Specialized Craft Production and Social Complexity in Formative Mixteca Alta
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Research Year:  2004
Culture:  Mixtec
Chronology:  Pre-Classic
Location:  Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca, México
Site:  Nicayuju

Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
The Study Site
The Excavations
The Laboratory Procedures
The Results and Interpretation
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Sources Cited

Abstract

As archaeological luck would have it during the final weeks of excavation at the Postclassic site of Nicayuju in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, Mexico, we found a series of features that revealed large amounts of what seemed to be Formative pottery in modified bell-shaped pits. Given time and funding constraints five of the features were carefully excavated and the artifacts, approximately 10,000 sherds and thirteen complete but broken vessels, were washed and stored for future study. In the summer of 2004 the FAMSI grant "Specialized Craft Production and Social Complexity in Formative Mixteca Alta" enabled a team of archaeologists from US and Mexican institutions to come together for a summer of intense ceramic analysis. The objectives of the analysis were to: (a) study and classify the ceramic material to determine the date and function of the excavated features and (b) assess the amount of standardization in the ceramic complex to investigate specialized craft production in Formative Mixteca Alta.

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Specialized Craft Production and Social Complexity in Formative Mixteca Alta
by Verónica Pérez Rodríguez

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Submitted 08/18/2005 by:
Dr. Verónica Pérez Rodríguez
vero.perez@nau.edu

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