Fine China, Flatware, and Crockery: An Archaeological Reexamination of Chincha Domestic Contexts

Summary

This paper considers how material culture reflects the manipulation and creation of identity through a reexamination of the Chincha ceramic typology using ceramic vessels recovered from two mid- Chincha Valley domestic contexts dating to the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (1000-1400 AD) and the Late Horizon (LH) (1400-1532 AD). The Chincha Kingdom was an extensive and powerful trading polity that emerged during the LIP and continued into the LH. Previous studies identify three distinct zones within the lower-Chincha Valley (administration sector, coastal fishing district, and agricultural area), however not much is known about peoples living outside the central hubs of the Chincha Kingdom. The materials presented here derive from a series of systematic site surveys or two mid-valley domestic contexts conducted in 2014. The current analysis revealed a wide variety of vessel forms and a collection of stylistic motifs that provide insights into the construction of the social and political identities of these communities. This paper explores these different ceramic motifs and vessel forms to ascertain how the groups inhabiting these domestic sites identified themselves.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Archaeological Research in the Chincha Valley, Southern Peru

Keywords

Spatial Coverage