Mapping Pottery: Tracking technological style on the Taraco Peninsula, Bolivia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While archaeologists in the last decade have made significant advances to the archaeology of Tiwanaku and the surrounding Lake Titicaca Basin in present day Bolivia, much remains unknown about the everyday domestic practices leading up to the rise of the Tiwanaku state. Moreover, few studies globally have attempted to explore the advanced use of GIS analyses for ceramics spatially at an inter-site level. Moving beyond the traditional research focus on monumental architecture in the basin, this research poster presents a preliminary analysis of Late Formative (200 BC- 450 AD) plainware ceramics from three domestic sites in the region. I trace the spatial and temporal distribution of technological attributes, including paste, form, surface treatment, and finish within and across Kala Uyuni, Sonaji, and Kumi Kipa using GIS. I will explore the processes and changes in crafts production at these three sites, cross comparing their expressions of local practices, both shared and differentiated between them. This study addresses the applicability of GIS-based approaches to ceramic assemblages, and the challenges of working with data collected at multiple levels of resolution.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33051