This volume presents current trends in the application of scientific methods to ceramic analysis throughout South America. Reports from ongoing ceramic research in the area capture the wide array of methods incorporated as a normal part of research in most countries while reflecting national variation in their use and interpretation. The volume also provides an opportunity to see parallels in research interests and results and thereby generate more international collaboration. Despite the vibrant growth of archaeological science in the region, increased opportunities for global comparative studies would lift our work into a more powerful arena of pressing popular discussions and afford more salient relevance to our labours. Vessels Explored: Applying Archaeometry to South American Ceramics and their Production brings to an international audience of scholars a new fresh look inside the current research problems South American archaeologists are working on and how scientific analyses can contribute to resolving them.

AUTHOR
Dr Emily M. Stovel specializes in using ceramic analyses to explore prehistoric identity processes. She has collaborated in northern Chile for over 20 years and taught in both Chile and the United States. Further interests are public interaction with material culture, the changing roles of museums, and rhetorical displays of scholarly authority.Dr Guillermo De La Fuente is a ceramic technology specialist focusing on thin-section paste analyses using ceramic petrography. He has developed extensive research in the Northwestern Argentine region, on topics such as ceramic technology, pottery-making practices during the Late and Inka periods, provenance analysis, and pigment analyses using different analytical techniques. Contributors:Bárbara Balesta, Irma Lia Botto, Tamara Bray, Pablo Cahiza, María Beatriz Cremonte, Guillermo De La Fuente, Isabelle Druc, José Echeverría Almeida, Irene Lantos, Marta Maier, Leah Minc, Martín Morosi, María José Ots, Héctor Panarello, Paola Silvia Ramundo, Norma Ratto, Emily Stovel, Mauricio Uribe, Sergio Vera, Juan Villanueva Criales, Cristina Volzone, Kaitlin Yanchar, Nora Inés Zagorodny