| Beschreibung: | After a brief introduction by the editors, the first section of the book examines the material culture of prehistoric and early historic Mesoamerica and the evidence for warfare. While one might expect the three chapters in this section to look at fortifications or weapons, the main focus of two of the chapters is an artifact much more mundane and not usually associated with warfare�pottery. George Bey III�s article (�The Role of Ceramics in the Study of Conflict�) illustrates two ways in which warfare can affect ceramic production. For the Late Classic site of Yaxun� in the Yucat�n, after its conquest by Cob�, chemical and petrographic analyses indicate that the locally made domestic and burial pottery was quickly replaced by pottery made in Cob�. This indicates that the political elites did have an interest in domestic pottery production, and suggests that the elites at Cob� saw conquest and identity being linked to domestic ceramics. In his second case study, the chemical analyses indicated that endemic, internal warfare in the Petexbatun region of Guatemala during the Late Classic period destroyed trade networks and caused domestic pottery production to become more localized. |
