Methodological proposal for the analysis of Guaraní Painted Potsherd. The case of the Martín García Island collection of La Plata Museum

Abstract

From an archaeological point of view, ceramics have been the main element of material culture used to identify the Guaraní presence. Pottery shows a common way of doing things shared for almost two millennia and has been present in places throughout Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. However, ceramic pieces are seldom found whole. In this sense, a methodological proposal, including the technomorphological and stylistic analysis of the painted sherds from the Martin García Island Archaeological Collection deposited in the Archeology Division of the Museum of La Plata (Argentina), is developed in this work. The objective was to identify the spatial, chromatic, and formal organization of the painted graphics and evaluate their relationship with the shapes of the ceramic containers. The graphics were segregated into analytical units based on certain criteria adjusted to the ceramic fragments. Two types of patterns were identified in the designs, which allowed us to think about them according to different logical structures that order the articulation of the motifs in relation to the morphology and the sector of the container in which they are arranged, as well as the global shape of the same.

Keywords
Pottery; Painted desings; Tupiguaraní; De la Plata river; Guaraní archaeology; Pottery fragments