Offerings for Wari Ancestors: Strategies of ceramic production and distribution at Castillo de Huarmey, Peru

The ceramics of Castillo Huarmey, a Wari-culture political center and elite necropolis on the north coast of Peru (ca. 750–1000 CE) were subjected to mineral studies to assess production practices and proveniences. The diversity and quality of grave goods suggested non-local productions and quality-controlled manufacture. However, relying on experimental tiles of local clay and sand samples to compare with the archaeological material, petrographic analyses revealed the existence of a variety of production areas with multiple potters probably operating within less than 10 km from the site. Much of the ceramics appear to have been produced with material available in the Huarmey Valley and possibly the adjacent Culebras Valley as well. The manufacture of polychrome Wari ceramics and fine reduced press-mold wares denote care in material selection, granulometry control and firing, and homogeneity in paste composition and technology. Press-mold wares show greater variability in material provenience, composition and granulometry. Communities of potters were sharing the same technological tradition to produce a certain range of styles and forms, and could have worked with different agendas, supplying different patrons or types of products. Upper Huarmey river drainage basin producers probably contributed much less to the distribution network supplying the Huarmey community.