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Dating of archaeological jars from the guachimontones site, western Mesoamerica

Abstract:

This paper analyzes a set of ceramic fragments from giant jars (tejuineras) recovered within the Guachimontones archaeological site, Jalisco State, Mexico. These jars, found at several ceramic workshops, are related to housing units. However, until now the use of these objects and their temporality has been unclear. In order to better characterize and date the archaeological context, archaeometric and archaeomagnetic investigations were performed. The starting point for the analysis is the idea that the jars were used for the preparation of tejuino (fermented drink made from corn); in large part, this theory is based on ethnographic comparisons with other regions. Through archaeomagnetic dating, it was found that tejuineras are dated to the Postclassic period, and that the dates obtained were very similar to those already published for the Guachimontones archaeological site.