Exploring Interethnic Relations in Southern Ecuador through a Comparative Study of Ceramic Production Technologies in the Late Precolumbian Era

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Andean and Amazonian Ceramics: Advances in Technological Studies" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

An important component of Inca statecraft involved the practice of uprooting communities from their home territories and relocating them to distant locales. Ethnohistoric documents indicate that southern Ecuador was densely populated by such transplanted populations, among whom were included specialists dedicated to state pottery production. Our recently initiated study in the Ecuadorian Austro addresses the question of whether ethnic integration occurred as a consequence of this imperial policy of resettlement. Our approach involves a focus on techniques of manufacture used to produce Inca and local Cañari pottery found in this region. Previous research indicates that Indigenous potters relied on a unique vessel-shaping method that involved the use of a paddle-and-anvil type technique. This paper reports on the preliminary results of our analysis of the processes involved in the production of local Cañari and imperial Inca ceramics. These findings shed light on who was producing Inca pottery and how; whether Inca pottery production by mitmaqkuna operated in isolation from, or in more integrated fashion with, local pottery-producers; and whether exchanges of production techniques, vessel forms, or decorative styles occurred. The study provides new insights into the social dynamics engendered by the massive program of forced relocation undertaken by the Inca.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Andean and Amazonian Ceramics: Advances in Technological Studies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35568.0