Imperial-Style Ceramic Production on a Royal Estate in the Inka Heartland (Cuzco, Peru)

Abstract

Horizontal excavations at the large Inka heartland village of Cheqoq (Maras, Cuzco, Peru) revealed the remains of a ceramic workshop where imperial-style vessels were produced (AD 1400–1530s). Cheqoq was a multiethnic settlement of forcibly migrated retainer laborers working for the noble lineage of the Inka ruler, Wayna Qhapaq. Production of imperial-style pottery in a small workshop associated with a royal lineage indicates that the heartland craft economy was not centralized in the urban Cuzco capital. The material remains of in situ production—raw materials, manufacturing facilities, tools, and by-products—provide a baseline for comparing other Inka pottery assemblages to this production locus.

Prosperity and prestige: Archaeological realities of unfree laborers under Inka imperialism

“…Flotation samples were taken in each context and yielded botanical, ceramic, and faunal remains. At Cheqoq, horizontal excavations were in domestic areas, storehouses (Covey et al, 2016), and a pottery workshop (Quave, 2017). The present analysis derives from the six intensively sampled domestic areas (152 m 2 , with 64.45 m 3 of sediment volume; Areas G, H, M, N, and R) within the 12-ha domestic sector of Cheqoq (Figure 3).…”

“…For comparison, of all decorated sherds, just 18 percent at Pukara Pantillijlla was Cuzco-Inka style and just 23.6 percent at Ak'awillay was Cuzco-Inka (Quave and Covey, 2015: 120). A complicating factor is that Cheqoq was also a settlement where some yanakuna were specialist potters making Cuzco-Inka wares (Quave, 2017). The proportions of Inka pottery there are higher than other core sites and substantially higher than at Yanawilka, yet the Cheqoq laborers were restricted from use of imperial goods in significant ways.…”

The Economic Transformation of the Inca Heartland (Cuzco, Peru) in the Late Sixteenth Century

“…The warm gullies that punctuate the plateau are favorable for maize agriculture in areas where irrigation water is available. The early colonial population of San Francisco de Maras included Inca retainers taken from several provinces, as well as local communities (Covey and Amado González 2008; Quave 2012). Although the document is incomplete, we registered individual repartition data for ninety-five individuals from three ayllus in Maras—Pichingoto, Checoc y Saño, and Muynapampa.…”