Abstract

PRIETO OLAVARRIA, Cristina. The production and function of indigenous ceramic during the inca domination and the colony in Mendoza, Argentina. Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2012, vol.13, n.1, pp.71-87. ISSN 1850-373X.

Aspects related to production environments, use and consumption of Viluco ceramics from Mendoza province, Argentina, are evaluated on the basis of the technological analysis of manufacturing choices, which were influenced by the Inca and Spanish domination of the local Huarpe population between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries AD. The results show that Viluco pottery emerged and developed under social, political, economic and symbolic pressure imposed by the Incas, and while its production was decentralized in the Mendoza valley contexts, it reflects sustained relationships among this population and the dominant power. The function of the pottery was linked to status and identity, and was used as a visual mediator among local leaders and between these and their Inca rulers. This performance was continued into the colonial period when the pottery allowed Huarpe groups to maintain identity with the preceding Inca domination, although in some cases pottery production may have been under Spanish control.

Keywords : Viluco ceramic; Pottery technology; Production; Inca domination; Colony.

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