New insights from Ecuador into Inca-style pottery production in the provinces
Photo: C. Lara, CC-BYBeyond military conquest, the successful consolidation of the Inca Empire likely depended on the exercise of ideological cooptation. The widespread distribution of Inca pottery suggests it played a key role in the imperial agenda. Archaeological evidence from across the Empire indicates that provincial potters were mobilized to generate the distinctive vessels associated with the state, which differed significantly from their local repertoires. How did these potters produce these new forms ? Was any practicing potter capable of adapting their skills? We address these questions in a study of Inca and local pottery from Olleros (San Miguel de Porotos, southern Ecuador), via a focus on the chaînes opératoires involved in production as well as observations from both ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological studies from this region and elsewhere. Results show that expert local potters were conscripted by the Inca to produce both Inca and local style pottery. These potters combined their usual techniques in different ways to produce the Inca vessel forms.
Adèle Huguet pour Mondes Sociaux. Licence CC BY-NC-ND