The study of ceramic manufacture and distribution is one of the most enduring topics of archaeological investigation in the Central Andes. In recent years, ethnoarchaeological and compositional studies have extensively investigated the organization of communities of potters in the Peruvian highlands. Dr. Hernandez Garavito's work builds on this tradition and expands it by investigating the historical trajectory of a single community of potters from the Precolumbian past to the present. Santo Domingo de los Olleros (Huarochirí, Peru) was known as a regional hub of domestic ceramic production since the early 17th century. Over the years and up the present, ceramic production became a mostly female-driven activity and a medium for women to reclaim public spaces and agency into community life. Her work centers on the archaeological investigation of the Precolumbian roots of crafting in Olleros, examining how and why pottery-making changed through time, and the impact of crafting in creating communities within contexts of political upheaval (such as the subsequent colonialism by the Inka and Spanish Empires).
In this presentation, Dr. Hernandez Garavito discusses the preliminary results from compositional ceramic analysis, spatial analysis of Precolumbian sites in Olleros, and the early stages of collaboration with the descendant community of crafters. Ultimate, her works aims to complete the first trans-temporal study of a single community of potters, centering on the way in which potters conceptualized and used their craft as a means to reclaim political agency in contexts of colonial homogenization.
