Interregional Interaction during Inka Rule: The Production and Circulation of Inka- Pacajes Pottery in Northern Chile

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The provincial ceramic style of Inka-Pacajes, which originated in the Bolivian altiplano, is well-known for its bowls and plates decorated with small black llamas on an orange to red background. It is widely found across the southern Inka Empire (Collasuyu) in contexts that suggest it was circulated by the state. It is thus a possible example of the production and distribution by the Inka of a style originally produced by a conquered polity. Examination of the patterns of production and circulation of Inka-Pacajes pottery can provide insights into how this style may have been used, appropriated, or manipulated by state and local entities during Inka rule. This will be addressed through the chaîne opératoire approach that enables the determination of stylistic and technological variability and possible provenance. From this methodological framework and by combining stylistic, technological, and compositional analyses (petrography and neutron activation analysis) of Inka-Pacajes pottery from the Arica Region in northern Chile, we will contribute to the discussion of the role of pottery, particularly pottery in the styles of conquered

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50628