The ceramic production at Cartagena de Indias before and after the European conquest

The sample studied includes 34 ceramic individuals, 25 of which come from the Convento de Santo Domingo in Cartagena, and the others belong to the indigenous styles of Malibú (recovered at Zambrano -private collection-) and Tairona (from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta area -unknown location-). The major part of the material chosen for this study comes from the archaeological investigation at the Convento de Santo Domingo started in 2000. The date of the building is not clear. Even if there is information about the presence of a Dominican building in the western part of the city from the mid-16th century, the convent was completed only at the end of the 18th century. Most of the ceramic individuals belong to the 17th century and, therefore, to an advanced phase of interactions between colonists and indigenous people when majolica production started in Cartagena.