Standardization, Labor Investment, Skill, and the Organization of Ceramic Production in Late Prehispanic Highland Peru

TLDR

Specialization in craft production ranges from household units to large workshops, shaped by demand, social relations, and environmental factors, and is reflected in a technological profile that captures labor investment, skill, and standardization. The study analyzes Prehispanic ceramic technology in central Peru to identify how production was organized for utilitarian and luxury pottery. By applying technological profiles to ceramic artifacts, the authors distinguish production systems. In Yanamarca Valley, utilitarian Wanka‑style cookwares were made by independent household artisans, whereas imperial Inka‑style jars were produced by locally recruited corvee labor for the state.

Abstract

Specialization encompasses many ways to organize craft production, ranging from small, household-based work units to large workshops. Distinctive types of specialization develop in response to various social, economic, and environmental factors, including the demand for crafts, the social relations of producers, and the support base for artisans. These factors in turn influence manufacturing technology. Thus, different types of specialization can be characterized by a “technological profile,” which reflects relative labor investment, skill, and standardization. An analysis of Prehispanic ceramic technology in the central sierra of Peru demonstrates how these technological profiles can be used to identify the ways ceramic production was organized to provision consumers with utilitarian and luxury pottery. As we demonstrate in our analysis of pottery recovered in the Yanamarca Valley, utilitarian Wanka-style cookwares and storage jars were produced by independent household-based artisans, while imperial Inka-style jars were produced by locally recruited corvee labor working for the state.