Ecology and Ceramic Production in an Andean Community

This ethnoarchaeological study looks at pottery production in a contemporary Peruvian Andean community.

Dean E. Arnold (Author)

9780521543453, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 16 October 2003

312 pages, 123 b/w illus. 4 maps 9 tables
24.7 x 18.9 x 1.8 cm, 0.572 kg

Following the theoretical perspective of his earlier book, Ceramic Theory and Cultural Process (1985), Dean Arnold's ethnoarchaeological study explores the relationships of ceramic production to society and its environment in the Peruvian Andes. The book traces these contemporary linkages through the production, decoration, and use of pottery and relates them to the analysis and interpretation of ancient ceramic production. Utilizing an ecological approach within a single community, Arnold expands the scope of previous ceramic theory by focusing on the population as the unit of analysis in production and decoration.

1. Introduction
2. The community: its physical environment and adaptation
3. The environment and culture history
4. Ecological interrelationships of the community of potters
5. Ceramic production in Quinua
6. Ceramic products and society
7. Design correlates of the community
8. Design and society
9. Archaeological implications: the Ayacucho Valley
10. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]