White virgules, commas and dot designs on tricolored ceramics from NW Argentina had been extensively studied from the stylistic point of view. The combined application of archaeometric techniques in our work has allowed to identify the use of different compounds for the white pigment preparation: one based on phosphates and other on calcium and titanium compounds. The first one has been observed in fragments from North Puna; both others have been detected in fragments from Central Puna and Quebrada de Humahuaca regions. This indicates that the use of a given compound does not necessarily correspond to a particular archeological and geographic region.
This work presents the first archaeometric analysis on these particular types of decorated potsherds and emphasizes the importance of the use of complementary characterization techniques applied on heritage materials to contribute to the knowledge of the human sciences.