LAS MERCEDES Culture (EARLY PERIOD)

From 400 to 800 A.D., approximately.

CERAMICS: Pieces that stand out for their good workmanship.

They are grey-black in colour and fired in kilns with a reducing atmosphere (closed). These pieces coexist with others fired in oxidising atmospheres (open kilns), which give them a reddish colour, but with a coarser and thicker workmanship.

The grey-black and beige pieces have a polished surface. They may be decorated or undecorated, i.e. they may be plain or incised and engraved with geometric designs. One decorative method is the use of the negative and positive technique to achieve the motifs.

To these types should be added another: painted, which can be subdivided into two by the colours used for decoration. White on an orange-red background and black and white on an orange-red background, the latter being called “polychrome Cortaderie”.

DESIGNS: Geometric, stepped, serrated, triangular and zoomorphic patterns.

SHAPES: The shape of its pieces are escudillas (small, half-sphere-shaped vessels, used for drinking brothy foods), glasses, jugs, spoons, and vessels with conical or concave bases.