The Emergence of Pottery Use and its Interpretation: A Case Study from Huaca Negra, Virú Valley, Peru

Summary

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

“Why did people begin to use pottery vessels?” is one of the most compelling questions to archaeologists. As a site witnesses the transition from the Late Preceramic to the Initial Period occupation in the Virú Valley, north coast of Peru, Huaca Negra constitutes an ideal case study to investigate the utilitarian function, cultural traits, and possible social meanings of the first-generation pottery. By putting ceramic remains into the reconstructed spatiotemporal context, the attribute analysis illustrates a clear utilitarian function of this assemblage and its diachronic changes. Both pottery decoration and the petrographic analysis suggest that, although not pursuing consistent or standardized products, ancient potters shared basic ideas of pottery-making, and the shared experience might have facilitated building a sense of community. Investigating “the emergence of pottery use” at Huaca Negra from both economic and social aspects makes the contextualized interpretation possible.

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): 39597.0