Textile-Clay Laminates: a new-found craft technology from ancient Mesoamerica
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Textile-Clay Laminates: a new-found craft technology from ancient Mesoamerica Harriet F. Beaubiena, Emily Kaplanb and Monica Shahc a Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education, Museum Support Center, Suitland, Maryland, USA b Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Cultural Resources Center, Suitland, Maryland, USA c Shah Conservation, Anchorage, Alaska, USA
ABSTRACT Two Maya-period sites, Las Pacayas and Aguateca, have recently yielded fragments composed of a previously unknown material -- a laminate formed from multiple layers of woven cloth and clay slip. On-site and laboratory conservation efforts enabled the Aguateca finds to be identified as ceremonial headdress elements. Materials analysis and replication experimentation have elucidated technological aspects of this medium, and demonstrate its suitability for fabricating elaborate, lightweight items such as these.
INTRODUCTION Two sites in the Petexbatún region of the Petén in lowland Guatemala have recently yielded fragments of an artifact material type that previously has not been documented in the Maya archaeological literature. Although there are differences in appearance, fragments from both sites are made of a material originally consisting of layers of woven cloth and clay slip, built up in multiple applications to create the desired thickness and shape. Despite the small data set, we have been able to reconstruct much about the craft technology through an integrated research approach, including conservation studies, materials analysis of selected fragments, and replication experiments carried out at the Smithsonian Center for Materials Research and Education (SCMRE).
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT In 1993, several “sherds” were excavated at Las Pacayas from unstratified ceremonial deposits in a cave underlying the site’s center, called Cueva de los Quetzales [1] [Figure 1]. The deposits range in date from the Late Preclassic to the Late Classic Maya period (before AD 250 to AD 900). Although not conjoining and too few to determine artifact form, the three Las Pacayas fragments were the first to provide analytical results that suggested the use of a laminated composite of textile and clay [2].
Fig. 1 Fragments from Cueva de los Quetzales, Las Pacayas [CQ 1-11-8, CQ 1-13-10, CQ 1-13-6] II9.6.1
In 1998, excavations at Aguateca yielded significant fragment clusters of a similar material [3]. These were among fragmented, burned but otherwise undisturbed artifact assemblages, found in a royal palace complex located in the site’s elite center. The destruction event that destroyed the buildings and ended Aguateca’s occupation has been dated to the Late Classic period (around AD 800). Conservation involvement during excavation and all subsequent processing1 made it possible to recover the fragments, expand the technical study, and identify several skillfully crafted objects as a face mask and a possible headdress component [4-7] [Figure 2]. These were likely part of a ritual costume, as numerous ornaments, including pendant shells and at
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