British Ceramics, Indigenous Miners, and the Commercialization of Daily Practice in Late Colonial Huancavelica

Summary

Throughout the 18th century, indigenous Andean miners at the Huancavelica mercury mine increasingly entered into wage labor agreements with Spanish mine owners in order to avoid the harsher conditions of the mita labor draft. This shift from forced to free labor increased the circulation of specie within the mining community, and as a result, the miners began increasingly participating in local, regional, and global markets. Drawing upon recent excavations at the indigenous mining settlement of Santa Barbara, this paper examines the role of British material culture in household consumption among the indigenous miners. Our analysis indicates that British ceramics complemented, rather than replaced Spanish and Andean vessels. However, the introduction of these new vessel forms coincided with the development of new dining practices, reflecting the increasing commercialization of daily life in Late Colonial Peru. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• British Ceramics in Indigenous, Colonial, and Post-Independence Latin America   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 453