Tracing the clay source of Nasca polychrome pottery: results from a preliminary raw material survey

Pottery production, regional exchange, and state collapse during the Middle Horizon (A.D.500–1000): LA-ICP-MS analyses of Tiwanaku pottery in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

“…Chemical characterization of archaeological materials is now routinely used to investigate the production and movement of goods in the past, and has been particularly effectively applied to studies of obsidian and pottery as well as to metals and glass (Arnold et al 1991;Burger et al 1994;Burger et al 1998aBurger et al , 1998bBurger et al , 1998cBurger 2000;Burger and Glascock 2000;Cecil 2004;Glascock et al 2007;Gliozzo and Memmi Turbanti 2004;Gratuze 1999;Kennett et al 2004;Kennett et al 2001;Mallory-Greenough et al 1998;Mirti et al 2004;Niedershlag et al 2003;Perez-Arantegui et al 1996;Shortland 2002;Tykot 1997;Vaughn and Neff 2004). Studies identifying the presence of non-local goods contribute to interpretations of long-distance trade and interaction in a wide geographical and temporal range of archaeological contexts.…”

“…Using the ''Criterion of Abundance'' those ceramics that are chemically distinct from the majority are assumed to be imports (Bishop et al 1982: 300-301). However, several studies have sought to empirically connect finished ceramic vessels with the area in which they were produced by attempting to locate clays and compare their chemical signatures with those of archaeological ceramics (Adan-Bayewitz and Perlman 1985; Bartlett et al 2000;Dorais et al 2004;Hein et al 2004;Neff et al 1992;Phillips and Morgenstein 2002;Sharratt et al 2009;Sherriff et al 2002;Strazicich 1998;Vaughn and Neff 2004). Such comparisons are not straightforward.…”

Iron isotope analysis of red and black pigments on pottery in Nasca, Peru

“…Previously, one of us (KJV) has argued that the majority (approximately 80 %) of Early Nasca polychrome finewares, a pottery type found at residential sites in the southern Nasca region, were produced at Cahuachi (Vaughn et al 2006;Vaughn and Van Gijseghem 2007). In particular, the clay pastes of these Nasca finewares are similar in chemical composition to a clay adobe collected near Cahuachi, but unlike clays collected elsewhere (Vaughn and Neff 2004). By extension, most fineware pots were presumably painted at Cahuachi as well.…”

“…Two samples come from Mina Primavera (see , described above, and one each from three other locations. The latter samples were collected by KJV and JWE during surveys of the Nasca region (see Eerkens et al 2009;Vaughn and Neff 2004) at localities near or within modern or recently abandoned copper and gold mining operations. The majority of these iron oxide samples appear to represent gossans of copper or other ore deposits, which could have been exploited for pigments in prehispanic times.…”

El análisis composicional en el estudio de la producción y distribución de la cerámica prehispánica

“…Sin embargo, estudios recientes realizados en los valles de Moche, Santa y Lurín son prometedores en la diferenciación de fuentes de arcilla entre valles vecinos e incluso del mismo valle (Makowski et al, 2008;Chapdelaine et al, 2009). Estudios preliminares como éstos deben ser complementados con exploraciones, muestreos y pruebas de arcillas en el área de estudio -como los trabajos de Makowski en la costa central, Vaughn en Nazca y Rohfritsch en el valle de Jequetepeque-para que el resultado pueda ser aceptado plenamente (Vaughn & Neff, 2004;Rohfritsch, 2007;Makowski et al, 2008). Otra condición fundamental es que la composición de la pasta no varíe por efecto de la cocción o las condiciones posdeposicionales.…”