Diversity on the Altiplano: Geochemical perspectives on 3,000 years of potting practices in the Lake Titicaca basin

Abstract

Potters in the Lake Titicaca basin produced a wide variety of ceramic styles over the last 3000 years. Archaeologists have drawn on this variety across space and time to track processes such as the development of multi-community polities during the Late Formative (200 BC-AD 600), the origins and expansion of Tiwanaku (AD 600–1000), the creation and maintenance of political boundaries during the Late Intermediate period (AD 1000–1400), and the strategies of Inca conquest and consolidation (AD 1400–1534). We report on LA-ICP-MS research into Titicaca ceramics and clays conducted at the Field Museum’s Elemental Analysis Facility (EAF), and present the first review of raw materials and pottery analyzed from across the region. Ceramic samples from the northern basin include samples from Taraco, Pukara, and neighboring sites, and speak to the diversity of intraregional potting practices during the Late Formative Period. Ceramic samples from the southern basin span the Middle Formative through the Inca periods, and index local and regional practices over two millennia. After presenting our specific case studies, we touch on how shifting scales of locality impact the chemical signatures explored here, the potential for comparative analyses across the region, and future directions for research collaborations.