Although we may consider the Guarani culture, seen in a general way, as a manifestation of a prescriptive society, analyses and interpretation of the ceramic vessels, made by the Guarani potters in the past, show a strong attachment to well defined stylistic and technological rules. We understand that, actually, some aspects, as form and function, were critical for the vessels to be accept and this way granted their adequate use, either in daily activities or in rituals along time. On the other hand, however, it is possible to find some cases where there were some changes in the vessels which show the ceramists' competence and desire to innovate. Our aim is to show, by observing examples of innovations in a collection of fragments and vessels found in an archaeological site by the banks of the Pelotas River, on the borders of the States of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, by the end of the 1990's, when archaeologist were conducting a cultural resources survey and excavations in advance to a construction of a reservoir. The ceramics obtained in the site shows an authentic 'idea factory'. Thus, we believe it to be possible to recover fundamental information for a fully comprehension of the Guarani ceramics found in our archaeological research helping to understand what makes it unique and, at the sames time, so diverse.
Ceramics; Guarani; Archaeology
