Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T02:41:24.481Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Spindle Whorls from El Purgatorio, Peru, and Their Socioeconomic Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Melissa Vogel ,
Kristin Buhrow  and
Caroline Cornish
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the Andean region, spindle whorls have been the subject of archaeological analysis less often than other artifact classes, such as pottery. Nevertheless, spindle whorls may have much more to contribute to archaeological interpretations of production, status, and exchange patterns than previously acknowledged. The case study presented here examines the spindle whorl collection from the site of El Purgatorio, Peru, the capital city of the Casma polity (ca. A.D. 700–1400). Spindle whorls were not only expertly crafted utilitarian tools for spinning yarn, but also items of personal adornment, symbols of wealth or status, and possible indicators of intra-polity exchange patterns. The analysis of spindle whorls in regard to form and function provides insight into Casma social and economic organization. The spindle whorls discovered at El Purgatorio also reflect varying degrees of standardization and technical knowledge, suggesting that at least some may have been manufactured by specialists in metallurgical and ceramic workshops.

Resumen

Resumen

En los Andes, los torteros han sido analizados arqueológicamente con menor frecuencia que otras clases de artefactos, como por ejemplo la cerámica. Pero estas herramientas podrían haber sido mucho más importantes de lo que fue reconocido anteriormente, principalmente para las interpretaciones arqueológicas sobre la producción, el estatus y los patrones de intercambio. En este trabajo presentamos la muestra de torteros procedente del sitio El Purgatorio, la ciudad capital del estado de Casma, en Perú (ca. 700–1400 d.C.). La intención de este análisis es entender a estos artefactos, no sólo como herramientas utilitarias diseñadas por expertos para el hilado, sino también como elementos de adorno personal, símbolos de la abundancia o el estatus y posibles indicadores de patrones de intercambio. Los torteros fueron analizados tanto por su forma como por su función, lo que generó un nuevo entendimiento de la organización social y económica del estado Casma. Los torteros descubiertos en El Purgatorio también reflejan diferentes grados de estandarización y conocimiento técnico, lo que sugiere que al menos algunos de ellos pueden haber sido fabricados por especialistas en talleres metalúrgicos y cerámicos.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 414 - 429
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2016

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Barber, Elizabeth J.W. 1991 Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. 1991 Weaving and Cooking: Women's Production in Aztec Mexico. In Engendering Archaeology: Women and Prehistory, edited by Gero, Joan M. and Conkey, Margaret W., pp. 224–251. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Cárdenas, Mercedes 1976 Informe Preliminar del Trabajo de Campo en el Valle de Chao. National Institute of Culture, Lima.Google Scholar
Cárdenas, Mercedes 1978 Columna Cronológica del Valle de Chao. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima.Google Scholar
Carpenter, Lacey B., Feinman, Gary M., and Nicholas, Linda M. 2012 Spindle Whorls from El Palmillo: Economic Implications. Latin American Antiquity (23)4:381–400.Google Scholar
Chapdelaine, Claude, Millaire, Jean Francois, and Kennedy, Greg 2001 Compositional Analysis and Provenance Study of Spindle Whorls from the Moche Site, North Coast of Peru. Journal of Archaeological Science 28:795–806.Google Scholar
Collier, Donald 1962 Archaeological Investigations in the Casma Valley, Peru. Akten des 34. Internationalen Amerikanistenkongress, Wien 1960, pp. 411–417. Verlag Ferdinand Berger, Horn, Vienna.Google Scholar
Costin, Cathy L. 1993 Textiles, Women and Political Economy in Late Prehispanic Peru. Research in Economic Anthropology 14:3–28.Google Scholar
Costin, Cathy L. 1995 Cloth Production and Gender Relations in the Inka Empire. In Research Frontiers in Anthropology—Advances in Archaeology and Physical Anthropology, edited by Peter Peregrine, Carol Ember, and Melvin Ember, pagination varies. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs.Google Scholar
Costin, Cathy L. 1998 Housewives, Chosen Women, Skilled Men: Cloth Production and Social Identity in the Late Prehispanic Andes. In Craft and Social Identity, edited by Cathy Lynne Costin and Wright, Rita P., pp. 123–144. Archaeological Papers of the American Archaeological Association Vol. 8. American Anthropological Association, Arlington, Virginia.Google Scholar
Donnan, Christopher B., and Mackey, Carol J. 1978 Ancient Burial Patterns of the Moche Valley, Peru. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Edwards, Matthew J., Parodi, Francesca F., and Ocana, Grace A. 2008 Decorated Spindle Whorls from Middle Horizon Pataraya. Ñawpa Pacha 29:87–100.Google Scholar
Inomata, Takeshi, Triadan, Daniela, and Ponciano, Erik 2002 Domestic and Political Lives of Classic Maya Elites: The Excavation of Rapidly Abandoned Structures at Aguateca, Guatemala. Latin American Antiquity (13)3:305–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loughran-Delahunt, Isa 1996 A Functional Analysis of Northwest Coast Spindle Whorls. Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Western Washington University.Google Scholar
McCafferty, Sharisse D., and McCafferty, Geoffrey G. 2008 Spinning and Weaving Tools from Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 19:143–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mackey, Carol J. 2009 Chimú Statecraft in the Provinces. In Foundations of Andean Civilization: Papers in Honor of M.E. Moseley, edited by Joyce Marcus, Charles Stanish, and Patrick Ryan Williams, pp. 325–349. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Mackey, Carol J., and Ulana Klymyshyn, A. 1990 The Southern Frontier of the Chimú Empire. In The Northern Dynasties: Kingship and Statecraft in Chimor, edited by Moseley, Michael E. and Cordy-Collins, Alana, pp. 195–226. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
McMeekin, Dorothy 1992 Representations on Pre-Columbian Spindle Whorls of the Floral and Fruit Structure of Economic Plants. Economic Botany (46)2:171–180.Google Scholar
Millaire, Jean-Francois 1997 La technologie de la filature manuelle sur le site Moche de la côte nord du Pérou précolumbien. Unpublished Master's thesis, Department of Anthropology, Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Moseley, Michael E. 2001 The Incas and their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru, 2nd ed. Thames & Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Murra, John V. 1962 Cloth and Its Function in the Inca State. American Anthropologist 64:710–728.Google Scholar
O’Neil, Dennis H. 1974 Manufacturing Techniques of Chibcha Spindle Whorls. Man (9)3:480–484.Google Scholar
Proulx, Donald A. 1973 Archaeological Investigations in the Nepeña Valley, Peru. Research Reports No. 13. University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Google Scholar
Proulx, Donald A. 1993 The Nepeña Valley Survey: A Retrospective View. In Ela’qua: Essays in Honor of Richard B. Woodbury, edited by Krass, Dorothy Schlotthauer, Brooke Thomas, R., and Cole, John W., pp. 225–236. Research Report 28. Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Google Scholar
Przadka, Patrycja 2009 Patrones de asentamiento y transformaciones sociopolíticas en la costa norcentral del Perú durante los Períodos Tardíos: El caso del valle de Culebras. Ph.D. dissertation, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw.Google Scholar
Przadka, Patrycja, and Giersz, Milosz 2003 Sitios arqueológicos de la zona del valle de Culebras, Vol. I: Valle bajo. Polish Society for Latin American Studies. Andean Archaeological Mission of the Institute of Archaeology. University of Warsaw, Warsaw. Rivera Casanovas, ClaudiaGoogle Scholar
Przadka, Patrycja, and Giersz, Milosz 2014 Prehispanic Textile Production in Highland Bolivia: Instruments for Spinning and Weaving Processes. In Textiles, Technical Practice, and Power in the Andes, edited by Arnold, Denise Y. and Dransart, Penny, pp. 233–257. Archetype Publications, London.Google Scholar
Silva, Edgardo 1992 Cerro la Cruz: Asentamiento Chimú en el Sector Medio del Valle de Chao. Gaceta Arqueológica Andina VI(22):35–49.Google Scholar
Silverblatt, Irene 1987 Moon, Sun, and Witches: Gender Ideologies and Class in Inca and Colonial Peru. Princeton University Press, Princeton.Google Scholar
Smith, Michael E., and Hirth, Kenneth G. 1988 The Development of Prehispanic Cotton-Spinning Technology in Western Morelos, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology (15)3:349–358.Google Scholar
Tello, Julio C. 1956 Culturas: Chavín, Santa o Huaylas Yunga y Sub- Chimú. Editorial San Marcos, Lima.Google Scholar
Thompson, Donald E. 1964 Postclassic Innovations in Architecture and Settlement Patterns in the Casma Valley, Peru. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 20(1):91–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Donald E. 1974 Arquitectura y patrones de establecimiento en el valle de Casma. Revista del Museo Nacional XL:9–30.Google Scholar
Vogel, Melissa A. 2003 Life on the Frontier: Identity and Sociopolitical Change at Cerro la Cruz, Peru. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. University Microfilm International, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Vogel, Melissa A. 2011 Style and Interregional Interaction: Ceramics from the Casma Capital of El Purgatorio. ÑawpaPacha 31(2):201–224.Google Scholar
Vogel, Melissa A. 2012 Frontier Life in Ancient Peru: The Archaeology of Cerro la Cruz. University Press Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Vogel, Melissa A. 2016 The Casma City of El Purgatorio: Ancient Urbanism in the Andes. University Press Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Vogel, Melissa A., Fowler, Jeremy, Drake, Lee, and Brooks, William E. 2015 Geochemical Evidence for Lead in Prehispanic Metallurgy at the Site of El Purgatorio, Peru. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 4:326–335.Google Scholar
Vogel, Melissa A., and Pacifico, David 2011 Arquitectura de El Purgatorio: Capital de la Cultura Casma. In Andes 8: Boletín del Centro de Estudios Precolombinos de la Universidad de Varsovia; Arqueología de la Costa Ancash, edited by Giersz, M. and Ghezzi, I., pp. 357–397. Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos, Lima.Google Scholar
Wilson, David J. 1988 Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Lower Santa Valley, Peru: A Regional Perspective on the Origins and Development of Complex North Coast Society. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Wilson, David J. 1995 Prehispanic Settlement Patterns in the Casma Valley, North Coast of Peru: Preliminary Results to Date. Journal of the Steward Anthropological Society 23(1–2):189–227.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S1

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 2.1 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S2

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 1.9 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S3

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 1.5 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S4

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 1.1 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S5

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 1.4 MB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S6

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 449.8 KB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S7

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 388.1 KB
Supplementary material: Image

Vogel et al. Supplementary Material

Figure S8

Download Vogel et al. Supplementary Material(Image)
Image 383.6 KB