Petrography and pXRF at San Pedro de Atacama, Northern Chile: Exploring Ancient Ceramic Production

Abstract

Burial analysis dominates the study of ancient ceramics from San Pedro de Atacama, a pivotal archaeological center in northern Chile. This occurs, however, with little ability to tie specific ceramic objects to specific tombs due to a reorganization of the archaeological collection after 1980 (Hubbe et al. 2011). We also lack evidence of ceramic production in the form of kilns, wasters, or raw materials. Past and current research benefits from a very good understanding of the variations in surface color and shape found in local grave ceramics, but ceramic production practices remain out of reach, and accepted chronological relationships among emblematic types may now be in doubt (Stovel 2012). Here we review recent attempts to broaden our understanding of ancient San Pedro life through archaeometric studies of household and burial ceramic remains. We juxtapose recent petrographic studies of local ceramics executed as part of an ongoing effort to characterize local ceramics using portable chemical instrumentation. The present sample focuses on highly burnished1Red, Black and Grey ceramicsand thick-walled, coarser samples from both household and burial contexts of the Middle Period (500 -900; Table 1).Through this comparison of ceramic paste mineralogy, we confirm a high level of homogeneity found in previousmetric studies (Stovel 2005), contribute new understandings of production decisions made in the past, and reflect on combining portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and petrography for a robust understanding of ceramic recipes through time.