La Quemada

Combining multiple forms of analysis in their investigations of pottery manufacture in Northwest Mexico, Wells and Nelson infer aspects of the economic and political structure of the Malpaso Valley. Through analysis of clay deposits and sherds from sites in the La Quemada and Los PilariUos settlements, two distinct chemical compositions were identified indicating that the potters used at least two distinctly different raw material sources. 

Chemical, Technological, and Social Aspects of Pottery Manufacture in the La Quemada Region of Northwest Mexico... 

Using scanning electron microprobe analysis and simple refiring experiments, this study reconstructs the operational sequence of production and decoration of incised-engraved pottery sherds from the prehispanic site of La Quemada, Zacatecas, Mexico. The results of these analyses suggest that certain steps in the firing and decorative processes were manipulated by local producers over time, wUch resulted in some of the conditions conducive to craft specialization. 

Figure 1. The geology of the Malpaso Valley, showing the locations of La Quemada (the largest dot in the northeast quadrant), outlying settlements (represented by smaller dots), and the clay outcroppings (numbers 1 and 2).

The valley contains three main archaeological zones, the largest of which includes the site of La Quemada, a sizeable civic-ceremonial center situated roughly 250 m above the valley floor on a prominent hilltop at the north end of the valley. The site is composed of a monumental core that contains a... 

Pottay Wares LaQi ada Site La Quemada Aggregate LosPilanttcK Site Los Pilainc Aggregate Odi Vmey Sites ToUds... 

Figure 3. Line graph of the frequencies of incised, engraved, and incised-engraved ceramics in the Malpaso Valley through time. Point 1 on the x-axis corresponds to the period (ca. A.D. 450-600) represented by Malpaso Complex incised-engraved ceramics (n=427), point 2 corresponds to the period (c. A.D. 600-750) represented by the La Quemada Complex incised-engraved ceramics (n=125), and point 3 corresponds to the period (c. A.D. 750-900) represented by the Murguia Complex incised-engraved ceramics (n=68).

Figure 4. Box-and-whisker plot of the results of the re-firing experiment. The x-axis shows the incised-engraved ceramic complexes, arranged from early (left) to late (right) Malpaso (n=38), La Quemada (n=34), Murguia (n=28).

Vargas, V. D. La Quemada-Malpaso Valley Archaeological Project Shell Aitifects. Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. 

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