First petrographic characterization of Late Prehispanic and Colonial ceramic pastes of the Southern Pozuelos Basin (Puna of Jujuy, Argentina)

Abstract

We present here the first results of petrographic studies on ceramic pastes of the southern Pozuelos basin (Puna of Jujuy, Argentina); in the context of a broader research on ceramic manufacture for this part of the puna for late pre-Hispanic and colonial times. These materials were recovered in five excavated structures and a test pit in a rubbish deposit. Thirty fragments were selected to be thin sliced, over a previous classification of pastes in a binocular microscope, which were later analyzed in a petrographic microscope. Attributes of the matrix and of the inclusions were observed with plane and cross polarized light. The percentage of inclusions, matrix and voids was quantified through point counter analysis. Different pastes groups could be identified, through consideration of the presence, absence and the predominance of certain lithologies, that mainly correspond with the groups classified through binocular microscope, even though some groups had to be reconsidered. The thin sections analyzed might be accounting for two pre-Hispanic traditions of ceramic production, already identified in the literature: the “Casabindo style” and the “Yavi style” pottery.