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<p>The production and circulation of Inka ceramics were central to structuring negotiations between the Inka state and local communities annexed to Tawantinsuyu, as well as to strategies of imperial legitimization and control. Archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence indicates that distinctive Inka ceramics—such as <i>urpus</i> (or aríbalos) and shallow plates, often decorated with polychrome designs—were used in the provinces to emphasize the state’s role as both a symbolic and material sponsor. Studies of Inka ceramic production show that potters were relocated throughout the empire to provincial administrative centers and production enclaves, including in Qullasuyu, the southeastern sector of Tawantinsuyu. However, the limited identification of Inka-style pottery production sites in Qullasuyu, together with the scarcity of regional analyses of ceramic technology, has hindered our understanding of the origins of Inka vessels circulating in the southern provinces—specifically whether they were produced in centralized workshops, locally produced, imported, or resulted from multiple production strategies. Using ceramic petrographic analysis and neutron activation analysis, this study shows that Inka ceramic production and circulation in one region of Qullasuyu was more complex than previously assumed. The results highlight the compositional diversity of Inka-style ceramics associated with the Arica–Carangas macroregion, spanning present-day northern Chile and western Bolivia, revealing that multiple strategies of production and distribution operated within this province. This diversity reflects varied production origins, interpreted as the material expression of differentiated circulation and distribution networks of Inka-style pottery across the southern provinces. Overall, the findings support the absence of a centralized system of pottery production, provide no evidence for local manufacture in the study area, and suggest that vessels circulated through multiple, differentiated networks of interaction.</p>

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Production and provenance of Inka pottery in Qullasuyu: petrographic and geochemical evidence from the Arica-Carangas macroregion (northern Chile and western Bolivia)

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月24日

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  • Ester Echenique,
  • James Davenport,
  • Frances M. Hayashida,
  • Thibault Saintenoy,
  • Calogero Santoro,
  • Joselline Quijada,
  • Paloma Arellano,
  • Brandi L. MacDonald,
  • Suzanne Eckert

摘要

The production and circulation of Inka ceramics were central to structuring negotiations between the Inka state and local communities annexed to Tawantinsuyu, as well as to strategies of imperial legitimization and control. Archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence indicates that distinctive Inka ceramics—such as urpus (or aríbalos) and shallow plates, often decorated with polychrome designs—were used in the provinces to emphasize the state’s role as both a symbolic and material sponsor. Studies of Inka ceramic production show that potters were relocated throughout the empire to provincial administrative centers and production enclaves, including in Qullasuyu, the southeastern sector of Tawantinsuyu. However, the limited identification of Inka-style pottery production sites in Qullasuyu, together with the scarcity of regional analyses of ceramic technology, has hindered our understanding of the origins of Inka vessels circulating in the southern provinces—specifically whether they were produced in centralized workshops, locally produced, imported, or resulted from multiple production strategies. Using ceramic petrographic analysis and neutron activation analysis, this study shows that Inka ceramic production and circulation in one region of Qullasuyu was more complex than previously assumed. The results highlight the compositional diversity of Inka-style ceramics associated with the Arica–Carangas macroregion, spanning present-day northern Chile and western Bolivia, revealing that multiple strategies of production and distribution operated within this province. This diversity reflects varied production origins, interpreted as the material expression of differentiated circulation and distribution networks of Inka-style pottery across the southern provinces. Overall, the findings support the absence of a centralized system of pottery production, provide no evidence for local manufacture in the study area, and suggest that vessels circulated through multiple, differentiated networks of interaction.