Constructing Technical Identity among Past and Present Potters’ Communities in the Talina Valley, Southern Bolivia

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.

Ceramic studies, particularly those based on ethnographic data, have demonstrated the relationship between technological choices and identity construction. However, this crossover can be challenging as identity is generally self-defined. This relationship is only possible if we understand technology as a social phenomenon that integrates material, social, and symbolic components, which enables understanding certain choices as deliberate expressions of social identity. In this sense, the concept of technical identity is useful as it incorporates different facets of pottery identity, which implies an intricate set of boundaries or networks of social interaction. We explore how technical identity can be approached from a multi-scale perspective, incorporating ethnographic, archaeological, and archaeometric data. Our goal is to integrate (1) the study of technological traditions through time, (2) the construction of possible communities of practice, and (3) their impact on processes of social and regional integration. The Chicha Region and in particular the Talina Valley, in southern Andean Bolivia, offer an excellent setting to explore this issue as it was a densely occupied area in precolonial times and an area of active pottery production, both past and present.

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): 37216.0