maya tradition, termed the Mamom ceramic sphere (about 600–300 BC), the book demonstrates that the adoption was broadly contemporary, with variation in how the new technology was adapted locally.

Analyzing ceramics found at sites in Belize, Petén (Guatemala), and Mexico, the contributors provide evidence that the pre-Mamom expansion of pottery resulted from increased dependence on maize agriculture, exploitation of limestone caprock, and greater reliance on a preexisting system of long-distance exchange. The chapters describe the individual experiences of new potting communities at various sites across the region. They are supplemented by appendixes presenting key chronological data as well as the principal types and varieties of pre-Mamom ceramic complexes across the various spheres: Xe, Eb, Swasey, Cunil, and Ek.

A significant amount of new material has been excavated in the last decade, changing what is known about the early Middle Preclassic period and making Pre-Mamom Pottery Variation and the Preclassic Origins of the Lowland Maya a first read of the early ceramic prehistory of the Maya lowlands. It will be a valuable resource for students and scholars interested in the archaeology of the Maya lowlands, Mesoamerican social complexity, and ceramic technology.

Contributors: E. Wyllys Andrews V, Jaime Awe, George J. Bey III, Ronald L. Bishop, Michael G. Callaghan, Ryan H. Collins, Kaitlin Crow, Sara Dzul Góngora, Jerald Ek, Tomás Gallareta Negrón, Bernard Hermes, Takeshi Inomata, Betsy M. Kohut, Laura J. Kosakowsky, Wieslaw Koszkul, Jon Lohse, Michael Love, Nina Neivens, Terry Powis, Duncan C. Pring, Kathryn Reese-Taylor, Prudence M. Rice, Robert M. Rosenswig, Kerry L. Sagebiel, Donald A. Slater, Katherine E. South, Lauren A. Sullivan, Travis Stanton, Juan Luis Velásquez Muñoz, Debra S. Walker, Michal Wasilewski, Jaroslaw Źrałka

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Debra S. Walker is courtesy research curator at the Florida Museum of Natural History and a registered professional archaeologist specializing in the ancient Maya and pottery analysis. She is editor of Perspectives on the Ancient Maya of Chetumal Bay (2016).

REVIEWS

“A critical and up-to-date synthesis of the earliest ceramic-using communities in the Maya lowlands, this book highlights some of the most important research carried out in recent years, focusing on the chronology and social processes surrounding the adoption of ceramic technology. It is an invaluable resource that will contribute to rewriting the field of Maya archaeology in the years to come.”
—Jessica Munson, Lycoming College

“An important leap forward in the investigations into the origins of ancient Maya civilization.”
—Journal of Anthropological Research

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Foreword | Marilyn Masson

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I: Introduction

1. Pre-Mamom: The Unnamed Era Takes Shape | Debra S. Walker

2. The End of an Era: Closing Out the Archaic in the Maya Lowlands | Jon C. Lohse

3. Who Were the First Ceramic-Using Villagers in the Maya Lowlands? | Robert M. Rosenswig

Part II: Belize

4. The Swasey Ceramic Sphere of Northern Belize | Kerry L. Sagebiel, Laura J. Kosakowsky, and Duncan C. Pring

5. Preclassic Cunil to Kanluk Complex Pottery at Cahal Pech, Belize | Lauren A. Sullivan and Jaime J. Awe

6. Pre-Mamom Architecture and Associated Ceramics at the Ancient Maya Site of Pacbitun, Belize | Kaitlin Crow and Terry G. Powis

Part III: Peten

7. Refined Chronology of Middle Preclassic Ceramics at Ceibal and in the Pasión River Region | Takeshi Inomata

8. In Search of the Oldest Ceramics and Architecture: Pre-Mamom Phase at Nakum, Peten, Guatemala, and Its Surroundings | Jarosław Źrałka, Wiesław Koszkul, Bernard Hermes, Juan Luis Velásquez, Ronald Bishop, and Michał Wasilewski

9. K’awil and Early Eb: The Pre-Mamom Ceramics from Holmul and Tikal, Guatemala | Nina Neivens

10. Dynamics of Early Pottery from the Peten Lakes Area | Katherine E. South and Prudence M. Rice

11. Production, Exchange, and the Social Value of Mars Orange Paste Ware in the Middle Preclassic Period Maya Lowlands | Michael G. Callaghan

Part IV: Central Karstic Uplands and the Yucatan Peninsula

12. Defining Macal Complex at Yaxnohcah, Campeche, Mexico | Debra S. Walker

13. Early Maya Settlements and Ceramics on the Northern Plains and the Puuc Region of Yucatan: The Early Middle Preclassic Ek Complex | E. Wyllys Andrews V and George J. Bey III

14. A Reevaluation of Yotolin Pattern-burnished: Evidence for the Earliest Ceramics in the Northern Maya Lowlands | Betsy M. Kohut, George J. Bey III, Tomás Gallareta Negrón, and E. Wyllys Andrews V

15. The Early Laapal Complex at Yaxuna: Early Middle Preclassic Ceramics from the E Group | Travis W. Stanton, Sara Dzul Góngora, Ryan H. Collins, and Donald A. Slater

16. The First Potters in the Rio Champoton Drainage | Jerald Ek

Part V: Comparative Views

17. The Early Middle Preclassic Pottery of Pacific Guatemala Michael Love

18. Becoming Maya in Early Middle Preclassic Mesoamerica | Kathryn Reese-Taylor

Appendix 1: Selected Radiocarbon Dates from the Early Middle Preclassic Period in the Maya Lowlands

Appendix 2: Comparative Catalogue of Principle Identifying Attributes of Pre-Mamom Pottery Complexes

Index

List of Contributors

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