The study of ceramic variability: Theoretical concepts and archaeological praxis in the lowlands of Paraná River

Abstract

The interest on pottery artifacts started early in the archeology of the Lowlands of Parana River. Nevertheless, the study of these artifacts went through different stages in which the informative potential of these materials varied substantially according to its different theoretical-methodological approaches. The aim of this paper is to present a critical summary of the research on pre-Hispanic ceramics in the area, accounting for the path explored by such investigations since the first archeological interventions at the end of the nineteenth century to the present day. The focus will be set in the theoretical concepts and the archeological praxis developed in the Middle and Lower basin of the Parana River (Argentina); an area associated to Late Holocene records of hunter-gatherer. The historical-cultural approaches tended to dominate ceramic studies in the area for a long time, limiting the kind of data possible to be obtained from these materials. Nonetheless, during the recent years in the region, the archeological interventions have considerably grown, encouraging the emergence of new research approaches in relation to pottery items, among which stands out the symbolic approaches of ceramics.