Recent archaeological investigations demonstrate that landscapes of the past are not just passive backdrops to people's practices, but rather play a key role in social, cultural, political, and economic processes. Archaeologists have typically studied landscapes by analysing settlement patterns and architecture, yet newer approaches include the study of production practices such as pottery or stone-tool production. One such approach focuses on the ‘taskscape’, which includes skilled agents, and daily tasks occurring on the landscape. Scholars using this framework consider the rhythms and the embodied experience of people in specific places, and explore both the social relationships and ecological affordances of landscapes. Archaeologists, in particular, have considered the embedded nature of daily tasks performed on the landscape, and the material remains of these tasks. In this project I focus on the taskscapes of the Late Formative Period (200 B.C.- A.D. 500), in the Upper Desaguadero Valley, just south of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Little is known of Late Formative landscapes, a period prior to the rise of the Tiwanaku state. I study Upper Desaguadero landscapes to contribute to scholarship exploring the social, political and economic changes of the Late Formative Period, prior to the emergence of the Tiwanaku state. I study ceramics from two recently excavated sites, Khonkho Wankane and Iruhito. My research explores the difference between Khonkho Wankane and Iruhito taskscapes and whether this is evident through ceramics. Potters’ choices during production are based on their taskscapes, which can affect the materials selected for the paste (the mixture of clay and inclusions), to how the vessels were decorated. Pottery was not only made but also used during daily tasks and thus pottery usage can be used to examine taskscapes. I conduct attribute analysis, with particular attention to paste. For a more detailed analysis of paste I employ a Dino-Lite digital USB microscope. The digital USB microscope is portable, affordable and time efficient, allowing for analysis to be conducted in the field. This method is promising for ceramic analysis, as it encourages standardization and inter-site comparisons. Ultimately, this tool provides quick yet detailed insights into past social landscapes. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

The Crystal River site (8CI1) is a Woodland-period mound (ca. 1000 BC to AD 1050) complex located on the west-central Gulf coast of Florida. Links to the Hopewell Interaction Sphere suggest that the people of Crystal River had connections with a broad range of communities, yet little is known concerning the role the site played in local, regional, or long-distance exchange networks. Pottery traditions vary amongst different communities of practice, therefore the level of interaction at Crystal River can be measured by looking at variation in the ceramic assemblage. I combine type/attribute, vessel form and function, gross paste, and chemical analyses to determine the amount of variability present in the pottery assemblage. These analyses show that Crystal River has a high level of ceramic variation with some spatial and temporal patterning. To determine Crystal River’s membership in and potential role within a sphere of interaction, I compare these patterns to three community types with diverse social interfaces. This research suggests that Crystal River may have started out as a homogenous, residential community but through time began to interact with a number of diverse, regionally associated communities drawn to the site for special occasions.