Outlines the role of ceramic exchange in the development of pre-Columbian stratified societies on the basis of both analytical and archaeological information. Reviews the history of compositional research on Maya ceramics, based at first on petrographic methods, and relying now on advanced electronics technology. Presents several examples of compositional research on archaeological ceramics that are being conducted to further archaeological understanding of social and economic relationships among the ancient Maya of southern Mexico and Central America. Illustrates the nature or direction of archaeological interpretation that is being pursued through the specific linkage of chemically based paste compositional data to other types of archaeological information. Focuses attention on the effects of sampling and the use of multiple-level archaeological data sets in the Maya world, an area where compositional data, especially from neutron activation analysis, have been derived from several thousand analyses.