Preliminary Compositional Analysis of Raw Clays and Ceramic Pastes from the Callejón de Huaylas, Highland Ancash, Peru (ca. 200-800 CE)

Summary

Located in north-central Peru, the highland Ancash region sits at an important geographic and scholarly intersection. Despite its position as a main thoroughfare between the northern and southern sierra, it is often neglected during discussions of the increased interregional interaction of the Middle Horizon (ca. 700-1000 CE). This period is characterized by the expansion of the Wari state out of the south highlands. There remains much to be known about the Middle Horizon in highland Ancash, particularly the involvement of local groups in trade networks. Here we present the preliminary results of compositional analysis of ceramic pastes and raw clays undertaken at the Field Museum’s Elemental Analysis Facility in order to shed light on the organization of production and the movement of pottery prior to and during Wari expansion. Our ceramic samples span the Early Intermediate Period (ca. 1-700 CE), including Recuay style fancy kaolinite wares, and the Middle Horizon, and were obtained from eight different sites in the Callejón de Huaylas region. By including such a broad sample, we tentatively identify zones of production and propose further testable hypotheses about the nature of interaction during the Middle Horizon.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16063