Ceramics at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

The Early Classic

A single Early Classic complex, Naba, is recognized at Piedras Negras. Comparative research as well as carbon dates derived from a termination event on the Acropolis indicate this complex is roughly equivalent in time and typological content to Tzakol 2 and Tzakol 3 assemblages known from elsewhere in the Petén. This conclusion is supported by the high degree of typological similarity evident between Piedras Negras Naba complex materials and Ayn complex ceramics from Altar de Sacrificios stored in the Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia in Guatemala City. This resemblance is so strong that many of the Piedras Negras monochromes, particularly monochrome blacks, could easily be lost within an Ayn assemblage.

In contrast to the Preclassic ceramics, Naba complex materials are much more common and are known from almost every sector of the site. Naba assemblages are, in general, dominated by orange monochromes. Black and brown monochromes are not uncommon, but are weakly represented. Zoned fluting and fine line incising are the most common decorative modes. Fluting is generally restricted to the exteriors of flaring wall bowls with modeled rims, though occasionally zoned fluting appears on the interiors of monochrome basal flange dishes. The most common incised design is a band of hatched, pendant triangles applied just below the rim of hemispherical bowls (Figure 3). Other, less common, decorative modes for Naba monochromes include the use of carved or gouged panels decorating the exteriors of hemispherical and flaring wall bowls. The designs are typically iconographic and are occasionally rubbed with specular hematite. In overall execution, vessels decorated in this way strongly resemble Urita Gouged-Incised and related types.

The major Tzakol 3 diagnostic, the basal flange dish, is almost completely unknown at Piedras Negras. A few sherds representative in this form have been found, but in frequencies far below those common at other Petén sites. Instead, the most common polychrome forms are shallow basal flange dishes with hollow tripod supports. While this form is diagnostic of Tepeu 1 assemblages elsewhere in the Petén, good stratigraphic and contextual data suggest that a Tzakol 2-3 placement is appropriate for the Piedras Negras examples. Exterior decoration on these vessels is uncommon and, when present, is usually limited to simple red and black circumferential bands. Occasionally the flanges are decorated with red or black semi-circles. Interior decoration usually consist of either circumferential bands of pendant loops executed in black and framed by red lines, or polychrome birds placed just below the rim and on opposite sides of the vessel.

Resist decoration is also present in Naba assemblages, but is very infrequent. Resist decorated vessels belong to this period are generally decorated with abstract geometric motifs consisting of bands of linked circles or triangles executed in light gray and set on a cream or orange field. In overall design organization and execution they are very similar to Early Classic resist-decorated ceramics from the Guatemalan Highlands. It seems quite possible that this technology may be the precursor to the much more elaborate resists that dominate the Late Classic polychrome tradition at Piedras Negras.

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