In this paper, the imperial Inka ceramic assemblage is examined in terms of its functional and culinary significance. Information culled from ethnohistoric sources, archaeological reports, and ethnographic studies is used to draw functional inferences about Inka vessel forms and to outline the features of an imperial “haute cuisine.” In the Inka empire, the relationship between rulers and subjects was largely mediated through the prestation of food and drink. The elaboration of a distinctive state vessel assemblage suggests a conscious strategy aimed at creating material symbols of class difference in the context of state-sponsored feasting events. An empire-wide analysis of the distribution of Inka vessels indicates the particular importance of the tallnecked jar form (aríbalo) to state strategies in the provinces. Analyzing Inka pottery as culinary equipment highlights the links among food, politics, and gender in the processes of state formation. Such an approach also illuminates the important role of women in the negotiation and consolidation of Inka state power.

This paper explores patterning in ceramic data from an Early Formative component at the site of La Joya, located in southern Veracruz, Mexico. The discussion uses ceramic paste characteristics, in addition to vessel form and decoration data, to suggest that this Early Formative pottery assemblage undergoes an in situ transformation between the “pre-Olmec” Tulipan phase and the “Olmec” Coyame phase. This conclusion is then used to revisit the hypothesis of a Chicharras phase (ca. 1250 B.C.) immigration of Pacific coastal groups into the southern Gulf lowlands (e.g., Clark 1990, 1997; Clark and Blake 1989; Coe and Diehl 1980). A consideration of ceramics from several Isthmian lowland contexts does not support this scenario. The discussion suggests that an over-reliance on the surface characteristics of ceramics at San Lorenzo may have encouraged an erroneous Gulf Olmec origin story.

The Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–1476) was a time between empires in the Andes when many regional groups reorganized and gained power. In the Nasca drainage this period has often been misrepresented, in part due to a focus on earlier cultural developments that were considerably different. Recent research attempts to provide a clearer picture of this time period by investigating sociopolitical and economic organization, and in particular the nature of local elites. Regional settlement patterns reveal that during this period population in the drainage was at its height with increased aggregation at town-size settlements. Excavations at the small village site of Pajonal Alto have identified local elites through variations in architecture and material culture. Evidence from Pajonal Alto reveals that there was a reformation of society in the Late Intermediate Period and local elites were no longer primarily associated with ceremonial centers but instead were present at every level of the settlement hierarchy. Elites obtained and maintained power in a variety of ways including participation in the production of utilitarian items, exchange, feasting, and community/exclusive ritual. Instead of integration through communal ritual on a regional level during certain times of the year, integration was based on a large network of local elites who had power that was wielded on a day-to-day basis.

For the last two decades, archaeologists have believed that a ceramic type known as Indígena Ware was an imitation of European majolica, produced by colonial Nahuas in Mexico City for lower-class Spanish families. Ideas surrounding the production and consumption of Indígena Ware, as well as majolica in general, have been based on the concepts of Spanish domination and indigenous acculturation. These ideas emphasize European interests in displaying high-value imports to obtain distinction along racial and class lines, and fail to consider indigenous strategies for obtaining power through craft production and display. We begin by critically evaluating the stylistic, iconographic, and technical evidence archaeologists have used to suggest that Indígena Ware was an indigenous product. We present the results from neutron activation analysis of 250 ceramic sherds indicating that Indígena Ware forms its own compositional group, different from Aztec pottery and Spanish majolica, and suggest that Indígena Ware is most likely a Spanish import. The problems this ware presents for classification reveal the limitations of locating power exclusively in the hands of the Spanish and point to ways in which we could overcome this theoretical problem for the study of colonialism in Mexico.