Pottery is one of the main productions of the pre-Columbian cultures in the Mesoamerican area. Among the others, the estucado pottery represents a very particular type of ceramic, widespread in Maya territory but still never investigated systematically. The peculiarity of this ceramic lies in the unusual application of the color decoration and in the excellent conservation conditions. Seventeen ceramic fragments from El Salvador have been analysed by Raman spectroscopy, SEM/EDS and XRPD, both as fragments and in cross-sections, in order to investigate the manufacturing technique and to understand the good and unexpected conservation state. In both cases, the presence and the chemical nature of a thin white layer (engobe)
between the ceramic bulk and the colored decorations seems to be determinant
