Ceramic Production and Technology: the standardization and specialization hypothesis through the application of INAA, petrographic data and X-radiography at Batungasta archaeological site, Northwestern Argentine (Valle de Abaucán-Dpto. Tinogasta-Catamarca

16) GUILLERMO A. DE LA FUENTE, NORMA RATTO Y RITA PLÁ

Amsterdam

Simposio; 33rd. International Symposium on Archaeometry; 2002

The archaeological studies concerned with the organization of the ceramic production have emphasized several aspects of this process, taking into account the different stages in the manufacture process of ceramic artefacts. The studies on standardization and specialization in ceramic production have been important issues in the archaeological research during the past years (cf. Vandiver 1988, Blackman et al. 1993, Hagstrum 1985, Frankel 1988, Rice 1989, between others). In this poster we will present the research strategy and preliminary results of an ongoing archaeological research about standardization and specialization in ceramic production at Batungasta archaeological site, Valle de Abaucán, Dpto. Tinogasta, Catamarca, Argentina. Although Batungasta has been reported as an Inka site (1480-1532 A.D.), the ceramic artefacts recovered through a systematic survey carried out at the surroundings of the site indicates that several typological groups of ceramics are represented, belonging to the Early, Medium and Late Period. In order to evaluate the main pottery production center hypothesis at Batungasta archaeological site, and the characteristics of this production, which we believe it was standardized in different sets of ceramic artefacts, we have conducted INAA both on a sample of ceramics and on clay samples from the Abaucán valley, and to better understand the manufacture techniques involved in the ceramic production, several dimensional (nominal, ordinal, and metric) and technological attributes have been recorded and analysed through petrographic and X-radiographic studies.