(Re)constructing the Social Structure of Society at Cerro Tortolita through Its Ceramic Assemblage

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Developments through Time on the South Coast of Peru: In Memory of Patrick Carmichael" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this study I use the ceramic assemblage at Cerro Tortolita as a means of addressing issues related to social differentiation. Cerro Tortolita is an Early Intermediate period site occupied from about AD 250–450 in the Upper Ica Valley on the south coast of Peru. It includes a large ceremonial component as well as a sizeable residential area, and its Early Nasca style ceramics suggest that it was a participant in a pilgrimage and ceremonial network based at the neighboring site of Cahuachi in the Nasca Valley. In a previous study of the ceramic assemblage from the Ceremonial Zone of Cerro Tortolita I found evidence of feasting in restricted-access ceremonial contexts as well as in a large public plaza. Recent excavations in the Primary Residential Zone of the site now permit a comparison of assemblages between the two zones to further study the social structure at the site. Ceramics provide an important line of evidence in determining whether religious authority was (1) restricted to the Ceremonial Zone and (2) correlated with other types of power, such as political or economic. Through focusing on commoner contexts this study includes them as actors in the construction of their own societies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Developments through Time on the South Coast of Peru: In Memory of Patrick Carmichael   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32101