Craft Production, Exchange, and Political Power in the Pre-Incaic Andes

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between craft production, exchange, and power in the pre-Incaic Andes, with a focus on recent archaeological evidence from Chavín, Nasca, Tiwanaku, Wari, and Moche. I argue that craft production and exchange in concert with materialized ideologies played vital roles in the development of political power in the Andes. In later state societies, craft production, exchange, and materialization were critical in maintaining and legitimizing established political power.

A 2,300-year-old architectural and astronomical complex in the Chincha Valley, Peru

“…Our findings support Vaughn's model that production, exchange and "materialized ideologies" were significant factors in the development of political authority in the Andes in general, and among the Paracas and Nasca peoples in particular (29). It likewise fits Van Gijseghem and Vaughn's characterization of the geoglyph technology as a means of social integration (30).…”

Skeletal evidence of craft production from the Ch'iji Jawira site in Tiwanaku, Bolivia

“…As craft production, especially ceramics manufacture and weaving, has a long history of importance in the Andes and specifically within the Tiwanaku culture (Becker, 2013;Becker, 2017;Becker and Goldstein, 2015;Costin, 2004;Costin and Earle, 1989;D'Altroy, 1992;Earle and D'Altroy, 1989;Goldstein, 1989;Goldstein, 2005;Goldstein and Rivera, 2004;Janusek, 1999;Janusek, 2004;Janusek, 2005;Janusek, 2008;Kolata, 1993;Plunger, 2009;Portugal Ortíz, 1988;Sharratt, 2011;Sharratt, 2016;Vaughn, 2006;Young-Sánchez, 2004), the grave goods of CJ-35250, a gold mask and a camelid skull offering (Rivera, 2003), also support the idea that she was an important individual during her lifetime. Alternatively, and considering this burial may predate the use of the site as a ceramics production center, it could be that CJ-35250 practiced another form of crafting, possibly weaving, as the skeletal evidence would support that interpretation.…”

“…As Sharratt (2016: 408) notes, "pottery and woven cloth were both economically and ideologically significant media in the Tiwanaku realm, and in the Prehispanic Andes more generally." Consequently, ceramic manufacture and weaving were the two likeliest types of craft specialists in the Tiwanaku culture, moving these tasks beyond a household level and into realms of power, ideology, and identity formation (Berryman, 2011;Blom, 1999;Costin, 2004;Costin and Earle, 1989;Janusek, 1999;Janusek, 2003;Janusek, 2004;Janusek, 2005;Janusek and Blom, 2006;Plunger, 2009;Silverblatt, 1987;Vaughn, 2004;Vaughn, 2006).…”

“…As noted by Rivera (2003: 297), Ch'iji Jawira provides the only significant, in situ evidence of specialized ceramic production within the city of Tiwanaku. In addition, craft specialization has a long history in the Andes of being associated with emerging civilizations, power, and identity formation (Costin, 2004;Janusek, 1999;Silverblatt, 1987;Vaughn, 2006). Thus, studying this burial provides an opportunity to observe skeletal evidence of production from a known crafting site and potentially isolate a pattern of activity on skeletal remains that may be associated with ceramic manufacturing as an occupation.…”

The organization of basanite bifacial production at Giv’at Kipod Quarry, Israel: Towards an ‘Alyawara Day’ model of extraction

“…The role of craft specialization in the formation of complex societies has long been debated (e.g., Costin 1991;Schortman & Urban 2004;Vaughn 2006) and the increased specializations in the Levant during the Neolithic period were the subject of several studies in the last two decades (e.g., Quintero & Wilke 1995;Barzilai 2011). It is thus of importance to examine whether the manufacture of bifacials at Giv'at Kipod was part of this development or whether it is the result of a different mode of behaviour.…”