Chaîne Opératoire, Technical Gestures and Pottery Production at Southern Andes during the Late Period (ca. AD 900 – AD 1450) (Catamarca, Northwestern Argentina, Argentina)

DE LA FUENTE, G. A.

Archaeological Ceramics: A Review of Current Research

British Archaeological Reports, BAR S2193 (ed. by Simona Scarcella)

Lugar: Oxford, United Kingdom; Año: 2011; p. 89 - 102

The Late Period in Northwestern Argentina (c. AD 900 – AD 1450) was traditionally characterized as a time of marked regional development, increased socio-political complexity, inequality, economic stratification, and internal conflicts (warfare). It was a time when regional chiefdoms arose in different geographical areas, leading to centralized power, controlled labor forces, increased social inequality, craft specialization, and the beginning of large fortified archaeological sites in the form of conglomerates strategically built on defensive locations. Pottery production during the Late Period has been characterized by present local pottery traditions and standardized ceramic forms (especially funerary urns and different kind of bowls). Concepts like chaîne opératoire, technical gestures, and technical facts has been explored and applied mainly in lithic studies, emphasizing different aspects of the operational sequence. This approach from the ´ethnology of techniques´ had a limited impact in South America, and much less applied in ceramic studies. In this paper, I examine and present some theoretical and methodological ideas through a case study of how to approach the study of pottery production during the Late Period (c. AD 900 – AD 1450) at Northwestern Argentine region, through the conceptual framework of chaîne opératoire developed by Leroi-Gourhan. Additionally, I explore through experimental archaeology and archaeometry some ideas related to the study of ´technical gestures´ involved in different manufacturing stages for some specific ceramic forms from the Late Period.