Geochemical and petrographic assessment of clay outcrops and archaeological ceramics from the pre-Hispanic site of Aguas Buenas (cal 400–1250 CE), central Nicaragua

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dc.contributor.authorCasale, Simone
dc.contributor.authorDonner, Natalia
dc.contributor.authorBraekmans, Dennis
dc.contributor.authorGeurds, Alexander
dc.date.accessioned2020-03-30T15:56:24Z
dc.date.available2020-03-30T15:56:24Z
dc.date.freetoread2020-03-30
dc.date.issued2020-03-12
dc.description.abstractThis research characterizes and reconstructs clay procurement and production practices through the integration of in-situ portable XRF and petrographic analysis on ancient ceramics and clay materials recovered from the Mayales river subbasin (central Nicaragua). A particular choice for this study was the largest and arguably most significant archaeological site in the area, Aguas Buenas (cal 400–1250 CE), a pre-Hispanic indigenous agglomeration consisting of 371 human-made mounds of various shapes arranged in geometric patterns. Microanalytical approaches were applied to reconstruct the use of raw mineral resources in the production of ubiquitous pottery materials found at this site and in its immediate surroundings. The resulting compositional analysis produced geochemical and mineralogical data allowing for the characterisation of distinct, geologically-based compositional groups throughout the valley, improving on the limited geological data resolution previously available. The integrated microscopic and compositional analysis (through p-XRF) of archaeological pottery materials and raw clay samples, generates a number of hypotheses and insights about the nature of the Aguas Buenas site, and its role as a shared space amongst groups living in the Mayales river Subbasin. Additionally, this study provides a solid research framework of investigation that can be employed for more detailed and extensive future studies on pre-Hispanic human occupation in this research area or elsewhere.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationCasale S, Donner N, Braekmans D, Geurds A. (2020) Geochemical and petrographic assessment of clay outcrops and archaeological ceramics from the pre-Hispanic site of Aguas Buenas (cal 400–1250 CE), central Nicaragua. Microchemical Journal, Volume 156, July 2020, Article number 104829en_UK
dc.identifier.cris26470880
dc.identifier.issn0026-265X
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.microc.2020.104829
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/15343
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherElsevieren_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectArchaeological provenanceen_UK
dc.subjectPre-Hispanic Nicaraguaen_UK
dc.subjectPetrographyen_UK
dc.subjectCeramic microstructureen_UK
dc.subjectGeochemical analysisen_UK
dc.titleGeochemical and petrographic assessment of clay outcrops and archaeological ceramics from the pre-Hispanic site of Aguas Buenas (cal 400–1250 CE), central Nicaraguaen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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