Rio Grande Glaze Ware
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Note: this article includes in-text references, as is common in U.S. archaeology journals. Most archaeological dates are approximate.
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[edit] Introduction
Rio Grande Glaze Ware is a late prehistoric and historic pottery tradition of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico.[1] The tradition involved painting low-fired pots with black paint made from lead ore; as the pots were fired the black paint fused and sometimes ran. Unlike most Old World and derivative glazed pottery, Rio Grande Glaze Ware used the glaze material as part of a decorative scheme, never to coat and waterproof the entire vessel.
Rio Grande Glaze Ware was first made about A.D. 1315 (based on tree-ring dating at Tijeras Pueblo). It was inspired by the White Mountain Red Ware pottery tradition centered on the upper Little Colorado drainage of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico.
Rio Grande Glaze Ware was no longer made after 1700, because the Spanish cut off Pueblo access to the lead ore used in making the glaze paint (Wilson 1995:10).[1] It was made in the Rio Grande Valley and adjacent valleys, from roughly the Santa Fe area south to the north end of Elephant Butte Reservoir, and from the Rio Puerco east and northeast to the upper Pecos River.
[edit] Typology and Chronology
Archaeologists divide Rio Grande Glaze Ware into a number of types, reflecting variation over time and space. The principal goal of the typology is to allow archaeologists to estimate the age of a site, based on the pottery types found at that site. Professional disagreement over specifics is common. It is also important to remember that changes in ceramic design did not happen overnight, and that archaeological typologies therefore tend to break continua of design evolution into arbitrary (but highly useful) units. These can then be identified by using a "key" system of branching decisions. In this article the first key begins with rim profiles. It is followed by a key that begins with paint styles. To minimize duplication, detailed comments on the individual types are reserved for the second key.
[edit] A Key Based on Rims: The Mera System
The most time-sensitive attribute of Rio Grande Glaze Ware pottery is the rim profiles of bowls, so most archaeologists sort potsherds beginning with the rims. In doing so they refer to Glaze A through Glaze F pottery, A rims being the earliest and F rims being the latest. This letter-based key was first developed by Harry Percival Mera (1933)[2] drawing on an earlier, number-based key developed by Anna O. Shepard and A. V. Kidder[3]. Here, the first question is: what rim profile is present?
[edit] Glaze A Rims
Glaze A bowl rims are in-curving and of a consistent thickness. The lips are rounded or squared. Glaze A is often dated from A.D. 1315 to 1425, but the end date applies only from the Albuquerque area north. In the southern part of the range, bowls with Glaze A rims were made until A.D. 1500 or later.
Glaze A pottery was first made in the Albuquerque area (the earliest directly dated examples being from Tijeras Pueblo) and was dominated by red-slipped examples with black interior designs. The exteriors are sometimes painted with isolated elements such as crosses. Pottery of this description is classified as Agua Fria Glaze-on-red. In some of the earliest examples, however, simple white paint designs appear on the exterior; pottery of this type is classified as Arenal Glaze Polychrome.
As Glaze A pottery spread north, yellow-slipped examples appeared and are known as Cieneguilla Glaze-on-yellow. Yellow-slipped pottery with red matte paint elements outlined in black glaze paint are known as Cieneguilla Glaze Polychrome.
On some Glaze A pottery, the interior slip color differs from the exterior slip color (so that the background colors are different on each side of a potsherd). If the design painted on such pottery was executed with black glaze paint, the type is known as San Clemente Glaze Polychrome. If the design also includes red matte paint elements outlined in black, the type is known as Pottery Mound Polychrome.
Although most Glaze A rims were quite simple, one contemporary variant has a slightly flaring rim (Honea 1966)[4] Examples with one slip color are classified as Sanchez Glaze-on-red or Sanchez Glaze-on-yellow. Examples with contrasting white (interior) and red (exterior) slips, and with black glaze paint, are termed Sanchez Glaze Polychrome.
[edit] Glaze B Rims
Glaze B bowl rims are also incurving but become thicker towards the lips, which are flat. The resulting profile is somewhat wedge-shaped. Glaze B was made almost exclusively in the region north of Albuquerque; farther south, potters simply continued with the Glaze A rim style. Glaze B dates between A.D. 1400 and 1450.
Glaze B vessels with one slip and black glaze paint are classified as Largo Glaze-on-yellow or Largo Glaze-on-red.
Examples with one slip, and red matte paint outlined in black, are classified as Largo Glaze Polychrome. In this type, the lower portions of bowl exteriors are often unslipped.
Rarely, examples are found with two contrasting (interior versus exterior) slip colors and black glaze paint designs; these are termed Medio Glaze Polychrome.
[edit] Glaze C Rims
Glaze C bowl rims have everted lips. Glaze C was made between A.D. 1425 and 1500.
This rim group has one named type, Espinosa Glaze Polychrome, which includes red matte paint elements outlined in black glaze paint.
[edit] Glaze D Rims
Glaze D bowl rims date between A.D. 1470 and 1515. In profile, rim exteriors exhibit an inward bend (or close to it). The rims themselves are either fairly consistent in thickness, or taper slightly to both the body and the lip.
This room group has one named type, San Lazaro Glaze Polychrome, which includes red matte paint elements outlined in black glaze paint.
[edit] Glaze E Rims
L-R: Pecos, Puaray, Escondido
Most Glaze E bowl rims are substantially thicker than the bodies of the bowls, and "breaks" (discontinuities) in the exterior curve of the bowl are common. After the Spanish colonized New Mexico in 1598, some glaze ware bowls took on distinctly European shapes, for example, soup plates. Glaze E was made from 1515 until 1700, when the Spanish cut off the Pueblos' supply of lead ore. The Pueblos continued to make polychrome pottery but used all matte paints, as they do today.
Puaray Glaze Polychrome is characterized by thickened rim profiles reminiscent of willow leaves, above a marked break in the exterior profile. The designs included red matte paint elements outlined runny black (or off-black) glaze. When the rims are instead somewhat rectangular in profile, the type becomes Escondido Glaze Polychrome. In the Pecos Pueblo area, Glaze E rims are sometimes instead somewhat "stubby," meaning that the break is near the rim, and that the thickened portion of the rim is correspondingly short. This variant is known as Pecos Glaze Polychrome.
[edit] Glaze F Rims
Glaze F bowl rims retain a break in the exterior profile, but the marked thickening of Glaze E disappears. European-inspired shapes become more common. The glaze paint then in use usually fired to runny brown or green rather than black.
Glaze F vessels with one slip and "black" glaze paint are classified as Kotyiti Glaze-on-red or Kotyiti Glaze-on-yellow. Several design variants are subsumed by Kotyiti Glaze Polychrome. Some examples of that polychrome type have one slip color and red matte paint elements outlined in "black" glaze paint. Others have two slip colors and either "black" glaze paint examples or red-and-black paint examples.
[edit] A Key Based on Paint Styles
Under the Mera system of classification, all types based on painting styles fit neatly as subtypes of the types based on rim forms. In practice, specific painting styles do not form neat subsets of groups defined on rim forms, particularly in the southern portion of the production range. Here, the first question is: does the painted design consist of black elements, or of red and black elements?
[edit] Style: Black Painted Designs...
The first examples of Rio Grande Glaze Ware carried on a centuries-old tradition of black painted designs on a lighter background. The next question is: was the slipped background (1) red, (2) yellow, or (3) contrasting colors, one on the inside of the vessel, the other on the outside?
[edit] ...on a Red Slip Background
Arenal Glaze Polychrome features red-slipped bowls with simple interior designs painted in black glaze paint. The bowl exteriors include simple designs in white matte paint. This overall layout (black-on-red interiors, white-on-red exteriors) is a carryover from the White Mountain Red Wares that inspired Arenal—this foreign design touch quickly died out, however. Arenal Glaze Polychrome dates from A.D. 1315 to 1350(?) and is found from Albuquerque south.
Unlike Arenal, Agua Fria Glaze-on-red lacks white paint on bowl exteriors. Bowls are red-slipped. The black glaze paint is usually dull and non-runny. The black designs are usually laid out in bands on the upper part of bowl interiors. The upper exteriors sometimes have slashes, crosses, or similar isolated motifs. Jars with black-on-red exterior designs also occur. Agua Fria Glaze-on-red occurs throughout the Rio Grande Glaze Ware area. It dates from A.D. 1315 to 1425 throughout its range, and later (possibly as late as 1550) in the southern portion of its range.
Honea (1966) describes a variant of Agua Fria Glaze-on-red with a slightly out-flaring rim, Sanchez Glaze-on-red. This type is found north of Albuquerque and dates from A.D. 1350 to 1425.
When B rims rather than A rims are present, this type becomes Largo Glaze-on-red (A.D. 1400 to 1450). Afterwards, all-black painted designs appear to have given way to black-and-red painted designs until the Spanish Colonial period, when some vessels revert to this simpler design scheme. During the Spanish Colonial period, when F rims are present, this type becomes Kotyiti Glaze-on-Red (A.D. 1625 to 1700).
[edit] ...on a Yellow Slip Background
When the slip is more yellow than red, black-design vessels are called Cieneguilla Glaze-on-yellow. This style is found north of Albuquerque and may represent a local innovation as the making of glaze ware pottery spread northward. Cieneguilla dates from A.D. 1325 to 1425. In the Galisteo Basin, a variant of this type with a slightly flaring lip is known as Sanchez Glaze-on-yellow (Honea 1966) and dates from A.D. 1350 to 1425.
When B rims rather than A Rims are present, black-on-yellow bowls are classified as "Largo Glaze-on-yellow." This type dates from A.D. 1400 to 1450. Afterwards, all-black painted designs appear to have died out until the Spanish Colonial period, when some vessels revert to this simpler design scheme. During the Spanish Colonial period, when F rims are present, the named type is Kotyiti Black-on-yellow (A.D. 1625 to 1700).
[edit] ...on Contrasting Slip Backgrounds
Early on, potters also learned to make some vessels with contrasting slips—one background color on the inside of the vessel, a different background color on the outside. The options included the red and yellow slip clays used on one-slip vessels, as well as white slip clay probably imported from the west.
San Clemente Glaze Polychrome dates from A.D. 1315 (?—this is probably too early) to 1425. In this type, the interior and exterior of each bowl is slipped in a different color. (In jars, the uppermost and most easily reached part of the interior is slipped a different color.) The black glaze paint design applied over the slip often includes, dots and serrated lines. San Clemente Polychrome occurs from Albuquerque south.
Honea (1966) has described a variant on San Clemente Glaze Polychrome, Sanchez Glaze Polychrome. The Sanchez variant has a "slightly out-flaring rim resembling Glaze C rims, but thicker" (Wilson 2005:54). This rare variant consists of bowls, which are found north of Albuquerque.
Late in the sequence, a variant appears in which black paint designs appear over contrasting interior and exterior slips, with Glaze F rims. This combination is called Kotyiti Glaze Polychrome, however, the same name is used for F rim examples with red-and-black painted designs (see below).
[edit] Style: Red and Black Painted Designs...
Almost immediately, it seems, the Rio Grande area potters branched out from black-design tradition of White Mountain Red Ware, adding a scheme involving black and red paint designs on a lighter background. Where red (matte) paint was used, it was almost always outlined in black glaze paint. This specific artistic canon may have been inspired by Ramos Polychrome, a type of pottery made in northwest Chihuahua beginning about 1200. The next question is: was the slip background (1) a single color (which could vary), or (2) contrasting colors?
[edit] ...on a Single Background Color
The use of red-and-black painted designs apparently began on vessels with yellow slips, but as time went on other slip colors were used.
The probable first type in this tradition was Cieneguilla Glaze Polychrome, which differs from Cieneguilla Black-on-yellow by the addition of red (matte) paint elements outlined in black (glaze) paint. Cieneguilla Polychrome dates from A.D. 1325 to 1425.
When B rims rather than A rims are present, this type becomes Largo Glaze Polychrome (A.D. 1400 to 1450).
When C rims are present, the type becomes Espinosa Glaze Polychrome (A.D. 1425 to 1500). By Espinosa, the slip tends to be off-white rather than yellow, causing the designs to appear more "gaudy." This background color may be in imitation of contemporary Acoma-Zuni wares. Espinosa Glaze Polychrome is most common north of Albuquerque.
When D rims are present, the type becomes San Lazaro Glaze Polychrome (A.D. 1470 to 1515). The background slip color reverted to a tan-reddish continuum. In some instances the red matte paint was not used, and strictly speaking those examples are glaze-on-red designs, not polychrome.
When E rims are present, the type becomes Puaray Glaze Polychrome (willow-leaf profiles; A.D. 1515 to 1650) or Escondido Glaze Polychrome (rectangular profile; A.D. 1515 to 1650[?]). The background slip color ranges from an off-white to yellow or red. By this point the black glaze paint is "runny" (during firing), giving the finished vessels a sloppy look. It is not clear whether the runny look is deliberate (due to a change in the paint formula) or unavoidable (due to a change in the available raw minerals). In the Pecos Pueblo area, a local variant, Pecos Glaze Polychrome, has "stubby" thickened rims; this variant dates from A.D. 1515 to 1700.
When F rims are present, the type becomes Kotyiti Glaze Polychrome (A.D. 1625 to 1700), however, the same type name is applied to F rim examples in the San Lazaro (two slip) tradition. Kotyiti Glaze Polychrome is characterized by slapdash designs and by the use of runny glaze black paint.
[edit] ...on Contrasting Background Colors
Pottery Mound Polychrome is considered a variant of San Clemente Glaze Polychrome, in the sense that the San Clemente slip scheme (different slip color on interiors and exteriors) is combined with the canon of red matte paint outlined in black glaze paint. In some of the most boldly executed examples of this type, however red matte paint designs are sometimes not framed in black. The background colors used in contrasting pairs include red (grading to orange), yellow (grading to olive), and white (probably using slip clay from the Acoma area, in imitation of Acoma-Zuni wares). Pottery Mound Polychrome dates from A.D. 1400 to 1490. The center of production was Pottery Mound, a village on the lower Rio Puerco (east).
[edit] A Tabular Approach to Classification
The Mera system, which first keys off rim profiles, is probably best suited to the northern portion of the glaze ware production area—in other words, in the area Mera relied on to develop his system. One recently developed alternative approach, by Franklin (2007)[5], reflects work in the southern portion of the glaze ware area, where the Mera system works less well. Franklin's system recognizes the cross-cutting nature of rim forms and painted designs in the Rio Grande Glaze Ware. In his system, therefore, a bowl with black glaze paint on a red slip background is classified "Agua Fria Glaze-on-red" regardless of rim form, and the rim forms (A, B, etc.) are separately recorded for the sherds thus classified. One advantage of this approach is its flexibility. In Wilson (2005)[1], for example, Pottery Mound Polychrome is listed as a Glaze A type but at the production center, Pottery Mound, it is known to occur with other rim forms.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Wilson, Gordon P., 2005, Guide to Ceramic Identification: Northern Rio Grande Valley and Galisteo Basin to AD 1700. Laboratory of Anthropology Technical Series, Bulletin No. 12. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.
- ^ Mera, H. P., 1933, A Proposed Revision of the Rio Grande Glaze Paint Sequence. Laboratory of Anthropology Technical Series, Bulletin No. 6, Santa Fe.
- ^ Kidder, Alfred V., and Anna O. Shepard, 1936, The Pottery of Pecos, Volume 2: The Glaze Paint, Culinary, and Other Wares. Papers of the Southwestern Expedition, Phillips Academy, No. 7. Yale University Press, New Haven
- ^ Honea, Kenneth H., 1966, Rio Grande Glaze Wares. Prepared for the Eighth Southwestern Ceramic Seminar. Ms. on file at Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe.
- ^ Franklin, Hayward H., 2007, The Pottery of Pottery Mound, A Study of the 1979 UNM Field School Collections, Part 1: Typology and Chronology. Maxwell Museum of Anthropology Technical Series No. 5. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
