Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Examining Formative Craft Economies in the Northern Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru

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Under the supervision of Dr. Charles S. Stanish, Abigail R. Levine will conduct petrographic analysis and geochemical characterization of three specific types of finely made ceramics recovered during recent archaeological excavations at the site of Taraco. Taraco, located in northern Lake Titicaca Basin of Peru, flourished during the late Middle (1300-500 BC) and early Upper (500 BC-AD 400) Formative Periods. Taraco was a very important regional center, and was a likely predecessor to the Pukara polity. Analysis of excavated materials has indicated that Taraco participated in long-distance exchange and ceremonial activities throughout the Formative Period, but that the nature of these activities varied over time. This laboratory research will further investigate these patterns in order to examine the exchange of high-status craft goods over time on a regional scale. The information obtained through this research will help to explain how Taraco became larger and more complex than any of its immediate neighbors during the Middle Formative Period. This work will help to better define the emergence of multi-community polities in the Titicaca area and will contribute to the body of knowledge of increasing complexity worldwide.The craft economy, which consists of the manufacture, distribution, and consumption of crafted goods, is often cited as a fundamental aspect of increasing social complexity, and has been closely linked to the development of regional centers. Both the acquisition and accumulation of such objects represent an important source of prestige for aspiring elites, and their exchange plays an important role in the elaboration of social hierarchies. As an early center, Taraco is an excellent case for examining the Formative craft economy. Specifically, this research will obtain mineralogical and elemental data for three classes of non-domestic ceramics recovered from Taraco's high-status residences. These results will be compared with analogous materials from contemporaneous sites in the region order to monitor the production and circulation of these goods over time on a regional scale. Understanding the organization of the craft economy, and how it changed over time, is a critical first step towards understanding how economic and political power became centralized among a few communities in the northern Titicaca region. This project will have a series of impacts beyond its interest to the anthropological community. Throughout the duration of her research at Taraco, Levine has worked closely with both Peruvian scholars as well as local community members. Continued collaboration with the Taraco site museum will help to enhance public awareness of recent research and of the region's rich cultural history. A web-based archive will be created so that local and international scholars may access data from all stages of the research program. Synthetic publications in scholarly journals will communicate results to the scientific community. Levine and her undergraduate assistants will also gain valuable training in various geological characterization techniques, which will be used to obtain compositional data for the sample of ceramics described above.