Debra Walker's edited volume is an impressive undertaking and not what I expected. Walker's introductory chapter notes that pottery is but one aspect of a suite of traits that coalesced during this early period to create Maya culture, and while many chapters in the volume contain the detailed explanations of ceramic assemblages implied by the title, the book addresses points well beyond pottery. Rather it uses pottery as a foundation to discuss the development of Maya culture in the Middle Preclassic period (ca. 1000–600 BC). As such, it is perhaps better described as a book about the Preclassic origins of the lowland Mayas as seen through the lens of Pre-Mamom pottery variation than a book about Maya pottery.
By focusing on this one aspect of material culture, Walker has created a book that stands out from other recent edited volumes on the subject. As well as serving as a thematic unifier, the use of pottery as a medium by which to explore the origins of Maya identity opens up a new dimension in understanding the genesis of Maya culture. By concentrating on pottery, the authors in the volume help change the narrative regarding the development of Maya culture from that of a slow evolution tied to the gradual adoption of sedentism to a dramatic shift occurring within a narrow 400-year time frame.
Arranged in five parts, and containing eighteen chapters, plus a foreword, informative preface, and two data-ladened appendices, the volume includes a variety of sites across the Southern and Northern Maya lowlands as well as syntheses of ceramic spheres and the temporal period. A chapter on the Rio Champoton Drainage in Western Campeche by Jerald Ek (Chapter 16) is a welcome addition as this area is rarely included. However, there are some notable gaps; Lamanai and Altun Ha are given only a passing mention, and there is no mention of the southern coast of Belize, nor the Western Petén or Chiapas area.
Part I serves to set the stage for both the subsequent sections as well as for the Middle Preclassic period as a whole. Along with laying out the history of the discovery of Pre-Mamom pottery, Walker (Chapter 1) provides a concise synopsis as to the issues with identifying and rectifying the diversity in the Maya lowlands. One might question the inclusion of a chapter on the Archaic period in a book about pottery, as Jon Lohse in Chapter 2 does; however, this chapter along with that by Robert Rosenswig (Chapter 3) serves to contextualize the developments holistically within Maya history. Lohse addresses the importance of dating cultural changes as accurately as possible (an argument also presented in by Takeshi Inomata in Chapter 7), while Rosenswig takes on the task of situating developments in the lowlands within the larger Mesoamerican landscape by unpacking the various theories traditionally used to explain social changes. He also discusses defining pottery variation separate from ideas of ethnicity and presents a cogent argument for their adoption as separate from sedentism. These ideas are revisited in Chapter 18. Here, Kathryn Reese-Taylor chooses to emphasize the other aspects that make up the suite of traits mentioned by Walker in Chapter 1. By doing so, Reese-Taylor reknits the Pre-Mamom pottery variations into a web of networks that unified the early occupants of the lowlands and combined at the end of the period into what we know as Maya culture.
Unsurprising are the numerous highly detailed descriptions of ceramic types and descriptions. While all the chapters describe the composition of the various wares in their respective areas, discussions by E. Wyllys Andrews V and George J. Bey III (Chapter 13), Betsy M. Kohut and colleagues (Chapter 14), and Travis W. Stanton and colleagues (Chapter 15), are particularly noteworthy. These three chapters all contain incredibly exhaustive descriptions of the attributes, paste and firing, and frequency of appearance for the various type:varieties in their assemblages.
Kerry L. Sagebiel and colleagues (Chapter 4) adopted a broader approach, discussing the Swasey complex in Northern Belize. They neatly summarize its controversial origin and contentious relationship with Bladen ceramics, while adroitly incorporating new evidence from sites in the region to present a “newly defined Swasey ceramic sphere” (p. 104). Conversely, Michael G. Callaghan (Chapter 11) chose to focus more narrowly on a single ware: Mars Orange Paste Ware (MOPW). He presents a solid argument that, despite its widespread appearance, MOPW was a Central Belize creation. These chapters are all accompanied with prolific illustrations and photographs, many of which are in color.
Additionally, this volume presents arguments for rethinking our ideas about the terminology we use to create our chronology and what makes up these periods. Perhaps the most radical expression of this comes from Katherin E. South and Prudence M. Rice (Chapter 10), when they challenge the very foundation of the chronology by questioning if the Middle Preclassic is associated with the advent of pottery, then what is the Early Preclassic? They suggest the term Early Preclassic more accurately defines the Pre-Mamom period. Kaitlin Crow and Terry Powis (Chapter 6) also do not shy away from the controversy and present a convincing argument for an exceptionally early application of the term Maya culture, embracing the idea of a genesis around 900 BC.
Several chapters make persuasive cases for expanding our repertoire of analytical techniques. Zralka and colleagues (Chapter 8) show the value of incorporating petrographic analysis into ceramic discussion, although they gloss over the few labs available to conduct this work. Inomata (Chapter 7) makes a strong argument that type:variety is insufficient to achieve the “finer temporal control needed to really understand social change” (p. 194). He advocates for typological analyses that incorporate modal analysis, similar to Nina Neivens's (Chapter 9) use of attribute analysis and iconological style. Perhaps more debateable is Inomata's argument for an increased use of radiocarbon dating. His criticism regarding the paucity of 14C dating is contradicted by the many other chapters that present chronologies supported by radiocarbon data and Appendix I, which contains a list of more than 70 “Selected Radiocarbon Dates” from 17 sites. Inomata's championing of radiocarbon also contrasts Rosenswig's (Chapter 2) and South and Rice's (Chapter 10) cautiousness regarding its reliability.
Like all books, even one that strives to as comprehensive as this one clearly does, there are the few mentioned gaps; however, these omissions do not diminish from the value of the volume. As Walker notes in her introductory chapter, the occupants in what has become known as the Maya lowlands “may not have been recognizably Maya when they started firing ceramic about 1000 BC, but they were by the time the pre-Mamom period ended around 600 BC” (p. 5). It is the examination of how this identity was formed that makes this volume valuable to a broad range of Maya archaeologists and a standard on the shelf of anyone working on or interested in the Maya Middle Preclassic period.
