Results of a Pilot Study on Wari and Loro Ceramic Pigments from Southern Peru

Summary

In this poster we summarize the results of a pilot study applying LA-ICP-MS analysis to the pigments of 50 Middle Horizon (AD 750-1000) ceramic sherds, with the goal of investigating shared ceramic technologies between people of the Wari and Loro cultures. The sample was taken from four sites: one local site in the Nasca region (Huaca del Loro), and three Wari sites, two located in the Nasca region (Pataraya and Pacheco) and one in the highlands (Jincamocco). INAA conducted on the same sherds has revealed a similarity in paste composition between Loro and Wari ceramics. This is particularly interesting as 1) this paste source may have had symbolic significance to the Nasca, and 2) the relationship between Wari and Loro peoples appears otherwise strained, though there are indications that the local Nasca culture received some deference from the Wari. In this study we ask whether Loro and Wari potters also shared pigment recipes, with implications for how extensively potters interacted, shared their technological practices (and possibly meanings), and how the Wari presence might have influenced Loro access to pigments. The answer to this question will in turn inform broader understandings regarding the interactions of these two groups.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20179