Research Year:  2003
Culture:  Aztec
Chronology:  Pre-Classic
Location:  Puebla-Tlaxcala Basin, Central México
Site:  Tepeaca

Table of Contents

Summary
Introduction
Survey
Excavations
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Sources Cited

Summary

The Tepeaca Kiln Project is concerned with the evolution of pottery production and distribution and the processing of lime in the central highlands of México. From 1994-1998, the Acatzingo-Tepeaca Project (PAT) found evidence of dense prehispanic settlement in the central Puebla-Tlaxcala Basin, including the remains of hundreds of ancient kilns. The Tepeaca Kiln Project is focused broadly on the investigation of these features and has three major objectives: (1) locating the features discovered by PAT and determining whether or not they represent ancient kilns, (2) ascertaining the function of the kilns, and (3) characterizing the level of organization (household vs. non-household) and the degree of craft specialization associated with the use of the kilns. In the summer of 2003, the project concentrated on a 3.2 km² area to the north of the town of Tepeaca, in which a total of 86 kilns were located, most believed to date to pre-Contact times. Both kilns believed to have been associated with ceramic production and kilns that apparently functioned in lime processing were found in the survey. Three lime kilns were excavated, one of which dates to the early Middle Formative Period, another to the early 20^th century; to date, radiocarbon dating has not been done on material from the third excavated kiln. Although speculative at this time, low intensity production representing at best a part-time level of specialization is suggested by the available data for Middle Formative lime processing.

Submitted 12/24/2003 by:
Dr. Ronald A. Castanzo
rcastanzo@yahoo.com

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