Puerto Rico · Coil-built, ground-fired earthenware
Vasija Capo / Alfarería Taína
The coil-building and ground-firing (without a kiln) of Taíno-style earthenware pottery, preserved in its purest documented form by Alice Chéveres at Taller Cabachuelas in rural Torrecillas, a workshop founded in 1984 by her mother Evarín Chéveres. The technique — harvesting clay directly from the surrounding land and firing it on open ground with wood rather than in a kiln — represents one of the archive's clearest cases of continuous, unbroken Indigenous technical practice in the Caribbean, part of a broader documented effort (per Smithsonian coverage, framed as 'Survived by Few') by Taíno, Native, and Afro-Caribbean artisans across Puerto Rico to conserve techniques at genuine risk of extinction.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Not Applicable — no UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage inscription exists for this craft at time of writing
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