Picking up the pieces: Ceramic production and consumption on the Middle Orinoco colonial frontier

In this thesis I explore the ceramic remains recovered from 13 sites in the Middle Orinoco region of Venezuela, spanning the centuries just prior to European contact through the early twentieth century. I provide a contextual analysis of the pottery, which, in the light of historical documents and oral tradition, serves to illuminate its role in the construction of identity, the imposition and maintenance of colonial hierarchies and power structures, Native resistance to colonial strategies, and the contribution of different sectors to the emerging cultural order.;The objectives of this dissertation are twofold: (1) to develop a ceramic sequence to serve as a guide for the chronological placement of the archaeological sites located in the study area, and (2) to analyze the ceramic remains in the light of cultural processes set in motion by the arrival of European colonists in the Middle Orinoco. In the first case, I define six local ceramic production styles and offer a detailed description at the level of ware, formal type and decorative variety. Chronological placement is determined through comparison with imported ceramic styles and other items that are securely dated. In the second case, I pose a series of tests designed to facilitate the analysis of different aspects related to cultural identity, status, technological innovation, commensality, and culinary practice. I also explore aspects of pottery production and consumption that can be interpreted in the light of both resistance and accommodation to the new colonial regime, and the imposition, appropriation, and reinterpretation of items across cultural boundaries.;Through the analysis of pottery and their contexts of production and consumption I direct my attention toward the quotidian practices that structured interactions in different contexts on the colonial frontier, rather than on the institutional accounts and the official guidelines that dominate the written documents. This provides a window into the day-to-day negotiations between the different sectors involved in the creation of the emerging colonial society in the Middle Orinoco.