Abstract:

This paper presents the results of the analysis carried out on a group of sherds excavated from a site with mounds in the lowlands of eastern Uruguay. The prehistory of the lowlands of the Merim Lake basin was initially characterised in the 1960s in accordance to the diffusionist paradigm then prevailing in archaeology. Cultural categories were built that attempted to account for the archaeological evidence in terms of phases, largely characterised via ceramic types. Research carried out in this region after 1986 have now recovered samples in excavations specifically designed to study the structure and function of these sites. The results of this research have often confirmed, and occasionally improved, the earlier interpretations about the ceramics of the region. In this context, the analysis of the ceramics from the site at Rincón de Los Indios aims to refine the techno-typological study of this pottery, further define its place in archaeological contexts, and improve its utility in the construction of a regional cultural sequence.