The prehispanic Nasca culture (A.D.
1-750) of the south coast of Peru,
is famous for producing skillfully
crafted polychrome pottery. For
nearly a century archaeologists have
used polychromes from museum
collections in chronological and
iconographic studies, however,
relatively little work has been done
on the contexts of pottery production,
or on the ways in which this pottery
was circulated and consumed in Nasca
society. In short, research into what
can be referred to as the "craft
economy" of Nasca has been limited.
Based upon preliminary evidence
from recent fieldwork it appears that
the polychrome pottery, although a
"craft" in archaeological terms, is
not one that can be easily understood
in traditional models of craft
specialization proposed by
archaeologists. Although polychromes
appear to have been reserved for
elites in some contexts, as certain
vessel types were restricted to high
status individuals, recent excavations
at an Early Nasca village site suggest
that much of the polychrome pottery
was available to all members of
society regardless of their status.
Despite this recent research,
fundamental questions remain about
the craft economy of Nasca involving
polychrome ceramics. Specifically,
where was polychrome pottery
produced, how was it circulated, to
what extent was it consumed, and
how did this craft economy articulate
with an emerging political economy in
Early Nasca society? This RUI project
is designed to address these
questions in three seasons of field-
work in the Southern Nasca Region
(SNR) of Peru by (1) conducting a
regional survey of raw materials used
in the manufacture of polychromes,
(2) determining the composition of
the raw materials through in-
strumental neutron activation analysis
(INAA) and (3) mapping and ex-
cavating contemporaneous
habitations to determine the extent to
which polychromes were circulated
and consumed in Early Nasca society.

The two principal raw materials used
for the production of polychrome pottery were clays for
ceramic pastes and mineral ores for
pigments. These raw materials are
known to be widely available in the
region, however, it is unknown what
resource zones were used by ancient
potters. (2) How do these resource
zones correlate with compositional
groups that have been determined
by previous archaeometric analysis
and analyses currently underway?
Previous and current studies have
employed INAA to study the ceramic
pastes, and laser ablation inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry
(LA-ICPMS) to study pigments on the
surface of polychromes. A pilot
compositional analysis of ceramic
pastes from a sample of pottery from
an Early Nasca village site employing
INAA has revealed that polychromes
were compositionally homogeneous
and plainwares were compostionally
heterogeneous, indicating that a
single resource zone was used in the
production of polychromes from this
particular site.

This pilot study is currently being
extended with a regional sample of
ceramics from around the SNR that
have been submitted for INAA.
Additionally, a parallel study
evaluating the composition of
pigments used to paint Early Nasca
pottery has been implemented using
LA-ICPMS. Both compositional studies
will provide data that will reveal the
variability of resource zones used by
ancient Nasca potters. Finally, (3) to
what extent were polychromes
consumed by members of Nasca
society? Current evidence suggests
that polychromes were used outside
of the Nasca region by local elites in
their prestige building efforts, while
they were consumed by both elites
and non-elites within the
Nasca heartland.

It is hypothesized here that the
farther away from the regional core
of Nasca society, the greater the
importance Nasca polychromes had
in tying local elites to increasingly
exotic goods. Consequently, this
difference should be evident in village
sites that are located at varying
distances from the ceremonial core
of Nasca.

To obtain the required data, fieldwork
and analysis will be conducted in
three field seasons. The first field
season will consist of a raw materials
survey in the SNR using systematic
sampling to locate clays, and
judgmental sampling based on the
advice of modern potters who use
local sources (both clays and mineral
pigments) to make accurate replicas
of Nasca pottery. The purpose of this
first season is to delineate resource
zones of raw materials that can be
correlated with compositional data
generated from previous analysis,
and to delineate production zones in
the SNR. Once resource and pro-
duction zones are defined, focus in
the remaining seasons will turn to
testing hypotheses of polychrome
circulation and consumption. These
seasons will consist of evaluating
seven Early Nasca domestic sites that
have large Early Nasca components
through mapping and excavations.
The data collected in the second
and third field seasons will determine
how widely polychromes were
circulated from the production zones
that are delineated in Season #1.
Data will also be collected to assess
the quantities of polychromes con-
sumed at residential sites, whether
polychrome consumption was limited
to elites or if these crafts were
available to everyone, and how this
consumption varied across the region.

The proposed research is important
for two primary reasons. First, it
will add to the growing literature on
craft economies in middle-range
societies, and how these articulate
with emerging political economies.
Second, this research will increase
our understanding of how Nasca
polychromes as a craft fit into the
wider sociopolitical and economic
domains of Nasca society.