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The Ceramics of Cuello, Belize

A new evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 October 2008

Laura J. Kosakowsky and
Duncan C. Pring
Laura J. Kosakowsky
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Duncan C. Pring
Affiliation:
John Swire and Sons, 9 Connaught Road, C, Hong Kong
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Abstract

The site of Cuello in northern Belize provides a long ceramic sequence from the early Middle Preclassic, ca. 1200 b.c., to the Late Preclassic, sometime in the fourth century a.d. Excavations begun at Cuello in 1975 were completed in 1993. The initial controversy concerning the chronological placement of the earliest pottery of the Swasey and Bladen complexes is challenged by examining the 1992 and 1993 excavated material in a “blind analysis,” without benefit of stratigraphic information. The results demonstrate conclusively the stratigraphie priority of Swasey ceramics below Bladen, which in turn lie below pottery of the Middle Preclassic Lopez-Mamom complex. Cuello operated within the homogeneous Mamom ceramic sphere during the Middle Preclassic and within the Chicanel ceramic sphere during the Late Preclassic. The ultimate breakup of the Chicanel sphere resulted in Cuello's adherence to the older ceramic traditions, while other Maya sites had begun the production of polychrome pottery. Cuello represents one of the best-known Middle Preclassic Maya sites yet investigated, and it provides an important perspective on this poorly understood time period in the Maya lowlands.

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Articles
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Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Spring 1998, pp. 55 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998

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