Assessing the Production of Middle Horizon “Pachacamac” Style Pottery from Pachacamac, Peru using Petrography

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas, Production Practices and Social Networks from Multilevel Angles" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The “Pachacamac” style has been identified on the central and north coasts of Peru during the Middle Horizon. It is characterized by thin-walled and high-fired ceramics, restricted to serving vessel forms, and decorated with polychrome motifs that share iconography with both other contemporaneous Middle Horizon styles and with contemporary Lima and Nieveria ceramics from the central coast. On the central coast, it is found infrequently and is generally restricted to elite contexts, raising questions about its local production in that region. Production of “Pachacamac” style ceramics at a different Wari location outside the central coast would support a connection between local elites and a broader Wari network. Alternatively, local production may indicate an independent adoption of Wari iconography and ideology. This study examines the production of “Pachacamac” style pottery from Max Uhle’s excavations at the site of Pachacamac in the Lurín valley of Peru’s central coast using thin section petrography, in combination with data from neutron activation analysis. The data are compared with those from other styles of pottery from Pachacamac as well as pottery from other Wari centers.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas, Production Practices and Social Networks from Multilevel Angles

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50932