In the footsteps of the Inka: pottery, interactions, and the reconfiguration of the social landscape in Antofagasta de la Sierra (Catamarca, Argentina)

In the early 15th century, the expansion of the Inka Empire into Northwest Argentina led to a process of increasing economic, social and political complexification. In Antofagasta de la Sierra (Catamarca, Argentina), this process is evident in architecture, productive and road infrastructure, and other material discoveries. The recent excavation of the funerary context of Casa Eladio Reales I (CER I) has provided an assemblage of evidences, particularly pottery, for constructing a preliminary description of the new social landscape defined by the Inka presence. This article presents a morpho-stylistic analysis of the ceramic assemblage recovered at CER I, in which the pieces are understood not only as material expressions but also as symbolic elements that participate in socialisation processes. In those processes, ways of seeing, believing, and signifying are jointly constructed by the newcomers and the indigenous inhabitants. In particular, the pottery of this multiple burial reveals the coexistence of objects that evoke very distant places and reflect the social scenario in southern Tawantinsuyu.