Ceramic production during the Middle Horizon: Wari and Tiwanaku clay procurement in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

AbstractAs the only place simultaneously occupied by the Middle Horizon (A.D. 600–1000) Andean states, the Tiwanaku and the Wari, the Moquegua Valley in southern Peru is of critical importance to understanding relations between the two states. Visual studies of Tiwanaku and Wari ceramics in the valley have elucidated differences in form and decoration. The procurement of raw clays was central to the production of these ceramics, and understanding where people procured their clay may provide insight into the social and economic interactions between these two states. Survey of the Moquegua Valley indicates the extensive availability of raw clays. Results of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) analyses of clays indicate that there is heterogeneity in the chemical signature of the valley's clays and that at least five different clay groups can be distinguished. Comparison of these clays with LA‐ICP‐MS analysis of ceramics from a Tiwanaku site and a Wari site demonstrates that although Tiwanaku and Wari colonists in Moquegua used locally available clays during the Middle Horizon, the clay sources exploited by potters from each state were different and derived from areas located within their respective middle and upper valley territories. This information provides a basis for future chemical analysis of ceramics from the Moquegua Valley and improved understanding of past social and economic interactions. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.