Qiu, Yijia
(2023)
Productive Differentiation and Pottery Consumption Among House Groups in Three Districts of Lower Dover During Late Classic Period: A Geochemical Perspective.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
This is the latest version of this item.
Abstract
The rise of the Late Classic (AD 600-900) Maya polity of Lower Dover, Belize involved a number of changes, including in political organization, economic policies and ritual activities. However, during the process of nearby intermediate elites integrating into the newly formed polity with their subjective commoners, how exactly the pottery used in daily life was exchanged and distributed remains unclear. This research uses a geochemical method to identify production units of pottery for daily use and compare the procurement patterns of this pottery among house groups from three districts at Lower Dover, to study the exchange and distribution mechanisms of utilitarian pottery among ancient Maya people in the Late Classic period.
Investigation revealed that people at Lower Dover had a modest degree of economic interdependence and a moderately integrated local economy in the Late Classic period. All the house groups very likely procured their pottery for daily use at the same marketplace located at the civic center of Lower Dover polity despite their wealth differences, length of occupation history, and distance to the civic center. It is hard to identify a specific source for any production unit, and it is very likely that most potters communicated and shared recipes. Another interesting finding is that Belize Red was produced in a more specialized way than other types and may indicate other exchange mechanisms at a larger scale with connections to nearby polities. This dissertation also discuss methods to evaluate data collected on ceramics by pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence) and show that a relatively large sample, proper preparation of specimens and taking multiple readings can provide reliable enough data for our research purposes.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
6 September 2023 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
17 March 2023 |
| Approval Date: |
6 September 2023 |
| Submission Date: |
22 July 2023 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
138 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Anthropology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Maya Archaeology, Mesoamerica Archaeology, Household Archaeology, Compositional Analysis. Pottery. |
| Date Deposited: |
06 Sep 2023 19:17 |
| Last Modified: |
06 Sep 2023 19:17 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/45172 |
Available Versions of this Item
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Productive Differentiation and Pottery Consumption Among House Groups in Three Districts of Lower Dover During Late Classic Period: A Geochemical Perspective. (deposited 06 Sep 2023 19:17)
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