Thesis
Serving up ethnic identity in Chacoan frontier communities: the technology and distribution of Mogollon and Puebloan ceramic wares in the Southern Cibola Region
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2007
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100469
Abstract
Two great houses in west-central New Mexico, Cerro Pomo and Cox Ranch, are situatedat Chaco's southern frontier and contain ceramic evidence for the co-residence of Mogollon and Pueblo groups. Brown ware is generally attributed to the Mogollon, whereas gray and red ware is attributed to the Pueblos. Mogollon Brown Ware dominates the assemblage, and bowls with smudged interiors are prevalent. In fact painted red ware bowls, common at contemporaneous sites to the north in traditional Pueblo territory, are comparatively rare at these sites. This study explores the possibility that smudged brown ware was used in place of red ware as serving bowls, a potential indicator of Mogollon historical practice. The distribution of smudged brown ware and red painted ware is documented, and the functional similarities between the two are explored using vessel size and sherd apparent porosity to measure the vessels' original function and raw material attributes. In addition, the possible function of these wares was directly measured with protein residue and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses. The sherd size data indicate that painted red ware and brown smudged ware bowls were manufactured in similar sizes and therefore were functionally similar; however the whole vessel sizes of brown and red bowls are not statistically similar. Apparent porosity data varies slightly between brown and red ware bowls suggesting that although they could have served a similar purpose, they were manufactured from distinct clays. Similarly, the unrefired apparent porosity varies slightly between brown and gray jars. These differences may relate to different vessel function, but they may also be within the known limits for cooking jars. On this northern periphery of Mogollon territory, the regional spatial patterning in the distribution of red, gray, and brown wares indicates that the frequency of smudged brown ware generally increases from north to south. Furthermore, this distribution demonstrates that numerous sites in the Southern Cibola region exhibit a mixture of Mogollon and Pueblo ceramic traditions, indicating that ethnic co-residence was not unique to Cox Ranch and Cerro Pomo. Overall, it seems that the residents of sites in this transitional zone were placing higher value on smudged ware and choosing to use it rather than red ware. This technological difference could be signaling the expression of Mogollon ethnicity in the Southern Cibola region and the southern periphery of the Chacoan regional system.
Metrics
23 File views/ downloads
9 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Serving up ethnic identity in Chacoan frontier communities
- Creators
- Melissa Anne Elkins
- Contributors
- Andrew I. Duff (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525071801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis