Aryballos, Bowls, and Bolas: Examining the Distribution of Provincial Inka-Style Pottery in the Threatened Borderland Region of the Valles Cruceños

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Alfareros deste Inga: Pottery Production, Distribution and Exchange in the Tawantinsuyu" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As the violent threat posed by the marauding Chiriguanos emerged in the terminal decades of Tawantinsuyu, the Inkas and their local allies made a concerted push to turn the southeastern imperial frontier into a strategically fortified zone and enhance their ability to repel the lowland invaders. Within the vulnerable valles cruceños, this led to the establishment of numerous fortresses and the development of the tampu site of Pulquina Arriba into a small administrative center. Despite the efforts to consolidate their hold over the region through such infrastructural investments, the Inkas seem to have disseminated relatively little of their imperial-style material culture across the valles cruceños. This represented a notable contrast to the patterns observed among Inka settlements in adjacent territories, even those similarly at risk from the hostile incursions of the Chiriguanos. In this talk, I will (1) discuss the characteristics and contexts of such ceramics recovered within the Pulquina Arriba area, (2) review the broader spatial distribution of Inka-style pottery across the valles cruceños, and (3) consider the implications these local and regional patterns have for our understanding of the targeted use of imperial material culture in the embattled southeastern borderland region of Tawantinsuyu.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Alfareros deste Inga: Pottery Production, Distribution and Exchange in the Tawantinsuyu

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26226