Mössbauer study of miniature vessels from the Sicán burial site of Huaca Loro

Abstract

Small handmade ceramic vessels are often found in large quantities in late pre-hispanic elite tombs on the north coast of Peru. These miniature vessels are of poor artistic and technologic qualities compared with other offerings found in tombs and have not received much attention. Our hypothesis is that these miniatures were made hastily by non-elite funeral attendants, which resulted in the observed formal and material variability. Here we report on the results of a systematic archaeological analysis of the shape and of archaeometric analyses by Mössbauer spectroscopy and XRD of the firing conditions of such vessels that were conducted to test the above hypothesis.

Mössbauer Studies of Moulded Kama–Cis‐Urals Ceramics

“…In Cervantes et al . () and Shimada et al . (), the change in the electric quadrupole splitting of the Fe 3+ component in the room‐temperature spectra during refiring was shown to be ‘the single most helpful parameter in identifying the original firing conditions’.…”

“…According to Cervantes et al . (), Shimada et al . () and Wagner and Wagner (), this means that: the firing was carried out at a sufficiently high temperature, of about 700 °C or higher, and. in view of the large proportion of Fe 2+ ions, close to their fraction in the initial clay, the firing was performed under conditions of oxygen deficiency (Fig.…”

“…Next, we shall determine which of the two possible temperature regimes (400 ± 50 °C or 850 ± 50 °C) was used in the production of the samples investigated. Analysis of the literature has shown that the methods proposed in Cervantes, Shimada, Häusler, Wagner, and Wagner (), Shimada, Häusler, Hutzelmann, and Wagner (), Wagner and Wagner () and Wagner et al . () allow us to obtain more reliable information on the firing procedure in the production of ancient ceramics.…”

Miniatures as Ritual Objects: Exploring the Role of Small-Sized Vessels among the Complex Late Holocene Hunter-Gatherers from the Paraná River Lowlands in South America

“…However, miniatures of low-quality manufacture are not always toys. In many archaeological cases, miniatures with a low level of artistic and technological mastery have been designated as funerary or votive offerings (Barraza Lescano 2000; Cervantes et al 2011;Uribe et al 2007;Valdez et al 2006). For some authors, the expeditious elaboration exhibited by many pieces would justify the possibility that the miniatures were produced exclusively for a funerary purpose, as they had to be made in a hurry to accompany the deceased (Barraza Lescano 2000).…”

“…Miniatures constitute a scaled-down version of real artefacts (López 2012), which, because of their small dimensions, apparently cannot be used for the same purposes as the objects of which they are copies. The miniaturization of objects exists on a global scale, so that the archaeological record of miniatures in different raw materials covers a large spatial, temporal and cultural spectrum (Aguirre 2004; Carey 2006; Cervantes et al 2011; Fladd & Barker 2019; Guerra Clará 2014; Hermes 2003; Kiernan 2015; López Bertrán & Vives Ferrándiz 2015; Park 1998; Park & Mousseau 2003; Prous & Jácome 2007; Uribe et al 2007; Valdez et al 2006, among others). Small objects are frequent in ritual contexts, such as sanctuaries or burials, where they served as votive and mortuary offerings (Gabaldón Martínez 2004).…”