During the Post-Classic period, above all in its later stage from 1350 to 1521 A.D., there was a ceramic tradition that went beyond the borders of what is known as the Mixtec area; in other words, beyond the area mainly covered by the west of the state of Oaxaca and its border with the southern part of Puebla and the southeast of Guerrero. This tradition also covered other surrounding regions such as the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley, the Mexico basin and the Toluca valley.
The forms of the vases and their decoration are qualities that, within this pottery tradition, distinguish the local styles and types from the set. Tripod vessels with cylindrical s are very common in the Mixtec zone, above all those of the earthenware pot type that are shown in the images. They are covered with engobe red, or a coat of paint mixed with diluted clay. Its surface is also burnished or polished. Due to the color of the engobe, it is very likely to have a pigment of ferrous origin as a base for this tone, such as the hematite, a type of mineral widely used in Mesoamerica to color diverse objects with this intense red.
It was used very much in diverse s. Above all it has been found in wall painting, such as in Teotihuacan, but it is very common to find it throughout Mesoamerica. Its use is highly appropriate in pottery as only mineral type pigments withstand the high temperatures. Organic colorants, whether animals or vegetables, are carbonized when the pieces are fired. In addition to this engobe red, both vessels are painted with a wide black band that covers the inner walls and part of the base of the earthenware pots on their circumference. Another important quality is that engobe red was excluded from the s in both cases, allowing the natural color of the clay to be seen without any type of coating.
Decoration in this type of vessel may have very sophisticated forms closer to sculptural models. In the case of the earthenware pot with cylindrical s, the work and sgraffito forms are notable. On its outside, two rectangular strips running vertically also mark two thin undulating interweaving strips with a sgraffito line in the middle. The motive, geometric and abstract, makes one think that it is a work created in a colonial period. We know that the production of this ceramic continued until the middle of the XVI century; furthermore, this decoration in not seen in this form in the Pre-Hispanic period.
However, it could be related to a very simplified and transformed form of a very recurrent symbol, above all within the Nahuas, the dual concept of water-fire (atl-tlachinolli) which alludes to war. Therefore, it is possible that these vessels were made in a transition area between Mixtec and Nahuas, possibly south of Puebla. In the case of vessels with zoomorphic s, these motives are much more common and recurrent in this type of tripod earthenware pots from the late post-classic period.
During the Post-Classic period, above all in its later stage from 1350 to 1521 A.D., there was a ceramic tradition that went beyond the borders of what is known as the Mixtec area; in other words, beyond the area mainly covered by the west of the state of Oaxaca and its border with the southern part of Puebla and the southeast of Guerrero. This tradition also covered other surrounding regions such as the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley, the Mexico basin and the Toluca valley.
