Pots, Politics, and Power

In this paper, we assess early state feasting practices associated with the Huari of Middle Horizon Peru: We consider the types of food and drink served and consumed by the political elite of the Huari state, the ceramic vessels that mediated this process, and the architectural spaces in which such activities occurred. Our goal is to reveal how feasting figured in the negotiation of identity, status, power, and prestige among Huari administrators and between administrators and subjects. Additionally, we wish to show that such practices occurred under certain circumstances in prescribed architecture with selected ceramic assemblages that underscored imperial Huari rule.