(Form 13) plate constitutes the second most common vessel category in the
imperial assemblage and is widespread throughout the Empire. The shallow
plate exhibits the greatest freedom of stylistic expression of any Inca vessel
form. The morphology and decorative treatment of these plates, which are often
found in identical pairs, suggest their use as individually sized serving platters
for solid foods.
The last vessel in the state ceramic typology is a tall cup form known as a
kero. This vessel type was not limited to the ceramic medium and was probably
more commonly produced in wood, gold, or silver. Though it may appear a
natural form for drinking, its relative rarity and restriction to specific contexts
suggest that it may have had a more specialized or limited function within Inca
society.
The iconography associated with the imperial state ceramic assemblage has
generally been characterized as abstract, geometric, and nonrepresentational.
While it has been suggested that Inca iconography held little ideological content,
this seems unlikely given its ubiquity and the obvious emphasis on conformity.
Recent interpretive analyses of the imperial style have focused on design
structure, multiple meanings, and metaphor to gain insight into its potential
significance and how it may have functioned as a visual charter for rulership.
The elaborate and uniform set of cooking and serving wares comprising the Inca
state ceramic assemblage has no precedent in earlier Andean empires. The
creation of such a distinctive state pottery ensemble suggests that there existed a
close relationship among food, politics, and statecraft in the Inca Empire (see
Cuisine; Feasts, State-Sponsored).
Further Reading
Bingham, Hiram. “Types of Machu Picchu Pottery.” American Anthropologist 17, no. 2: 257–71, 1915.
Bray, Tamara L. “Imperial Inca Iconography: The Art of Empire in the Andes.” RES Anthropology and
Aesthetics 38:168–78, 2000.
———. “Inca Pottery as Culinary Equipment: Food, Feasting, and Gender in Imperial State Design.” Latin
American Antiquity 14, no. 1: 1–23, 2003.
———. “La alfarería imperial Inca: Una comparación entre la cerámica estatal del área de Cuzco y la
cerámica de las provincias.” Chungara 36, no. 2: 64–79, 2004.
———. “The Role of Chicha in Inca State Expansion: A Distributional Study of Inca Aríbalos.” In Drink,
Power, and Society in the Andes, edited by Justin Jennings and Brenda Bowser, 108–32. Gainesville:
University of Florida Press, 2009.
Hayashida, Frances. “Style, Technology, and State Production: Inka Pottery Manufacture in the Leche
Valley, Peru.” Latin American Antiquity 10, no. 4: 337–52, 1999.
Meyers, Albert. “Algunos Problemas en la Clasificación del Estilo Incaico.” Pumapunku 8:7–25, 1975.
Rowe, John H. An Introduction to the Archaeology of Cuzco. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American
Archaeology and Ethnology, vol. 27, no. 2. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 1944.