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The hilltop center of La Quemada in the Malpaso Valley of Zacatecas, Mexico, was the focal point of one of several polities that developed along the northern frontier of Mesoamerica during the Epiclassic period (AD 500-900). Northern frontier polities are known to have interacted due to their shared material culture (ie, patiobanquette complexes, colonnaded halls, and the exchange of obsidian and shell products), but the mechanism (s) of this interaction are not fully understood. Ceramic wares, such as red-on-buff, incised-engraved, and resist, are also widely distributed across the region and provide a means of analyzing past social networks. What remains unknown is whether northern frontier wares are distinct types produced and consumed locally or if they were produced in one polity and consumed in another. Answering this question using methods of ceramic characterization will determine if regional ceramic traditions were the result of exchange networks or the development of a shared ideology that was materialized in ceramic style.