Peruvian Black Pottery Production and Metalworking: A Middle Sicán CraftWorkshop at Huaca Sialupe

The technical sophistication and virtuosity of prehispanic Andean ceramics are so often praised in the literature that it may appear that there is a large body of supportive, empirical findings. To the contrary, in-depth technical and more comprehensive technological studies have been rare. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the many facets and stages of the technology and organization of craft production requires a correspondingly comprehensive, sustained effort—one built on interdisciplinary collaboration and longterm regional study of environmental, historical, social, and technological factors.