Olla sin cuello ware are found in concentrated parts of Peru. Sites that are home to these artifacts have not only been found along the coastal Valley, but several kilometers inland along and near the mouth of the river. Two main sites that exhibit Olla sin cuello ware are beneath the cemetery at El Algodonal and at Loreto Viejo. Surface indications suggest that there may be as many as ten other sites that contain this ware.

According to Travlangs Translating Dictionaries, Olla sin cuello means a 'pot without neck.' The artifacts are characterized by their restricted, neckless, round-bottomed shape. They range from approximately 33 cm to 55 cm in diameter and have many different ranges of thickness. These artifacts tend to be very irregular in shape and are rarely finished with a glaze. Rather, they are usually burnished. The pots were never colored, hinting at a plain use, maybe simply cooking or washing clothes, but no religious value or spiritual connection. The pots clearly represent utilitarian cooking vessels, with the large neckless shape and the amount of substance the pot could hold. It is estimated that the large pots would hold ten to over forty liters, hinting that they were able to cook for large groups of people, maybe even more then forty people at one time.

Anthropologists use radiocarbon dating to determine that the ware dates between 100 B.C. and 380 A.D., according to the University of Washington Quaternary Isotope Lab Radiocarbon Calibration Program, method A. They also believe that this is only the beginning of what is to be discovered. Since the area that the Olla sin cuello sites cover is so large, anthropologists believe that because of modern activity and the use of the pottery over time, the site have become covered and hidden.

References:

Owen, Bruce. Early Ceramic Settlement in the Coastal Osmore Valley: Preliminary Reports. 1993.

Tschopik Jr., Harry. File: Aymara (Andean-western South America) [File Table of Contents] OWC: SF05, Guide to the SF05 Aymara File. Ethnonyms, Aymara. Http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/e/ehraf/hraf-idx?type=html&rgn=GUIDE&byte=132844370

Author: Cindy Piehl