Inka Pottery as Culinary Equipment: Food, Feasting, and Gender in Imperial State Design

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, the imperial Inka ceramic assemblage is examined in terms of its functional and culinary significance. Information culled from ethnohistoric sources, archaeological reports, and ethnographic studies is used to draw functional inferences about Inka vessel forms and to outline the features of an imperial “haute cuisine.” In the Inka empire, the relationship between rulers and subjects was largely mediated through the prestation of food and drink. The elaboration of a distinctive state vessel assemblage suggests a conscious strategy aimed at creating material symbols of class difference in the context of state-sponsored feasting events. An empire-wide analysis of the distribution of Inka vessels indicates the particular importance of the tallnecked jar form (aríbalo) to state strategies in the provinces. Analyzing Inka pottery as culinary equipment highlights the links among food, politics, and gender in the processes of state formation. Such an approach also illuminates the important role of women in the negotiation and consolidation of Inka state power.