Pottery stylistic analysis as a means of evaluating change and social transformation: A late local pottery case-study from the center- south sector of Quebrada de Humahuaca (Jujuy, Argentina)

Abstract

This article addresses the study of a late pottery (Late and Inca periods) assemblage from the center-south sector of Quebrada de Humahuaca. This analysis provides data concerning human behavior and social practices linked to pottery production, distribution and consumption, both in daily and ritual activities. We present the decorative-morphological repertoire, generated from the analysis of forms and decorations of the local pottery of this period, in order to establish the continuities and changes in ceramics between the Late Period and Inca domination. In order to assess possible local social identities displayed through the ceramic’s materiality and through interaction networks, the Late Period analyzed material from the center-south sector was compared with the ceramic of sites situated along the central and northern sector of Quebrada de Humahuaca. The stylistic analysis undertaken allowed us to establish the characteristics of the pottery used to express and negotiate a particular identity during the Late Period. It also allowed us to trace changes and continuities in form and decoration in local ceramics following the annexation of the area by the Inca Empire.