Late Nasca food and craft production in the Tierras Blancas Valley, Peru

Abstract

The analysis of food, drink, and crafts has formed the foundation of archaeological research in multiple world regions. The contexts of production are equally as important as those of consumption, particularly when multiple production activities occur within a single space. Here we present a residential production locale from Cocahuischo, a Late Nasca (A.D. 450–650) settlement on the south coast of Peru. Food, drink, and craft production are not well understood in the Nasca region, due to a dearth of settlements with evidence of suprahousehold production locales. Drawing from recent ethnographic, ethnoarchaeological, and archaeological research, we examine the material expressions of food and craft production activities represented in an atypical building at Cocahuischo. We argue that the structure was a multi-function production facility used for food preparation, chicha beer brewing, and low output copper metallurgy, illustrating an example of “cross-craft production.”

El análisis de artesanía y gastronomía ha formado la fundación de investigaciones arqueológicos en tantos regiones del mundo. Los contextos de producción son tan importante que los de consumo, especialmente cuando se ocurren múltiples actividades en un espacio. Presentamos un espacio residencial de producción de Cocahuischo, un asentamiento Nasca Tardio (A.D. 450–650) en la costa sur de Perú. La producción de alimentos y artesanía no se conoce bien en el región Nasca, debido a una falta de asentamientos que contienen evidencia de espacios de producción. Por medio de investigaciones recientes etnográficas, etnoarqueológicos, y arqueológicos, se discute la evidencia de la producción de alimentos y artesanía en un instalación no residencial de Cocahuischo. Sugerimos que el edificio era un instalación de producción multifunción que se usaba para la preparación de alimentos, la producción de chicha, y la metalurgia, ilustrando un ejemplo de “cross-craft production.”

Acknowledgments

Fieldwork at Cocahuischo was made possible by funding from the National Science Foundation (Dissertation Improvement Grant BCS-1155710) and the Explorers Club Exploration Fund, and a permit from the Peruvian Ministry of Culture. We extend gratitude to Susana Arce Torres and Rubén García Soto from the Ica Regional Museum and the Peruvian Ministry of Culture for their continuous assistance and support of our research. We would also like to thank all the field and laboratory team members at Cocahuischo whose hard work and discussions contributed to this study. Giuseppe Orefici graciously allowed us to include a photograph of the casting molds recovered from Cahuachi, which we deeply appreciate. We would also like to thank Patricia Chirinos Ogata, who provided the photograph of the molds in Figure 2. We are grateful to Hendrik Van Gijseghem, who read and thoughtfully commented on previous drafts, and provided inspiration and encouragement through discussions as we developed the ideas expressed here. Jerry Moore also provided continuous guidance and helpful recommendations that were much appreciated. Finally, our deepest thanks to Kevin Vaughn, Nicole Couture, Matthew Edwards, Randy Hahn, Catherine Whalen, Marie-Pierre Gadoua, and three anonymous reviewers who took the time to carefully review previous drafts and provided thoughtful comments and valuable suggestions which helped to improve this article. All errors or omissions are ours alone.

Notes

1 While three of the AMS dates are highly consistent, one date is considerably earlier than the others. The carbon sample was taken from a subfloor ash pit, indicating that perhaps the sample came from old wood (the durability of the south-coast huarango tree is notable) or the earliest moments of activity at the site.

2 Data regarding burning and sooting were recorded for sherds diagnostic of either form or style. In Table 4 the data presented are based on unconjoining rims, to avoid overrepresentation because of highly fragmented vessels. The rate of burning is likely higher since the base of cooking vessels is often the most exposed to fire.