Isotopic composition of lead white pigments on qeros: implications for the chronology and production of Andean ritual drinking vessels during the colonial era

For millennia, qeros have been a primary component of ceremonially and politically important toasting rituals in the Andes and retain their cultural significance to this day. These wooden drinking vessels underwent a stylistic and technical revolution in the colonial period (1532–1821 AD). Among an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Heritage science 2020-07, Vol.8 (1), p.1-12, Article 72
Main Authors: Curley, Allison N., Thibodeau, Alyson M., Kaplan, Emily, Howe, Ellen, Pearlstein, Ellen, Levinson, Judith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Andes
Art galleries & museums
Chemistry and Materials Science
Colonial
colors in Latin american archaeometric investigations
Drinking
dyes
Inka
Isotopes
Lead
Lead white
Materials Science
Pb isotopes
Pigments
Qero
Research Article
Signatures
Vessels
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Summary:For millennia, qeros have been a primary component of ceremonially and politically important toasting rituals in the Andes and retain their cultural significance to this day. These wooden drinking vessels underwent a stylistic and technical revolution in the colonial period (1532–1821 AD). Among an array of features that distinguish colonial qeros from their Inka predecessors is the presence of lead white, a pigment that was introduced to the Andes by the Spanish. Here, we present lead (Pb) isotope measurements of lead white pigments from 20 colonial qeros from the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian, the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in a private collection. Although most of the vessels are not known to be associated with one another, their lead white pigments fall into three distinct and internally consistent groupings in Pb isotope space. We interpret the isotopic signatures of two of the groups to indicate that the lead white was imported from Europe. We suggest that the largest grouping (comprising pigments sampled from 12 qeros) is decorated with lead white of Andean origin. These isotopic signatures may have a chronological component, and strongly suggest some form of centralization in pigment acquisition, manufacture, and/or distribution in the colonial period.
ISSN:2050-7445
2050-7445
DOI:10.1186/s40494-020-00408-w