Within the Asurini, pottery is an essential item in preparation of daily food and ritual performance, in addition to being one of their primary supports for graphic art, expressing fundamental principles of this population’s world view (Müller 1987, 1990, 1992; Vidal and Müller 1986). Furthermore, it possesses a wide variety of forms and decorations, and it is carefully produced using an extremely detailed operation sequence.
Vessel Types
Based on the research of ethnologists who have previously worked with this population (e.g., Muller 1987, 1990; Ribeiro 1982), an assemblage of seven different vessel types was defined as being used to cook, serve, store and transport foods and liquids. They are, respectively, japepa’i, japepa’i/ja’eniwa, ja’e, ja’ekuia, japu, yawa, and yawi. These previous researchers have also noticed another 13 types that consist of variations of these basic forms and are used for the same purpose (jape’e, japeparakynga; ja’eniwa, ja’ei, kume; japuryna, yajuruwa, yajuruwiho, yawijuruva, indajiwa, pupianekanawa, kavioi, kavioi apua). (Fig. 1).
During my research, I found the same seven basic vessel groups, but I noticed some differences in the secondary types. The following types were found: jape’ei; ja’ekuia; kume, uira, jarati, pekia, uã; kavioi, piriapara, ywua, pupijanekanawa (see Fig. 1). I have grouped these 19 types into four general classes used in the processing, consumption and storage of food and liquids:
-
1.
Cooking vessels (japepa’i, japepa’i/ja’eniwa, jape’e and jape’ei)
-
2.
Serving vessels (ja’e, ja’ekuia, piriapara and ywua)
-
3.
Consumption vessels (kume, uira, jarati, pekia and uã)
-
4.
Liquid transportation and storage vessels (japu, yawa, yawi, kavioi, jukupyapyra and pupijanekanawa).
Production Process
The production process of pottery can be divided in a sequence of six basic operations: raw material acquisition, raw material preparation, vessel manufacture, drying, firing, and surface finish. In each one of these more general stages, other more specific steps occur, especially during the vessel manufacture, to which most of the potters referred as “making pans”. In this stage of the production, the potters emphasized the particular steps, including the making of coils, overlapping the coils, and the method of forming and scraping the body of the vessel with a paddle gourd.
Selection and Procurement of Raw Material
In the process of selecting and procurement of raw material, the Asurini potters give prime importance to the clay’s plasticity. In addition, they assess the clay after the firing, before announcing it is “good clay” to produce vessels.
During the first stage of my research with the Asurini (1996–1998), the two clay deposits the women explored were close to the margins of the Xingu River, less than two hours walking distance from the village. The deposit closer to the river was in use since the village was occupied, more than ten years earlier. In this deposit, there were two extraction holes: one was 1.50 × 2.0 m and about 0.60 m in depth; the other was 1.50 × 0.70 m and 0.50 m in depth. The “forest” deposit, as the Asurini referred to it, was found later, and it had been explored more intensively in the previous four years. It was not as close to the river and it had just one extraction hole, 1.86 m in diameter and 1.50 m deep (Fig. 2).
The mineralogical and granulometric analyses of the clay samples from both deposits revealed important differences in terms of manufacturing performance. The methods of analysis were: X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Neutron Activation Analysis (Silva et al. 2004; Munita et al. 2005). The oldest deposit, closer to river, is composed of minerals (smectite and illite)Footnote 2 that better absorb and retain the water, giving the clay more plasticity, but, at the same time, make it more likely to break during the firing. The second deposit, on the other hand, provides clay composed of minerals (kaolinite and halloysite)Footnote 3 that give the clay less plasticity, but because of the greater granulometry (large amounts of course sand) there is less breakage during the firing process.
The Asurini had the empirical knowledge of these distinct properties of the deposits, as can be seen in their recognition of the best plasticity within the first explored clay deposit (composed of minerals, smectite and illite), as well as in most of the women’s preference to work with it. Concerning the clay’s performance during the firing, however, they did not make these distinctions within the deposits.
To remove the clay, the women need to enter the hole with the help of an excavation-stick. The woman controls the depth of the digging to be sure that the clay will not become contaminated with an excess of sand, rocks or organic material. After the clay has been removed, she puts it onto a babassu leaf (Orbignya martiana) before placing the clay in a basket to transport it to the village. Once in the village, the clay is stored in baskets or aluminum vessels inside the houses or in attached areas, protected from the weather.
As noted by Lévi-Strauss (1986), in many groups, pottery is always part of mythic narratives and the object of carefulness or forbidden precepts. Usually, the place of clay extraction is considered a dangerous place, inhabited by supernatural beings. Because of this, potters of different cultural groups are usually very careful when they extract clay to avoid infuriating these supernatural entities who think they own the raw material.
This is true among the Asurini, who say the clay belongs to the supernatural beings and its deposits are considered a feminine space that must be avoided by men, who cannot help in the clay extraction. Menstruating or pregnant women should not help in the clay extraction either, since they could damage its properties and the ceramic vessels could break during firing.
Today, the Asurini potters explore the old deposit close to the Xingu River and others located in the Indigenous Reserve area (Silva 2000: pp. 57–58). The “forest” deposit has been abandoned because for them the clay has become too dirty to be used in vessel production. The potters decided this clay was dirty and inadequate to vessel production because, in their own words, those vessels produced with this clay broke more frequently during the firing. They attributed it to the fact that menstruating or pregnant women might have explored the deposit, which would have made it dirty. As indicated by Douglas (1976), different cultural groups have a similar behavior concerning certain substances and altered states of the body, that is, they associate the same notions of danger and impurity. With the Asurini potters, menstruation and pregnancy were held responsible for altered properties of this deposit’s clay, making it inappropriate to vessel production.
Finally, it is important to mention that the Asurini potters choose clay deposits whose properties allow them to make the paste without adding temper. When they identify a clay deposit, the first thing they do is to rub it between their fingers and then place it in their mouths to test its plasticity. After that, they produce vessel miniatures to test the clay’s performance during the drying and firing processes. It is only after these tests have been done that they will decide if the deposit is adequate to explore. The mineralogical and granulometric analyses conducted with clay samples from the deposits they explored revealed that the clay presented a certain amount of sand that served as a natural temper. This behavior in the selection process has been found in other pottery-producing groups (Longacre 1991: p. 97; Rice 1987: pp. 406–413).
Raw Material Preparation
The Asurini begin to knead the clay between their fingers while it is still a little wet, making balls that fit in their hands. During the process, they also pick out the rocks by hand. Slowly they gather a sufficient amount of clay to produce the vessel they want. Sometimes, when the clay is stored for a long period of time, they break it up with the help of a wooden stick or the bottom part of a metal axe—some use the axe to squeeze the clay when it is still wet. Next, they screen the clay, transforming it into fine sand upon which they put water, so that, afterwards, they can hold it inbetween their hands until it becomes the paste necessary for vessel manufacture. After the clay is kneaded and ready to work it is placed upon a babassu leaf or a wooden support on the ground.
Vessel Manufacture
The Asurini make their vessels with coils. They begin by putting the clay against a wooden support and with one or both hands produce a coil that will be rolled over their palm in order to make the conical base of the vessel. After that, they go on producing other coils that are added to the base to form the vessel’s body (Fig. 3).
When each coil is added, the potters will pinch the joins together and provide the initial smoothing of the vessel’s body with their fingers. Additional smoothing with a gourd paddle is done while the vessel is being made. Great care is taken during this step, according to the potters, who state that “the vessel should be as smooth as skin.” Each vessel type starts with the same conical form, but during the smoothing process the potters begin to define its final shape according to the function for which it is destined (Figs. 4, 5 and 6).
After defining the form of the vessel, the potters will shape the rim. Since it has to stay very thin, they take little portions of clay between their fingertips and smooth the rim with their saliva-moistened fingers. They use saliva during the whole process of smoothing, whether with their fingers or the gourd paddle. For the Asurini, the female saliva has special properties, and sometimes they spit over their food when it is being prepared. Some of the potters will also avoid eating or drinking during the manufacturing process because they believe it will help the vessel dry.
Finally, it is important to mention that the vessel’s manufacturing process is quite slow, and the potters must keep control of the clay’s moisture. Any mistake may produce irregular forms or even lead to breakage during the continual drying and firing.
Drying
After they have produced the vessel it is set aside to dry. The drying time is related to the size of the vessel and climatic conditions. A related factor could be the amount of moisture the potter used during the modeling process. In the rainy season (December–May), one vessel could take from 3–5 days to dry; during the dry season (June–November) it takes 1–3 days to dry, depending on its size.
Vessels are dried differently depending on their form. Yawa, the water transport vessels—with the rim’s diameter smaller than that of its body—should be dried with its rim turned up so that its body can expand. It is also necessary to put a cloth over the vessel for it to dry slowly in order to allow the potter to expand its body with the paddle gourd. Vessels used to transport liquids and honey(japu) should dry with their rim faced down, to accentuate the neck and keep the body from expanding too much. The jape’e—used to roast flour—should dry in the same place where it was made, since its form could be easily damaged if moved. All other vessels can be dried with their bottom faced up or down.
While the vessels dry, the potters go on improving and smoothing the external and internal faces with the help of an inajá palm coconut (Attalea maripa) or a small cobble. They rub the coconut or cobble on the vessel’s surface while the clay is hardening.
During this stage, they also repair the small fractures that appeared during drying. This care with the vessels’ smoothing makes the surfaces denser, less porous and more resistant to wear and tear. Some potters say that during the smoothing with the coconut or stone they are able to know when the pots are ready for the final drying.
Final Drying
When the vessel is dry, they put it close to the fire for the final stage of drying. They leave the vessel close to the fire until it becomes black, approximately half a day. They frequently make use of the same fire for cooking. The jape’e is positioned with its base over the fire, and the other vessels are put with their mouths or sides turned towards the fire. The vessel is constantly repositioned in front of the fire so that its entire surface becomes blackened (Fig. 7).
Firing
At the end of the morning, or at the end of the day, after the vessel has become black from the fire, the potters will start the final firing. They say the vessel should be fired on the same day, because if it becomes too cold it could break when it is put into the “big fire”. They certainly know by practice that if the vessel grows cold the humidity in the air will hydrate it again, and that will make it susceptible to breakage during the firing.
The process of firing is relatively simple. They make a circle with bricks, fired clay blocks, stones and broken vessels, and fill the middle with ashes. Each vessel is put on this minimal structure with their mouths turned upwards or to the side. They then cover the vessels with dry tree leaves or bark from the babassu palm. In the absence of babassu, the alternative is to use sucupira (Enterolobium schomburgki), castanha-do-pará (Bertollethia excelsa), cutite (Pouteria sp.), jarana-mirim (Lecythes lurida) and matamatá (Eschweleira bracteosa) (Figs. 8 and 9).
I witnessed 13 firings and found that they varied in time from 30 to 50 min, from the moment the vessels are all covered until the flames are no longer visible. After 10–15 min, however, the flames in the firing cone reach its peak, and they are visible on its top. I inserted 10 pyrometric cones into the firings, in which the maximum average temperatures were between 635 and 747°C. It was only when more than one vessel (a maximum of 6) were fired together in big hearths (approximately 50 cm high) that the temperature reached up to 804°C.
During the next few minutes, the flames become no longer visible. The potters refer to this production stage, when the flames are visible, as the “pretty firing.” For them, only a few tree species produce an adequate firing. A well-done firing presumes that the vessels should not present any cracks, and the surface should become completely light and clear. This is so important that some women fire their vessels again because they present dark stains (fire clouds) on the surface, and for them they had not had a “pretty firing.”
This expression is also used in other daily situations among the Asurini. Fire has other important roles in, for example, garden burning or when a tree trunk is burned to be turned into a canoe. The firing has this aesthetic connotation, and the fire, quoting Müller (1990: p. 151), is perceived by the Asurini as a transforming element that was incorporated in their mythology through the women. With pottery, it is the fire that transforms the clay from raw material into a cultural object. It is an essential element in the transformation of food and in rituals, since the smoke of the shaman’s cigars is an important element of contact with the supernatural.
Firing is a critical stage in the process of vessel manufacture, since all of the previous work could have been in vain if the vessel does not “fire pretty.” It can break or cracks may appear. To avoid these problems, the potters take precautions in obtaining clay, as well as during the vessel’s manufacture.
As a rule, one could characterize the Asurini vessels as low fired, which has implications for the ceramic micro-structure, porosity and hardness. To counteract these less desirable technical attributes, the potters not only take great care to smooth and polish the surfaces, but they also add vegetal substances (resins) on the internal and external surfaces after firing.
Surface Treatment
After the vessel has cooled, the women start to paint its external surface. With a piece of cotton they spread yellow pigment over the vessel’s surface to create the base coat of paint.
Next, they begin to paint the designs with the black and red pigments. To apply them they use three types of brushes: Mutum (Crax fasciolata) bird feather for the thin lines, and a palm tree stick and the branch from a legume for the thick lines.
The yellow and red pigments are obtained from oxidized iron-based minerals, and the black pigment from minerals rich in magnesium. The women grind these materials on top of a stone support that, after a while, will have a rounded concavity on its upper surface.
The painting of the vessels requires a lot of technical skill, and it is also the place where the potter’s creativity appears the most. The Asurini graphic art is very rich, and it grows from a structural pattern called tayngava, which is a supernatural entity represented basically by a human being in a geometric form (see Müller 1990: p. 243). Almost all the painted motifs are a recombination of this structural pattern, and each one receives a different name (Fig. 10).
When the vessels have been painted, the potters apply a jatobá tree (Hymenaea courbaril) resin called jutaika on their external surface. After cleaning the external part of the resin agglomerate, they attach it to a small two-pronged pitchfork. The potters warm the cooking pot and go on passing the resin over the surface, which melts and adheres to it. Their purpose is to apply a very thin layer of resin, which will show a good surface finish and demonstrate the potter’s skill. While the potter spreads the resin over the surface, she smoothes it with a paddle made out of palm tree rachis. During the time it takes her to apply the resin—an activity that can take up to three hours—she should not eat, drink, urinate or defecate. For them, this could make the resin harden, and then it would not disperse with the necessary perfection over the vessel’s surface. Usually, they prefer to apply the resin in the morning, since it is a more pleasant time to be in front of the fire. To avoid excessive heat on their faces, they generally put a potsherd in the direction of the flame (Figs. 11 and 12).
When this stage is concluded, they apply another type of resin on the internal part of the vessel so that they can make it impermeable to liquids. With the unpainted cooking vessels, the resin is applied on the external surface too. They extract this resin from a tree bark known as tityva (Inga. They scrape the bark to take away the best fibers, those that hold the most resin. To apply the resin they simply scrub the surface with the softened bark as if it were a sponge.
The Spatial Context of the Ceramic Production
With the exception of clay procurement, all stages of production occur within the village, in the same places where many other activities are taking place. Usually, the women prepare the raw material outside their houses, a place they call ukara. The vessels’ manufacture, however, can take place both in the external areas as well as in the attached structures that are often used as cooking places. The vessel painting stages and the resins’ application can also occur in these external areas and also on the attached structures. The jatobá resin application is usually done at the same place where the women cook, which means that the same hearth can be used to perform the two activities simultaneously. The vessel’s painting can also be done inside the houses, but this depends on the availability of light. All of the raw material and instruments used to manufacture the ceramic are usually stored inside the houses [mineral for painting, jatobá (Hymenaea courbaril) resin and instruments], but they can also be stored outside or in the attached structures (clay). Firing, however, is done outside the house, usually in the external and close areas.
Gender and the Learning Process of Ceramic Production
Ceramic production is an eminently feminine activity, and the learning process occurs primarily within domestic family groups through the transmission of knowledge from older women (grandmother, mother, aunt) to the younger ones. The men rarely get involved in this process, and when they are questioned about the subject their answer is often “this is women’s thing.” They only participate in some of the ancillary tasks, such as transporting clay, fetching fuel for the firing and collecting pigments. This relation the women have with the ceramic vessels is seen not only in the daily activities, but also in the Asurini mythology related to the processing of food.
The Asurini produce pots mostly during the corn harvest, which is in the rainy season (November–May). The frequency of production increases at this time because, as they say, “the corn does not like old cooking pots.” This is the reason why, in all the houses, the women need to make at least one new vessel to cook the corn stew.
Corn is the most important staple, and there are several restrictions in behavior associated with its cultivation and use. My informants observed that those who plant the corn should not execute tasks such as cooking, making fire and flour toasting. In addition, those who plant should avoid mutum (Crax fasciolata), jacu (Penelope jacuacu) and peccary (Tayassu pecari) meat, and they should not have sexual relations. Furthermore, the women that are nursing should avoid the planting. These restrictions should be followed so that the corn grows well, “because the corn is like a child, care is needed.”
The corn is the basic food in the Asurini diet, and it can be consumed throughout the year in the form of different kinds of stew, in every day meals and also on ritual occasions. Its consumption is intensified during the months of February through April, when it is harvested. At this time, the houses are full of corn and, during most of the day, the women produce and distribute the stew throughout the various houses of the village. They share the stew because corn can be harvested in any swidden by the members of different domestic groups. Consequently, the woman who harvests the corn in a swidden she has not planted must offer the stew to the one who planted the corn. It is important to emphasize that not only is the stew shared, but the ears are also divided between the different domestic units. It is common to observe women returning from their swidden bringing some surplus corn that will be given to a relative or a member of another domestic group.
This reciprocity extends to the work of ceramic vessel production and distribution. I observed women within the same domestic group sharing or lending cooking pots. Frequently, sisters that live in distinct houses produce and lend vessels to one another. A sister-in-law can make and loan vessels to her brother’s wife. A young woman, with little pottery skills, can be given vessels by her mother-in-law, the mother of her mother-in-law, or the sister of her mother-in-law; and mothers frequently make vessels for their daughters. Sometimes, a woman may lend vessels to her son’s mother-in-law. On ritual occasions, when it is necessary, a woman with a kin relationship with the shaman responsible for the ritual will loan her the big japepa’í type cooking pot.
These examples, related to the harvest, the processing of corn and the production and exchange of ceramic vessels exemplify the women’s importance in the domestic group’s subsistence activities. The production and harvest of crop products, the processing and distribution of food and the manufacture of ceramic vessels are all in the feminine domain. Despite the work that men do in preparing the field and harvesting the crops, cultivation is predominantly a woman’s responsibility among the Asurini. The women go to the fields every day with their domestic group and spend, depending on how distant the crop is from the village, an average of three hours a day on this activity. The major part of the women’s daily tasks is related to activities of production, food processing and the manufacture of material items related to these activities.
Within the Asurini, the woman is responsible for producing the food in her domestic group, and her specialization in pottery activity is intrinsically related to this social role. The japepa’i ceramic vessel produced and used by the women is the “symbol of food,” and it is an artifact of the feminine domain.
The learning process of pottery making starts early in life, and, in my different visits to the village through the years, I witnessed girls and less skilled young women being trained by the older women. Learning the process of forming the vessel body is one of the hardest stages, and the novice has to produce many vessel miniatures, performing all stages of vessel production, including firing and painting. It is difficult for the young potters to master the stern rules associated with the Asurini forms. It is easy to identify pots made by inexperienced potters—the vessel body is often poorly made or the smoothing of the surface is too rough, the rim is very frequently irregular and the resin was not well applied, leading to small mistakes and rough patches.
From what I could observe, the learning process happens through visualization and manipulation of the material. The miniature seems to be the most common didactic tool, and teaching with miniatures is also used with other crafts, such as making the sleeping hammocks. As with other ceramist populations, the teaching of vessel production is extremely controlled, and it requires constant verbalization and demonstration from the instructors relating to the techniques, as well as on the results to be reached in each one of the productive stages. There is an enormous “concern with the technique excellence” (Bunzel 1972: p. 60) during the teaching process.
But it is not only the ceramic learning process that is time-consuming, since the domain of the vessels’ formal classification is also complex. Sometimes, the younger women find it difficult to identify the name of a certain vessel and they need to consult the older ones for advice (Fig. 13).
In addition, it is also necessary for them to know how to select and process the raw material and how to manufacture their own working instruments. One stage of production that requires experience, for example, is the moistening of the clay to make it workable. If the clay gets too moist, the coils will stick in their hands, production will be much more difficult and irregularities will be found in the vessel’s form.
In conclusion, the ceramic learning process is long and complex, and, for this reason, it is mostly the older women who master this knowledge. Child rearing gets in the way of the learning process, therefore women are taught the craft very early, before they become mothers. Skill in this activity is reached only with the passing of years, and it is usually the older women, around 50 years of age or more, who are considered the best potters in the village.
Technological Tradition and Individual Creativity
As with other indigenous societies, the Asurini ceramic production results from a dynamic relation between precepts of the technological tradition and the potters’ individual creativity. In order to explore aspects of this relation, I conducted a metrical study of both the existing vessels in the Asurini village (in 1998) and those collected earlier, which are stored at the indigenous Cultural Center in Altamira.
A total of 323 vessels were measured, and data about each potter and vessel type was registered at the Asurini village and Altamira city. The measurements taken were: total vessel height, neck and bottle-neck height, rim diameter and thickness of the rim wall. The data were analyzed using Variable Correlation and Cluster Analysis, which highlighted groupings based upon the measurements taken. Variable Correlation Analysis and Clusters were analyzed through the SPSS Program. In the first case, existing relations between different variables (height, diameter, thickness) were explored, and dispersion diagrams were created. These indicate the direction of this relation (positive or negative), its form (linear or curvilinear) and its intensity—more or less density of dot clouds surrounding the line (Shennan 1992: pp. 123–127). In the second case, we explored the similarities between each one of the ceramic vessels analyzed. The subjacent idea of this statistical analysis technique is that the objects should be similar to each other in different levels, in a way that the results could be represented through dendrograms, or a tree-form diagram that demonstrates the similarity relation within objects and groups of objects. The principle is the grouping of series of vessels that gradually form groups, according to their similarities. On the first levels, vessels with greater similarities group together, and groups are gradually gathered according to more general similarity criteria until all of them are gathered together, forming one unique group (Shennan 1992: p. 215).
In terms of Variable Correlation, vessel types jape’e, japepa’i, ja’e and ja’eniwa were the ones that presented the most significant correlations. The sample sizes for other vessel types were too small for this type of analysis.Footnote 4
As can be seen in Fig. 14, there is a significant correlation between height, thickness and diameter in the jape’e vessel type. This means, simply, that height and wall thickness increase in proportion to the vessel diameter. Similarly, there is a significant correlation for the japepa’i vessel type between bottle-neck height, thickness, vessel height and diameter. In both types, when the size of the vessel increases, wall thickness, the height of the bottle-neck, and the opening of the rim diameter also increases. With the ja’e vessel type, the significant correlations are between the opening of the rim diameter and its height. For the ja’eniwa vessel type, the correlations occur between height, thickness, bottle-neck and diameter. In other words, the size of the vessel increases in conformity with the wall thickness, bottle-neck height and opening of the rim diameter.
To sum up, these correlations demonstrate that the construction of these vessels follows a pattern and proportionality that are followed by all the Asurini potters. The proportionality between the size of the vessel’s opening diameter and its height is very regular, and the tendency, in the specific case of the japepa’i vessel type, is that the vessels become more rounded with an increase in size. One particularly interesting pattern was that the thickness of the vessel walls also followed the proportionality related to its size. For the Asurini, the thinnest vessel walls are the “prettiest ones,” and potters who can make thin walls are considered the most skilled. However, the statistical analysis demonstrated that, despite their aesthetic preference, they adapt the wall thickness according to the size of the vessel, obeying the same proportionality rules as with the other variables.
The vessel group analysis (clusters) agreed with the results obtained through the correlation graphics and, at the same time, allowed us to make inferences on the relation between the ceramic patterning and the domestic group.
On the dendrogram reported for the jape’e vessel there are three vessel groups that have many similar characteristics. Our conclusion, from the dendrogram analysis, was that the Asurini potters, independently of the domestic group they belong to, produced the vessels in a very similar way, presenting a technological patterning. The same interpretation is evident from the dendrograms of the ja’e and ja’eniwa vessel types (Fig. 15). On the dendrogram of the ja’eniwa type, one can observe that the vessel groupings found at the city of Altamira formed a more homogenous group, reinforcing the idea that there is a technological patterning among the Asurini potters, independent of the domestic group.
This pattern is most evident in the dendrogram related to the japepa’i type. One vessel type that did not fit the general pattern was the ywua, a vessel destined exclusively for sale, according to the potters. This vessel type, found only in the collections at the Indigenous Cultural Center in Altamira, had a great deal of metrical variability, unlike what was seen in the pots made for consumption (Fig. 16). It appears that, when they produce vessels for sale, they do not adhere to the same rules of proportionality seen with the vessels they made for their own use.
In sum, the statistical analysis demonstrates that the Asurini potters present a technological patterning not related to the domestic group, but instead to the teaching–learning structure shared by the women of all domestic groups.
These technological rules, however, do not prevent the women from exercising their individual creativity when producing their vessels. All of them said that they could recognize their own vessels from those of the other potters. According to them, the recognizable traces are found on the rims, base and body. This recognition relies on very subtle categories that, many times, are difficult for the potters to verbalize. I could never identify these differences, and even the potters themselves often found it difficult. This is the reason why it is common for them to carefully store their vessels separately, inside their houses or attached structures, so that they would not get mixed up with vessels made by other women of the same domestic group.
But it seems that it is in the vessels’ painting that their individuality is more clearly manifested. According to Roe (1995: p. 45), “there is no contradiction between subjective individual creativity and traditional prototypes.” Thus, from a determined structure of possibilities offered by the cultural tradition, the Asurini craftswomen can make their individual choices and also transform the production of ceramic objects into “a vehicle of personal experience” (Bunzel 1972: p. 52).
Despite the individual creativity present in the vessels’ painting, one can observe a relationship between the motifs employed by the potter and the specific domestic group she belongs to. According to my informants, there are some arrangements of the tayngava (graphic art structural pattern) that some domestic groups employ more than the others. That is to say, although there is a common repertoire of Asurini graphic art motifs, the domestic groups make use of it in a distinctive manner. They also said that there are motifs whose manufacture and naming are restricted to some women’s knowledge, usually the older ones. But this issue still needs to be explored further, and will be one of my concerns in my future research among the Asurini.
Ceramic Lifecycle within the Asurini do Xingu
Nowadays, the Asurini women have abandoned the traditional usage of most of the ceramic vessels previously used to serve food and store and transport liquids. These have been replaced by several types of industrialized objects such as aluminum pans, plastic jars, plates, cups, bowls and Thermos bottles. Thus, their production has become restricted to vessels to sell to tourists outside the village.
The vessel types that are still used in traditional ways are the japepa’i and the japepa’i/ja’eniwa, ja’e, jape’e and the jape’ei, used, respectively, to cook and serve the stews (for daily consumption or in rituals), roast the flour and make beijus (thin, crisp, rolled manioc flour pancake). On some occasions, one can observe a woman cooking mutum meat and fish on the japepa’i vessel type, but more often the meat is processed and baked in aluminum pans.
According to my informants, the durability of a japepa’i for cooking is about two or three years, and that of a jape’e is from two to four years. However, this use life is quite variable and could be reduced to mere days depending on different factors: intense usage, children’s games, transportation and usage accidents, and failures on the productive process. The women say that the japepa’i is a less durable vessel than the jape’e, since the former is usually used over the fire. In fact, while this vessel is used to cook practically every day, the jape’e is used only once or twice a week to grate the flour or to make beijus (Fig. 17).
It is important to emphasize, however, that even when the vessels are damaged they are reused and acquire a series of other usages on a daily basis. Even the potsherds are recycled—to hold jenipapo (Genipa americana) pigment used on body painting, to serve as a shield on the hearths when the women apply the jatobá resin, or as a vessel support in the firing structures.
The most frequent reuse is when a vessel is used as a pot support in a kitchen fire. Other frequent reuses are the cooking of babassu palm tree oil in a japepa’i type vessel or storing clay and the mahogany bark pigment used to dye cotton fibers, also in a japepa’i type vessel. Cooking and serving pots can also be used to store food products such as corn flour, corn seeds, beads, seeds, instruments, fishing equipment, jatobá resin, charcoal for body painting and cotton; it can also serve as a trashcan.
All of the vessels I saw being used for these purposes were damaged. In the case of the japepa’i, it was possible to identify cracks on their bases or walls and breakages on their rims. On other vessel types, the damage was either cracks in the exterior surface or paint peeling.
Frequency of Use, Storage and Discard of Ceramic Vessels at the Asurini Village
From a systematic survey of the frequency for each residence, I determined that each domestic unit had an average of two japepa’i vessels and one jape’e.Footnote 5 The jape’e is usually a lending object between women of the same domestic group, and as a result its occurrence is typically less than that of the japepa’i.
Although there are a low number of pots used per domestic unit in the village, the Asurini possess a considerable number of stored vessels inside the houses or attached structures. During one of my stays (September–November 1997), 223 vessels were counted in the entire village (including pots reserved for sale and those stored for daily use). There were 16 domestic units in the village during this period, and each household had an average of about 14 vessels of various types. The range of vessels per household, however, was quite large, with some domestic units having up to 30 pots, while others had just 2. This wide range does not result from any socio-economic distinction between the different domestic groups; rather, it is because some women preferred commercial pans. Vessel production was quite low then, and during the 90 days of this research visit only 34 vessels were made.
In contrast, during a follow-up fieldwork visit (March–April 1998, the rainy season), the amount of vessels produced was much higher. In the 60 days I remained in the village, 52 japepa’i, 5 ja’e and 15 vessels of the jape’e type were produced. Household use of the vessels, however, was not too much different as there was an average of 2 jape’e and 3 japepa’i were in use in each domestic unit. Because of increased production, more new vessels were being stored inside the houses or in attached structures for future use. A total of 287 vessels were inventoried during this visit.
The difference between pots that are in use and in storage is related both to vessel use life and production patterns. As I have already mentioned, everyday use vessels are intensively used, frequently broken, reused and recycled. Damaged vessels are not discarded, and they remain in the village to be reused in a variety of functions. They are often stored in a structure attached to the house.
Ritual and symbolism also influence vessel production and the number of pots in storage. Every year, during the corn cropping season (from February to April), the potters devote themselves to the production of new japepa’i type vessels that will be used to cook corn. As mentioned earlier, corn is an extremely important product within the Asurini diet, and its planting involves a series of ritualized activities. Furthermore, it is during the planting season that the ture rites are initiated, and the corn stew is an important food in this activity.
The ceramic vessels are important to the potters not only because of their daily and ritualistic use, but also because pottery production is an activity related to social issues. The teaching–learning structure of ceramic production bonds the women within the same domestic group, while the lending of vessels reinforces the social reciprocity between different domestic groups. One can say that the women identify themselves with their vessels.
This relation between the potters and their vessels is so important that, when a potter dies, her vessels must be broken and thrown away, even those owned by other people. I asked them why it was done and they answered: “it is so that no one keeps remembering her, missing her.” When an Asurini dies, the others are not allowed to pronounce the dead one’s name, because they fear his spirit will return from the world of dead to steal the souls of the living; consequently, it is also necessary to destroy everything that reminds them that person. This process is related to the crucial distinction that the Asurini make between the ones who are alive and those who are dead, between those who have the ynga (vital energy) and are humans (complete, living), and those who are spirits or anynga (divided).
Finally, one can understand the maintenance of the ceramic vessels symbolically as the Asurini’s means to assert their own world view. Thus, the ceramic vessels are not stored just because they are reusable objects, but also because they are objects embedded with symbolic meanings. This way, the ceramic vessels really mark their presence within the village, since we find them and their remains everywhere.
Given this perception of the ceramic vessels, it is interesting to observe that they are often discarded quite randomly. They usually deteriorate in the village and their sherds get scattered through the house interiors, as well as their patios. When the women clean the houses and close areas, these sherds get mixed with other detritus and are taken to the trash areas.
During my stay in the village, I investigated the trash areas and collected surface potsherds. The ceramic remains are usually small, and no entire vessel could be reconstructed. That is, almost the entire vessel is “consumed in the village,” leaving a small part to be discarded in a more definitive manner.
Ceramics and the Tauva Ritual
Among the Asurini, as one can observe, the ceramic production by the women is part of a wider group of activities, and its importance is related not only to the subsistence of the domestic group they belong to, but also to social and ritual life dynamics. In one of my stays in the village (September 1998), I witnessed the performance of the tauva ritual, and it was evident that the ceramic technology is not just an economic activity, but should be understood as a discourse connected to the relations people establish with the material world, with themselves, and between humans and the supernatural world.
The Tauva Rukaia and the Tauva Ritual
As Müller (1990: p. 91) has described, the tauva ritual is part of the ture ritual complex, which is related to “different institutions, such as the initiation of the young ones, war and death celebration.” This ritual takes place between the rainy and the dry seasons, and it begins with the corn harvesting.
The tauva ritual is related to the tauvyma—a mythic character the Asurini identify as the first potter, whose husband was killed by her brother and as a result leaves the human world by throwing herself in the river and being transformed into the supernatural tauva.
The ritual performance takes place on the ceremonial plaza and in the interior of the communal house (tavyva). For many weeks, the women perform many singing and dancing sessions during different hours of the day and night. The ritual is conducted by women shaman who divide themselves between principal and auxiliary shaman. The men dance and perform the ture songs; they play flutes while the women dance. While the women rest between the tauva ritual chanting sessions, the men keep on playing their flutes, and the older ones tell the young men stories of tribal wars they fought in ancient times.
An important activity taking place during the ritual is the production of the great ceramic vessel called tauva rukaia, which is seen as the receptacle or house of the supernatural tauva. This vessel is collectively produced by the women, and its size is around 1.30 m in height and 1.20 m in diameter. Its function is only ritual, and during one stage of the ritual cycle it is used in the rite of passage of the young men. After they have jumped over the pot they assume the social status of young warriors. The vessel is kept inside the center of the communal house (tavyva), next to the sepultures of the dead (Fig. 18).
The tauva ritual is guided and performed by the women, but the theme they sing is the war and the warriors. It is also the moment to cry their dead, much as the tauvyma character has done. Furthermore, the ritual also serves to remember the warriors and to purify them from the enemies’ blood.