Botijas and the Black Pacific: Stylistic and pXRF Analysis of Amphorae produced by Enslaved Potters at Early-Modern Nasca, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Botijas were the universal packaging for dry and liquid goods transported throughout the global Iberian empires of the Early Modern world. Heirs to the potting traditions of Mediterranean amphorae, these vessels are the most ubiquitous ceramics at Spanish colonial sites in the Americas. We present new research combining stylistic analysis and Portable X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (pXRF) to examine ceramic traditions among enslaved African-descendant potters tasked with producing botijas at vineyard estates on the southern Pacific coast of Peru. From the early seventeenth century through the mid-eighteen century, these ceramicists produced botijas matching dominant Iberian forms, while motifs exhibit a range of innovative attributes. Botija setters resonate with Atlantic African decorative traditions. Preliminary pXRF analysis aids in our understanding of the development of these traditions and the organization of enslaved potters at the haciendas of the Nasca region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37816.0