Beyond Santarém: 'Necked vessels' in the Trombetas River basin

Abstract

Konduri (11th-15th AD) and Santarém (13th-16th AD) pottery styles occur in neighboring areas of the Lower Amazon and are both part of the Incised and Punctuate Tradition. 'Necked vessels' are among the most emblematic types of pottery in the Santarém style. These vessels typically have a constricted neck with a flange, pedestal base, and lobed body, generally with two pairs of zoomorphic adornos arranged in a perpendicular manner. This study challenges the assumption that this type of vessel was exclusively associated with Santarém pottery. Diagnostic traits to recognize necked vessels from isolated potsherds were defined based on analysis of complete specimens from Santarém. Hundreds of Konduri potsherds were directly analyzed or observed from available publications in order to identify diagnostic traits indicating the existence of necked vessels. Necked vessels from Konduri contexts were seen to have their own distinct characteristics involving particular incised patterns which differ from Santarém. The presence of such a distinct type of vessel on a regional scale reinforces previous suggestions based on ethnohistorical and archaeological studies of the existence of social interactions between the producers of Santarém and Konduri pottery.