Cajamarca Ceramic Spoons from Northern Peru: Forming a Symbolic Function (original) (raw)
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Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2013
The location of domestic pottery production is central to archaeological narratives. Yet too often, unfounded assumptions are made about place of production, especially in relation to place(s) of distribution and use. Only rarely is this geography of production and distribution explored in detail and with perspective. Here, we investigate this problem in the context of the Peruvian Andes. We present the results of extensive ethnoarchaeological research on the manufacture of domestic vessels in over thirty villages with potters in Northern Peru. Drawing on the ethnographic concept of technical style, we identify three tendencies on the relationships between toolkits, manufacturing techniques, geographic units, and exchange. From these tendencies we develop two models of domestic pottery production and distribution: the local production model and the non-local production model, which are applied in analysis of archaeological materials. While this distinction is apparently simple, we demonstrate how the explicit or implicit use of each of these models has shaped some of the most important debates and issues in Andean archaeology. In sum, we explain how understandings of the manufacture, exchange, and use of plainware impacts narratives about the pre-colonial past.
This thesis presents a typology for Formative Period ceramic styles from the Jequetepeque and adjacent valleys. The materials in question have historically been considered as Chavín or Coastal Chavín and more recently as Cupisnique, however, these terms remain vague and ill-defined. Other stylistic labels have also been applied (notably Chongoyape and Tembladera) but a lack of definition means that the use of these terms remains contradictory. Few attempts have been made to systematically consider let alone classify the artistic diversity of Formative Period North Peruvian ceramics. The first point raised in the course of this research is that not all these ceramics should be grouped under one monolithic label. There is a huge amount of diversity that can make generalised stylistic descriptions problematic. This research addressed this issue by using a quantitative multivariate approach. Statistical tests applied to the thesis dataset (c.900 ceramics) identified statistically significant combinations in the permutations used to classify variables such as chamber-shape, 3D-sculpting, handle-shape, spout-shape and spout-rim, the application of different kinds of paint, and the use of surface-texturing techniques, amongst others. The recurring of specific and mutually exclusive combinations of traits strongly indicates distinct manufacturing processes (chaînes opératoires) that in turn point to separate cultural traditions of ceramic-making. In particular, the identification and classification of two distinct handle-spout types and their consistent co-occurrence with other formal and decorative techniques are decisive in defining distinct ceramic styles. Within the Formative Period North Peruvian ceramic complex, two ceramic classes and seven types are thereby classified, plus a number of varieties. Through comparison with archaeological data, it was possible to assign some of these to geographical and/or chronological ranges, while also revealing a complex and fluctuating situation of ceramic-making and exchanging of techniques and motifs in the past.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022
This paper challenges the still-popular use of territory, materiality, genetics, and linguistics to define a homogeneous and stable shared identity (or "diffuse unity") for the Isthmo-Colombian Area. Using the communities of practice and communities of consumption concepts, we suggest that the distribution of pottery was the result of practices related to production, exchange, and use of pottery, and not necessarily ethnic affiliation. This research is based on compositional and technological characterization of 117 ceramic samples through neutron activation analysis (NAA) and thin section analysis to identify the recipes people used in the Late Pre-Columbian period (AD 700-1500). Results show the different articulation of communities of potters and communities of consumption in Central and Eastern Panama. The analysis introduces more dynamic representations of the past by focusing on the value of consuming imported pottery for culinary, ritual, and political events for different pre-Columbian groups.
2019
Pottery production and consumption are social processes maintained through daily practices, which articulate communities, landscapes, and political economies (Bray 2009; Costin 2011; Sillar 2000). If material objects play central roles in colonialism and imperialism (Gosden 2004; Khatchadourian 2016), then pottery, can offer insight into people’s daily lives and negotiations within imperial contexts. In this paper, I examine transformations in political economy and daily life under empire in Peru’s Chachapoyas region, through the lens of ceramic analysis. Specifically, I focus on ceramic production and procurement practices by examining ceramic paste (the mixture of clay and inclusions), finishing techniques (i.e. surface treatment), and firing practices (i.e. sherd core color). Analyses of these attributes allow researchers to identify temporal and spatial variation in potting (i.e. pottery production). My aim is not only to trace the transformations but to highlight the continuities of pottery production in this region. Presented here are the results of attribute analysis conducted on ceramics collected from the site of Purun Llaqta del Maino (PLM), located on the eastern side of the Utcubamba River Valley (Figure 1). This site dates to the Late Intermediate Period (ca. 1200-1470), Late Horizon (ca. 1470- 1535) and early Spanish colonial periods (ca.1535-1650) and is thus well-suited for studying the local impacts of two successive waves of imperialism. By situating these technical, social, and daily practices within the larger context of Inka and Spanish imperial policies, I ask: Did Inka and Spanish resettlement campaigns and broader shifts in political economy, affect regional pottery production and daily life at Purun Llaqta del Maino? Through the careful analysis of 431 sherds, I found that there are some changes in regional potting practices, but earlier potting traditions are not lost and even preferred today. This research illustrates that imperial impacts are not always drastic and definitive but can also include subtle and minimal shifts. Thus, these results challenge problematic narratives of acculturation that assume the disappearance of traditional lifeways.
Craft consumption in Early Nasca (ca. A.D. 1-450) society is explored by evaluating the use of polychrome pottery within the context of a residential village. Data are presented from the Early Nasca village, Marcaya, where excavations utilizing a household archaeology approach revealed that most polychromes were consumed by households with high and low sta- tus alike, while certain vessel shapes were reservedfor high-status households. These findings challenge the common assump- tion that highly valued crafts were monopolized by elites in middle-range societies, and show instead that there is a potential demand for crafts by both elites and commoners. It is argued that polychrome pottery was broadly used in Nasca because it was integral to ritual consumption that first took place in feasting ceremonies at the regional center Cahuachi, while cer- tain vessel types were restricted to high-status households that acted as intermediaries between Cahuachi and the village. Spanish abstract: Recientemente, los arque6logos han dirigido su atencidn mds al uso de los productos artesanales en las sociedades de caci- cazgos. Los estudios han demostrado que el uso de estos productos en las culturas prehispdnicasfue mucho mds complicado de lo que se habia previamente sugerido. No obstante, los andlisis han tendido a favorecer estudios con un enfoque al con- sumo de las dlites. Este articulo explora cdmo los productos artesenales fueron utilizados por las dlites y los plebeyos. El enfoque es la sociedad Nasca Temprano (1-450 d. C.) donde se evallia el consumo de la cerdmica policroma dentro del con- texto de Marcaya, una aldea residencial. Las investigaciones que utilizan la perspectiva de la arqueologia domdstica reve- laron que una cerdmica policroma fue utilizada por individuos de estatus alto y bajo. Por otro lado, ciertos tipos de vasijas fueron reservados para las dlites. Se sugiere que debido a su uso ritual, la cerdmica policroma disfrutd de una distribucio'n extensa en la sociedad Nasca Temprana, tanto en las aldeas como en los centros ceremoniales como Cahuachi, donde fue usada en las ceremonias. Los resultados del estudio tienen implicaciones para nuestra comprensidn del modo de incorpo- racidn de los productos artesanales en las economias de las sociedades de cacicazgos.
Latin American Antiquity, 2023
The distribution and hybridization of ceramic vessels provide insights into how local elites and imperial officials navigated imperial expansion. This article presents data on ceramic sherds from the sites of La Centinela and Las Huacas in the Chincha Valley that date to the period of Inca occupation (AD 1400-1532). In Chincha, the Inca established a style of joint rule in which Inca and local authority were closely aligned. The ceramic data demonstrate that Inca imperial designs and diagnostic shapes were most numerous in contexts associated with direct Inca presence and that the types of vessels and designs that elites used to develop their authority differed among the contexts: hybrid material culture thus varied throughout the Chincha Valley. These different hybrid material cultures include state-sponsored hybrid wares (Inca vessels, on which the Inca intentionally integrated Chincha designs) and local vessel shapes on which elites used Inca symbols and vessel shapes to assert their status to a mostly local audience.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
In this article, we examine the role of pottery production in social and community integration processes during the Late Intermediate period (ca. CE 1000-1450). We explore this relationship through a case study of Yavi-Chicha ceramics from the aggregated community of Chipihuayco, Bolivia, in the Chicha region. Through a combined approach based on macroscopic and petrographic analyses, we reconstruct the chaînes opératoires and determine technological styles in the production of both smoothed and polished/decorated vessels. The results are discussed in relation to different approaches to the idea of community and group identity within the context of corporate political strategies and decentralized institutions during the Late Intermediate period. This community-level analysis demonstrates that potters or groups of potters who aggregated at Chipihuayco shared substantial technological choices and at the same time followed their own ways of producing ceramics-expressed in fundamental technological variability. We conclude that potters and the people who participated in the chaînes opératoires were involved in a broader dynamic process of interaction and continuous negotiation through their engagement in production practices, leading to community and social integration. Further, group and community affiliation was also continually redefined through consumption practices in the context of political commensalism.