ECOLOGY AND CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN AN ANDEAN COMMUNITY - A RECONSIDERATION OF THE EVIDENCE

D.E. Arnold has argued that contemporary ceramic production in Quinua, Ayacucho, Peru, is ''an adaptation to the marginal agricultural envir onment in which people began to maximize the use of nonagricultural re sources.'' On the basis of the Quinua data, Arnold has stated that dur ing the prehistoric Middle Horizon period, ceramic production in the A yacucho Valley may have been due to the same factor since Quinua is lo cated near the ancient city of Wari, an area with ''sufficient quantit y and diversity of ceramic resources'' and thus ecologically favorable for Pottery making However, the existence of present-day pottery-maki ng communities in areas of rich agricultural resources challenges Arno ld's conclusions. Similarly, archaeological evidence from the Ayacucho Valley conflicts with Arnold's ecological characterization of ceramic production in Ayacucho.