Social Change and Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community (review)

Dean Arnold’s latest book adopts an ecological approach to ceramic studies, which relates the production, use and discard of ceramics to broader sociocultural and environmental contexts. It is an important case study in ceramic ethnoarchaeology, with relevance to our understanding of the development of craft specialization in antiquity. Arnold puts the Maya potters of Ticul under the microscope to examine the growth of their craft through 32 years of technological and social change (1965–1997). Successive chapters deal with changes over time in craft organization, demand/consumption, distribution, raw material procurement, fabric composition, forming and firing. Arnold identifies a number of research paradigms that inform this study, and in particular, specialization, evolution, and material engagement theory. Specialization embraces a largely mechanistic process, whereby potters make choices that increase efficiency and cost effectiveness. Evolution draws on a comparison with biological evolution, in which potters have to adapt to changing market conditions to survive. Arnold prefers a material engagement approach, which emphasizes the relationships between humans and the material world.

The social context of ceramic production in this study consists of the region (northern Yucatán), the city (Ticul), the community of potters and the household. The persistence of a household basis of learning and production, along with the practice of patrilineal land inheritance, is credited with the continuity of production and production location within the community. Significantly, household production units were able to adopt a variety of strategies (e.g., segmentation of tasks) in order to increase specialization without increasing in size. Consumers of Ticul pottery include the Yucatec Maya, tourists, urban dwellers, and hotel managers. Between 1965 and 1984 water jars became obsolete with the introduction of piped water and metal vessels replaced cookware. The same period saw a change in the transportation infrastructure from railroads to highways. This led to a comprehensive shift from native demand for domestic pottery to vessels for urban consumers and tourists, supplied through brokers (middlemen). This shift also involved rapid innovation in the production of plant pots, small vessels, and application of ancient Maya designs.

Instead of elite control causing restricted use of clay and temper resources, procurement in Ticul evolved in terms of mining technology, task segmentation, and organization. The relative quality of clays and tempers available had a tremendous effect on the techniques adopted for clay preparation (e.g., levigation) and the recipes used by Ticul potters. In the 1970s there was a move toward standardization in vessel forms, not due to potter choice, but rather due to broker demands for uniform vessel sizes. Arnold identifies a complex set of factors that affected the adoption of new techniques (e.g., vessel molds), including clay quality, vessel shape, potter skill, consumer demand and production organization. Firing was affected by the emergence of fuel collecting and firing specialists, and changes in kiln types, size and number. The materiality of change in Ticul is most evident in the number of vessels produced, amount of clay and temper used, and advances in kiln construction.

All archaeologists studying ceramics should read this comprehensive and thought-provoking book. The volume itself is written and produced well, with ample illustrations and a subtle use of statistics. Arnold makes a convincing argument that the characteristics of clay and the requirements of ceramic production should be the analytical foundation for the reconstruction of ancient ceramic production. Pottery making in Ticul has survived due to the versatility of traditional potters, just as potters undoubtedly endured in the past when faced with globalization (i.e., intercultural trade). Theorists should heed his parting advice to be more aware of how potters make their pots, acquire their resources and organize their production space.