Advances in the identification of the clay sources exploited by the potters from the southcentral coast of Peru during the first half of the first millennium bc: a study using la-icp-ms analysis of ceramic vessels from Puerto Nuevo and clay samples from

Abstract

In this article we present our advances in the comparative study of the chemical composition of a representative sample of pottery vessels from Puerto Nuevo and clays from the Pisco and Ica valleys. This is done in order to identify the clay sources exploited by the potters who produced the ceramic vessels that were used and discarded at this site. We seek, by such means, to contribute to the understanding of the complex social interactions involving the populations of the southern coast during the first half of the first millennium before our era. We show how a thorough examination of the technological, morphological and decorative features of these vessels, together with a detailed characterization of their pastes, combining both mineralogical (digital microscopy and petrography) and chemical (LA-ICP-MS) compositional analyses, allow us to approach these objectives.