A STUDY OF MATERIALIZATION, IDENTITY, AND AGENCY USING PXRF ANALYSIS OF CERAMICS FROM INCA PERIOD ECUADOR

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Sweitzer, M. (2020). A STUDY OF MATERIALIZATION, IDENTITY, AND AGENCY USING PXRF ANALYSIS OF CERAMICS FROM INCA PERIOD ECUADOR. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

When the Inca Empire expanded across large portions of South America, they implemented various strategies to subdue and control their massively ethnically diverse subjects. One way that the Inca ideology and social order was imposed on the masses was through materialization. Objects like textiles and ceramics were produced in distinct styles with sometimes strict rules about how they were to be used and who could use them. Using pXRF analysis on a sample of ceramic sherds from Ecuador, I explore how the people living in this region altered their ceramic habits upon Inca conquest and what that might imply about their political identity and freedoms under the Inca. PXRF allows for the creation of compositional groups, which in ceramic analysis are groups that share the same clay source. Examining where Inca sherds came from and their relationship to local wares provides the hard data about whether Inca production was occurring in this area, while ethnohistorical and historical research provide the detail and context for final interpretations.

Details
Author

Sweitzer, Mackenzie

Title

A STUDY OF MATERIALIZATION, IDENTITY, AND AGENCY USING PXRF ANALYSIS OF CERAMICS FROM INCA PERIOD ECUADOR

Physical Description

1 online resource (96 pages) : PDF

Date

2020

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

When the Inca Empire expanded across large portions of South America, they implemented various strategies to subdue and control their massively ethnically diverse subjects. One way that the Inca ideology and social order was imposed on the masses was through materialization. Objects like textiles and ceramics were produced in distinct styles with sometimes strict rules about how they were to be used and who could use them. Using pXRF analysis on a sample of ceramic sherds from Ecuador, I explore how the people living in this region altered their ceramic habits upon Inca conquest and what that might imply about their political identity and freedoms under the Inca. PXRF allows for the creation of compositional groups, which in ceramic analysis are groups that share the same clay source. Examining where Inca sherds came from and their relationship to local wares provides the hard data about whether Inca production was occurring in this area, while ethnohistorical and historical research provide the detail and context for final interpretations.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Social structure
Archaeology
Area studies

Subjects--Places

Latin America

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Ceramics
Ecuador
Identity
Inca
Materialization
PXRF

Subject Area

Anthropology

Advisor(s)

Ogburn, Dennis

Committee Members

Juengst, Sara
May, Jack

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020.

Rights Statement

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Sweitzer_uncc_0694N_12465

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1918