BICENTENARY: THE COLOUR IN N.O.A.’S (ARGENTINIAN NORTH-WESTERN) ABORIGINAL CULTURAL POTTERY

SILVIA BARRIOS

AIC 2010 Color and Food, Mar del Plata, Argentina, 12-15 October 2010

This work has the purpose of dealing with the process of transformation suffered by ceramic pottery in Argentina. To start the colour study of this scarce primitive pottery we will

make a survey from the origin of ceramics in our country.This first inhabitants were those to discover the wonderful properties of mud as

well as the development of ceramics and the application of colour to the first pieces.

In America, ceramic starts in 3500 BC aproximatedly in the Northern Andes regions. It is thought it could have been introduced from Ecuador via Indonesia

and New Guinea from South eastern Asia. The place with the most ancient findings was Valdivia, Ecuador in 3100 bC. It later spread through Peru, Mexico, Colombia,

Bolivia until it reached our country in 650 to 300 BC. It is believed it was introduced through the Humahuaca region and through the north of Chile,

apreading along the northeastern part of Argentina and developing with the different cultures.

Ceramics found in burrial sites are true source of information to find out customs and development of the daily life of aboriginal population. It was customary to bury the deseased with their belongings, glasses, plates “pucos” (bowls) and

small statues among others.

Paste elaboration for the manufacturing of primitive

containers:The early inhabitants would collect the clays from river beds in the low water

season and mix them with the clay from the hills. Sometimes these clays were kept as savings inside houses or in holes then

covered with stones.The whole family would take part in the

elaboration of ceramics; men would devote to the manufacturing of large

pieces like urns and women those smaller in size like utensils. The making of

ceremonial pieces of the most importance was reserved to the shamanes, spiritual

leaders and wise men of aboriginal communities. They had a wide knowledge about minerals and herbs and used those skills to make ceramics. Pot making was a

task carried out, many times, in a semi-consciousness state, a totally spiritual

task.

The north western clays contain percentages of natural mineral antiplasticslike quartzsand, feldspar remains, visible mica, calcium carbonate, volcanic ashes, iron pyrites and so on. They would often

add other antiplastics, depending the place of settlement. Grated vegetal coal,

excrement, burnt bone (calcium fosfate) which were crushed once the piece reached 600C, these elements lessened contraction while the pieces dried and, once eliminated, gave lighter and more porous pieces giving,

as a result, a post-cooked greyer colourwhich is visualized from the center of the

ceramic wall which must not be mistaken for the grey of the reducing atmosphere which

will only colour the inner and outer wall exposed to smoke.

The washing of clays and minerals was a very widely used technique used by

aboriginal peoples.In the Andinian region we can find clays with a high degree of impurities being

iron oxide of about 3 and 9 percent, the most commonly found depending on the place of extraction, giving as a result a

reddish ceramics.The most ancient ceramics found are

greyish or black because the early bakings were carried out in open fires in a smoky and reducting atmosphere with

a scarcely 500° C to 600° C exposure

giving under cooked pieces as a result

.Knowledge about the properties of minerals for the manufacture and preparationof pigments:

Colour is spread together with style peculiar to each culture and is bearer of knowledge throughout its way. The interchange of products among the different Andinian communities contributed to the fusion and diffusion of regional styles

before the Spanish conquest.Metallic earths that is mineral oxides gave red, white, black and cream colours and

gave birth to different shades of these colours which were considered basic to aboriginal peoples.

There are dark clays which exposed to 800/900° C change colours and may turn whitish, pink or reddish because these muds have acquired carbon throughout their geological sedimentation. Greenich /yellowish clays exposed to those high temperatures may also give a reddish colour because of their contents of ferric

hydroxide which hydrates during the baking process becoming ferric iron oxide or red depending on its percentage and giving a distinctive shade.

Ceramic red varies in shade forming reddish, brownish or ochre according to the percentage of iron oxide in the clay depending on the quality of the oxide. The

strength in colour will be given by those percentages ion the clay which NOA vary between 3 and 9 per cents. Ferric oxide produced clean colours warm red or brick;

ferrous oxide produce greyish shades.They used a store called “hematina” which is a variety of iron oxide, which they

crushed in mortars to make “engobes” and coatings for the pieces.Some clays from that region also contain smatler percentages of manganesum

oxide and in this case the reddish becomes darker.Yellow: this colour was achieved with the impure kaolins found in some parts of NOA. If this mineral is found free from impurities we get white colour ceramics.

Black: using pirolusite, a variety of manganese oxide, the aboriginal peoples were able to get manganese black.

Techniques of fire colour application:The above mentioned mineral pigments were crushed in stone mortars to obtain very

thin particles with which they made engobes or coatings and later spread with thin feathers or wool fleece to cover surfaces or design iconography proper to those

cultures.Another technique which was used was that of “the negative” where the ornaments appear on the natural surface of the vase, while the rest is painted in a contrasting

colour. The procedure was carried out drawing a motive on the surface which was later filled with a water-resistant material like wax or vegetal resins obtained from cactuses

and the rest of the piece was covered with a pigment coating or a thick layer of engobe. When the piece was baked the organic cover would disappear leaving the design in the

natural colour of the surface and the rest would get the colour of the coating. Some pieces would hold bi-cromatic painting: red-black or red-white among other

shades, first the pieces were covered by a thin layer of light engobe and then decorated in black or white with a paint brush on the surface, producing a contrast of colour.The pieces obtained by cutting techniques engraved or decorating with graffit could also de coloured with a layer of engobe before the cuttings were made or add the colour after being baked. A paste made with kaolin was used to introduce in the

engravings. Many of these works show different techniques used to make the same piece.

Techniques to perform iconographic designs:

As decoration techniques, early cultures used cuttings on the raw painted surface or on

engobes (coatings).Engraving was carried out etching on the piece in the leather condition and thus obtained the designs. When the paste hardened the cutting

performed is called decoration with graffits(esgrafiado). As a consecuence of studies

carried out an archaeological pieces we now-know that the drawings were made quickly

according to the oriental style. The moment of the piece ornamentation was considered sacred and energy bearing, full of pure vibrations and

this allows us to define these creations as

authentic ancestral art.

Paste modelling and tool handlingThe first containers built in pre columbine ceramics were mostliy for ceremonial use. As time went by earthen glasses, pots, and bowls came into existente and

forned part of the usual table service.In early times fruits , gourds or baskets which were covered with clay were used as bases to model the first pieces. They would let the lower part of the piece dry until it became loose; then the piece was removed and was completed by adding

stripes until the desired height. The process started by taking a lump in one hand and pressing the centre with the other fist , the forefinger was used to hollow the interior obtaining a bowl or glass; a knee could also be taken as pattern. Our aboriginal people would always carry

out their pottery job sitting on the ground.

To elaborate pots they would Start from a falt base and achieve height adding stripes, laying each one on top of the previous layer and using their fingers pressure would erase

the joints and give the piece the necessary thickness .They would use woolen tufts as sponges to achieve a nicer finish.

Trowel technique: This was another way by which our aboriginal peoples were able to manufacture utensils and consists in giving hard tropel beats to the walls of the vase.

Taking a lump of wer clay, they would sink their filst to get a hollow, then with a trowel in their rigth hand and a flattened stone in their left hand incide the vessel, they would start beating rithmically. At an even tone the walls get thinner and higher ceramic artisans in Piura,Peru who still perform their art as in ancient times refer that, in order to handle the piece better, they do their job sitting on the ground and hold the piece between their feet which act like a spinning Wheel while the tropel process is carried out. They also explain that the bodily touch gives them a deep approach to their Mother Earth. By means of this

method very thin-walled pieces can be obtained.The Burnishing or Polishing was achieved with smooth stones which provided a deep

lustre either on the raw paste surface in leather condition or on the colour coating or on a thein engobe layer.

To achieve this process rolling stones or wet leather were used. To do engravings they would use sticks, canes, kernels, bones and sharp tools.

Then feathers and vicuna wool fleece were used as paint brushes. Some times broken

vessels were used to start a new piece.

Adjustment of baking atmospheres as colour modifyersThe composition of paste can originate different colours depending on the

temperature and atmosphere to which the piece is exposed.For example: the grey of the dough becomes black at low temperatures,

reddish brown at 800 ° C ; yellowish and greenish raising its temperature.The first pieces were baked in open fires , some on the ground and at times inside shallow holes. These ovens didn’t regulate the flux of air originating black or grey effects on the piece showing lack of oxigen. The fuel used by

aborigins could have been wood , llama excrement, dry leaves,etc.The surrounding atmosphere during the baking also affects the colour of the

vessel.

Smoke or complete reducing atmosphere: If we take ferric oxide ( red colour ) it becomes ferric that is

to say is reduced and gives the piece greyish or blackish shade.Oxydizing Atmosphere: this is

achieved by baking in abundant oxygene and little smoke in clays

containing high percentages of iron ( 8 to 9 % ) and obtaining a red brick

colour or pink in pastes with a lesser amount of mineral

contamination.

The arrival of the Spanish Colonization:

With the coming of the Spanish Conquerors, pottery stopped being a spiritual activity and started becoming a very precious activity representing Andinian

Cultures.Productive pottery was Developed by unskilled workers us Shamanes, who were

the most intelligent chiefs, were pursued and burnt because of their beliefs .

Conclusions

To strengthen a National and Latinoamerican Culture it is necessary to learn about the development of the first self-sufficient societies; their way of life and identity

taken for their true value , as they play an essential part in the future of the Argentinian ceramic art.

Ancestral art and pottery gave birth to long lasting activities which to these days are being carried out by many communities using the original processes.

Throughout my visit to different communities in NOA I visited factories and artisan workshops and I was told about their ancestors techniques and customs. They learn from observation which they inherited and know about the virtues of the

earth. These inhabitants have added new processes developed from daily practice and development of ceramic activity.

The new generations of pottery makers are open-minded enough to adopt new techniques and also show interest in learning about different products with which

to enrich thier work. They speak about their wish to include new technology to their ceramic output.

An Artisan knows that his spirit as well as those of this ancestors are represented in each piece he may produce, since I reckon that in NOA, ceramics is still

considered a spiritual activity.

The need to use natural elements, in going back to our origin , gives us a kind of enjoyment in this

speedy World , where time rules.It is important to turn ceramic activity into a

wonderful and pleasure giving activity, an artistic or productive job which requires a certain knowledge and which offers the new generations the posibilityof greater development and legacy throughout time.

New designs will certainly come up, ancient techniques and aboriginal design identify us as

Latin Americans . Different ways open to the future; the load of knowledge which ancestral pottery

making offers, gives us the possibility to generate new and brilliant opportunities to contemporary

Argentine ceramics .After concluding the first part of this study I have come to the conclusión that vase

ceramics , in spite of being considered of ceremonial use, appears together with the need of holding solids and liquids. I think that ceremonial

use doesn’t exclude utilitarian pottery, on the contrary it is primitive domestic pottery which confers ceremonial use in aboriginal ceramics.

From this point I consider I must keeep on with my study of pottery colour alter the Spanish Conquest.

BICENTENARY: THE COLOUR IN N.O.A.’S (ARGENTINIAN NORTH-WESTERN) ABORIGINAL CULTURAL POTTERY.

SILVIA BARRIOS

Muchas Gracias