Household pottery disposal in the Maya highlands: An ethnoarchaeological interpretation

Depositional theory concerns the relationship between depositional behavior and material culture. The ethnoarchaeologist has the opportunity to study this relationship in ongoing communities. Some understanding of the content and spatial patterning of discarded material culture, in terms of the predictability of and major behavioral factors contributing to different disposal patterns, is of particular interest to the archaeologist, who must base most sociocultural interpretations on artifact assemblages composed primarily of discarded items. In terms of the Maya household, pottery disposal can be viewed as an evolutionary process, composed of sequentially derived assemblages. These assemblages comprise a use and reuse assemblage (i.e., the basic household inventory), a disposal assemblage, an abandonment assemblage, and finally an archaeological assemblage. Variability in the behavioral factors that affect assemblage change can significantly alter the spatial patterning and condition of the vessels in the pottery inventory of a given household unit. Emphasis is placed on the possible confusion of depositional patterning within household activity areas, and the nature of distinguishable feature-related, disposal patterns within household compounds.