The Preclassic Whole Vessels of Lamanai, Belize: A Final Report

Ceramic Illustration and Photographic Record

Artifact illustration and still and digital photography of the individual vessels constituted the main goal of my research funded by FAMSI. Although some of the Preclassic vessels had already been drawn by Louise Belanger in the 1970’s and 1980’s nearly half of the assemblage had never been illustrated for archival purposes. In the summer of 2000 Ruth Dickau of Temple University illustrated more than 70 vessels during a two week stay at Lamanai. During this same period a complete still and digital photographic record was produced for each vessel. Multiple images were created and then downloaded into the Lamanai Archaeological Project computer database. This new and advanced form of recording, along with the complete set of drawings, will provide a unique opportunity to document this large Preclassic ceramic assemblage for both researchers and the general public through the LAP and FAMSI Web pages. A permanent record now exists of the broad range of pottery forms and styles dating to the Middle Preclassic, Late Preclassic, and Protoclassic periods at Lamanai. The illustration of each of these vessels was important because their exposure to the elements was causing, in some cases, rapid deterioration of the decorated surfaces. For example, the Usulután decoration found on many of the Protoclassic vessels was eroding and/or flaking off of the vessels. This collection of drawings is especially significant given the fact that no formal analysis of the Preclassic ceramic assemblage has been undertaken until this time. Furthermore, Lamanai was an important site not only because of its long history of occupation, but because it was one of the largest and more populated sites in northern Belize during Late Peclassic times and as such its stylistic modes would have presumably had more impact on outlying regions than would those of a smaller site (cf. Chase, 1994).

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