Methodological adjustments for macroscopic analyses of stoneware. Study of archaeological assamblages from the southeast of Buenos Aires province (19th century)

Abstract

In the lasts decades there have been developed descriptive and isolated studies on stoneware objects from post-hispanic rural contexts of the Pampean region. They have been mainly based on general attributes such as color, shape and container sector. In this paper we present a methodology for macroscopic analysis applied on a sample of stoneware (n=124) from the archaeological sites Las Brusquillas 1 and La Libertad (San Cayetano County), Las Toscas and Machado (Tres Arroyos County), and Pescado Castigado (Benito Juárez County). The technological and morphological attributes considered were: dimensions, part of the vessel, type of container, type of pasta, internal and external manufacture traces, color and treatment of the internal and external surfaces, post-depositional alterations and conjoining relations. Diverse manufacturing processes and modeling were produced during cooking. There were also registered different types of pasta, a wide variety of colors, shapes and surface treatments, among others. The integration of these analyses provides more information about the characteristics and diversity of the stoneware sets. They allowed to identify their function, provenience and chronology, and also define their contexts of use, circulation and discarding of stoneware objects in the southern frontier of Buenos Aires Province during the 19th century.