New year, new publications from REVERSEACTION
Introducing three new journal articles from REVERSEACTION on textiles, metallurgy, and ceramics! Make sure to click the links to read more – all are open access.
A Visual Method to Compare the Quality and Complexity of Archaeological Textiles: The Cotton Mantas of Pre-Hispanic Colombia
Read here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09758-w
This article proposes a formal method for evaluating and comparing the production of archaeological textiles, using complexity and quality as proxies for skill and cost. Drawing on sociology, economics, and material culture studies, it is argued that value is context-dependent, shaped by both intrinsic properties of objects and cultural frameworks. This new method is applied to the study of cotton Guane, Muisca and Nariño mantas from Colombia, also sharing the results of scanning electron microscopy and digital optical microscopy.
Dos mil años de orfebrería Herrera y Muisca: biografías de objetos metálicos en Nueva Esperanza
Read here: https://doi.org/10.22380/26652773.3170
Part of a special issue on the Nueva Esperanza archaeological site in Cundinamarca, Colombia, this article presents the results of scientific analyses (pXRF, SEM, digital optical microscopy), of 140 metal artefacts spanning 2000 years of site occupation.
A method to assess inter- and intra-vessel shape variation in pottery using outline-based geometric morphometrics
Read here: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10323
This article presents a quantitative method for assessing inter- and intra-vessel morphological variation from 3D models using open-source software. Application of this approach is demonstrated through a comparison of vessels from three pre-Hispanic Colombian ware traditions, revealing meaningful patterns in vessel variability.