Cathy Costin (California State University Northridge): Technology of, Technology for: Understanding Technological Choices and the Use of Ceramics as Information Technology on the North Coast of Peru Over the Long Durée

Date: 

Wednesday, December 9, 2015, 12:00pm to 1:00pm

Location: 

Tozzer 203

Although some have suggested that North Coast ceramics are characterized by a stable technological style over thousands of years, evidence indicates that several technological styles “coexisted” with one another, waxing and waning in popularity over the long duree.  In this talk, I consider how technical choices made in the production of decorated ceramics on the North Coast of Peru influenced and were influenced by the use of pottery as information technology, specifically to visually transmit narratives of identity, social group affiliation, elite legitimacy, supernatural sanctions and complex worldviews and ideologies.  The analysis considers the interplay between iconography and technology and explores how different degrees of morphological complexity and different types of surface treatment and appearance attract and hold the viewers’ attention, and how different modes of decoration serve to communicate different kinds of messages effectively in large or intimate settings.