Abstract
This chapter aims to integrate archaeological and ethnoarchaeological research on ceramic production in the Lake Titicaca basin. Drawing on over 60 years of scholarship exploring the early stages of ceramic manufacture, we examine the acquisition of clays at quarries and the subsequent processing of these raw materials. Investigations into clay quarries have often focused on the availability of raw materials appropriate for pottery production. This research has included pedestrian survey for clays and sediments, and geochemical and mineralogical work on the quality of clays (Bishop et al. 1982; Neff et al. 1992). While such work is unquestionably useful (and unfortunately still rare in some regions), the dynamic nature of clays makes defining historic and prehistoric sources difficult. As a result, many archaeologists have considered these early technical stages through other means. For instance, research on prehistoric ceramics has long included careful analysis of ceramic pastes—the mixture of the aplastic inclusions and the plastic clay components of ceramics (for a good summary, see Arnold 2000). These findings have permitted for variability in local recipes to be correlated with regional and sometimes local deposits. In this work some have deployed sophisticated analytical tools in the laboratory to examine the techno-functional aspects of particular technological choices at quarry sites. This research has tended to focus on the relative performance of particular materials under a range of conditions (Bronitsky and Hamer 1986; Skibo et al. 1989; Summerhayes 1997).
Arcillas and Alfareros: Clays and potters
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Notes
- 1.
Like elsewhere in the Andes (including Pucará), Taraco villagers consume clay as a condiment during communal potato roasts called watiyas.
- 2.
Dean Arnold noted deposits of clay and tempers that varied both vertically and over great horizontal distances in Quinua (Peru). His work in Ticul (Mexico) found raw materials that were much more homogenous, while not as widely distributed (Arnold 2000: 340). The Taraco case here appears to offer both homogeneity and fairly wide horizontal distribution.
- 3.
Similar stone or ceramic disks have not been recovered from prehistoric ceramic production areas at Pukara. However, large stone slabs may have been used as bases or platforms for producing coil-built pottery (e.g. Klarich 2005, Block 3 excavations).
- 4.
Although archaeologists continue to use standardized categories when examining raw materials, paste preparation often “does not conform nicely to immutable definitions of “clay” and “temper” as plastic and added non-plastic respectively. Rather potters are interested in modifying the paste so that they can successfully make pots with it” (Arnold 1998: 355).
- 5.
Some historical archaeology projects have had some success. For instance, Stahl et al.’s (2008) compositional work in Ghana included raw materials from abandoned clay pits and galleries. These were likely accessed in the last 100 years and could not be accurately dated (Stahl, personal communication 2011). See also Arnold and Bohor (1977).
- 6.
This may draw comparison to the ethnographic work of Cruikshank (2005), who has written of the dynamic geological places associated with Northern Canadian communities. Cruikshank writes of First Nations’ oral histories of “surging glaciers,” shifting ice flows that are named animistic entities with cultural histories.
- 7.
It could also be expected that changes in larger scale sociopolitical organization (e.g. from hacienda-controlled to community-owned sources) would impact how sources are named, who accesses them, and their relationship to community (vs. individual) identity (also discussed in Sillar 1997). Clearly a much more dynamic understanding of larger political and environmental processes is required both in long-term archaeological and short-term historical processes.
- 8.
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to the editors for their invitation to participate in the SAA symposium and this publication. As the only contributors dealing with clay and temper sources we often felt a little out of our element, but their encouragement motivated us to think more deeply about shared concerns relating to ancient mining practices across material types. Roddick would like to thank the communities of the Taraco Peninsula (particularly San Jose and Coacollu) and all members of the Taraco Archaeological Project (directors Dr. Christine Hastorf and Dr. Matthew Bandy) within which this ongoing research is based. Research in raw materials on the Taraco Peninsula could not have proceeded without support from the National Science Foundation, the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Dirección Nacional de Arqueología y Antropología de Bolivia (DINAAR). Klarich would like to thank the following: the many generous potters of Pucará (particularly the Ttacca family); the Instituto Nacional de Cultura office in Puno; David Oshige, Barbara Carbajal, Matthew Wilhelm, Luis Flores, and Nancy Román; and Roberto Ramos and his students at the UNA-Puno. Funding was provided by the Heinz Foundation (2006), Wenner Gren (2008–2010), the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA (2009–2010), and Smith College (2010).
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Roddick, A., Klarich, E. (2013). Arcillas and Alfareros: Clay and Temper Mining Practices in the Lake Titicaca Basin. In: Tripcevich, N., Vaughn, K. (eds) Mining and Quarrying in the Ancient Andes. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5200-3_5
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