Petrography of prehispanic fine paste (550/600-800 d.C.): Canbalam Ceramic Sphere, Campeche and Yucatan Coast, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

Abstract

The concept of fine paste is included within the “Canbalam Ceramic Sphere”, it has been culturally interpreted, as a coastal trend of the Gulf of Mexico. This study was carried out in order to contribute to the concept of fine paste ware from a petrological point of view, using the ceramic petrography tool. Fifteen thin sections from four coastal sites in the Yucatán Peninsula were analyzed: Isla Piedras, Uaymil, Jaina and Xcambó. The classification was done using the typological criterion followed by microscopic petrography, based on this, “fine pasta” is defined for the first time as that pasta that when observed under a polarizing petrographic microscope, is composed of a clay matrix and in which the average detrital components are of very fine sand and the coarsest fraction can comprise up to 10 %, which ranges from medium sand to coarse sand. The use of carbonates as fluxes is proposed in the manufacturing technology.