Archaeological Researches at Teotihuacan, Mexico

PART VI MISCELLANEOUS POTTERY FINDS FROM VARIOUS SITES AND OF VARIOUS CULTURES

PART VI MISCELLANEOUS POTTERY FINDS FROM VARIOUS SITES AND OF VARIOUS CULTURES For practical reasons the detached finds have been collocated in groups according to the class of the objects, and not divided up according to the respective archaeological sites. Whenever possible, in each of these sections mention has been made as to the culture, or cultures, to which the different objects belong. Some of them are restricted to a single epoch, while others occur from the earliest periods up to the arrival of the Spaniards. Very far from all floors in the house ruin were found intact, a circumstance which in itself is often apt to make determination of the finds difficult. At Las Palmas it would seem that - merely on the basis of circumstances associated with the discovery - only graves of the Mazapan culture are dateable with certainty. By points of correspondence between finds recovered beneath intact floors and others that could not be dated by their surroundings, it has however been possible to refer a proportion of the latter category to the Teotihuacan culture. With exception of the grave vessels, the ceramics recovered below the floors of the ruin mainly consisted of potsherds, fragments of clay figures, stone objects, etc. The filling, which was principally stone rubble and soil, was richly mixed with artifacts of the kinds referred to. Mostly it appeared as if this had been the place for the dumping of general domestic refuse, but on the other hand were here recovered also slightly damaged vases, and even a number of intact, smaller vessels. Of others that were broken, practically all the parts were present, and in many cases they could be reconstructed. It gives one the impression that they had been crushed in the place where their fragments were discovered. This brings to mind the chroniclers' account of how the Aztecs considered the last five days of the year unlucky, and how the people then smashed up and threw away, e. g., incense burners, god images, and domestic utensils. For the new year they thereupon provided themselves with fresh equipment. It might therefore be supposed that successive enlargements of the house took place at fixed intervals of time, and that on such occasions it was customary to make hay of one's household paraphernalia. Otherwise the presence of intact vessels, stamps, stone axes, arrowpoints , etc., is difficult to explain. Fig. lIS. Clay urn of polished black-brown ware. (1/3) 58. THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE BETWEEN XOLALPAN AND LAS PALMAS While working in his fields at a spot about 100 metres south of Xolalpan, a landholder came across certain pieces of pottery which he subsequently offered for sale. It was found that he had come upon, and dug through, an ancient floor situated at a depth of about 1.25 m. Examination of the earth layer above it resulted in finds of Mazapan ceramics of the ordinary type. Not very far from the hole that had been dug were, however, recovered a bowl containing an obsidian knife, and a second bowl which was smaller and almost flat. On top of the former had been set an inverted, flatter bowl, to serve as a cover. All three bowls were decorated with typical Mazapan patterns. The finds that were offered for sale originated, however, from a grave below the floor which unfortunately had been destroyed, the skeletal fragments thrown away, and part of the vessels that had got broken in the process of digging-out had not either been thought worth collecting. The finds were purchased by us, and of them two clay vessels are reproduced in figs. I IS and 136. The former, as will be seen, is a beautifully formed urn of particularly well balanced proportions, and decorated with vertical, incised lines issuing from a horizontal one above them. To one side of the urn had been attached two clay knobs, and on the opposite side, almost down at the bottom, a third knob. This arrangement calls to mind the peculiar three-handled vase, fig. 126. The vessel in question is coated with dark-brown paint and well polished. The other of the vessels here reproduced is painted all over red, with a bright polish. The remainder of the finds consisted of one intact bowl, and seven that were fragmentary, all of them painted red, and polished. Two of them are fairly flat, while the rest are very similar to fig. 139, although considerably smaller. There is also a number of small vases with rounded...