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Serving up Ethnic Identity in Chacoan Frontier Communities: the Technology and Distribution of Mogollon and Puebloan Ceramic Wares in the Southern Cibola Region

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Serving up Ethnic Identity in Chacoan Frontier Communities: the Technology and Distribution of Mogollon and Puebloan Ceramic Wares in the Southern Cibola Region SERVING UP ETHNIC IDENTITY IN CHACOAN FRONTIER COMMUNITIES: THE TECHNOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOGOLLON AND PUEBLOAN CERAMIC WARES IN THE SOUTHERN CIBOLA REGION By MELISSA ANNE ELKINS A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Anthropology DECEMBER 2007 To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the thesis of MELISSA ANNE ELKINS find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. Chair ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Numerous people have helped see this thesis through to completion. I would like to thank my committee, Dr. Andrew Duff, Dr. Tim Kohler, and Dr. Melissa Goodman-Elgar for their valuable comments and constructive criticism. Dr. Andrew Duff, my committee chair, has been crucial to the completion of this project. He has provided me with field and lab work for the duration of my graduate career and has taught me invaluable analysis and writing skills. I wish to thank him for his continued dedication to students, generosity of time and funds, ideas, and access to opportunities. Several individuals and institutions made my research possible and deserve many thanks. Dr. Andrew Duff’s multi-year fieldwork at Cox Ranch and Cerro Pomo Pueblos, under permits granted from the New Mexico office of the Bureau of Land Management, supplied the ceramic data for this project and has been funded by the National Science Foundation (#BCS-054595), and the National Geographic Society (#7427-03, #7822-05). Brenda Wilkinson, BLM Archaeologist (Socorro Field Office) has provided consistent assistance and facilitated financial support for this fieldwork. In addition, my Research Assistantship with Andrew Duff at Washington State University was funded by the National Science Foundation grant (#BCS- 054595). A portion of the grants awarded to Andrew Duff funded my airfare to the Chicago Field Museum to study their collections of whole ceramic vessels, and Dr. Scott Demel, collections manager, made my visit enjoyable and productive. The New Mexico Archaeological Council (NMAC) generously awarded me a grant to fund the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses, which were graciously performed on short notice by Dr. Mary Malainey of Brandon University, Manitoba. Additional protein residue analyses were conducted by Dr. Robert Yohe iii of the Laboratory of Archaeological Sciences at California State University-Bakersfield, and were funded through Dr. Duff’s Bureau of Land Management grant. In addition, several key people aided my museum collections research including: Dr. Cynthia Bettison of Western New Mexico University Museum; Dr. David Phillips, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; and Dr. Melissa Powell, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Laboratory of Anthropology, Santa Fe. Numerous friends and colleagues in Pullman and afar “talked shop” but also offered non- academic conversation and companionship that was key to surviving the stress of graduate school. Aaron Wright and Alissa Nauman collaborated on papers and shared lab time and data, and Darin McDougall spent long hours on lab work always offering a much-needed laugh. I must thank Jeremy Carfi for moving cross-country and sharing a little house in Palouse with a cranky student. His dedication and affection encouraged me greatly. I am indebted to Janet and Walter Elkins for always being proud parents and offering their unending support and wisdom. They have the knack of always being right. I dedicate my professional and personal successes to them and to my siblings Julie, Judy, and John. To Dottie Sawyer, a wonderful grandmother and schoolteacher, for introducing me to archaeology and a passion for learning when I was very young. iv SERVING UP ETHNIC IDENTITY IN CHACOAN FRONTIER COMMUNITIES: THE TECHNOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION OF MOGOLLON AND PUEBLOAN CERAMIC WARES IN THE SOUTHERN CIBOLA REGION ABSTRACT By Melissa Anne Elkins, M.A. Washington State University December 2007 Chair: Andrew I. Duff Two great houses in west-central New Mexico, Cerro Pomo and Cox Ranch, are situated at 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 v 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. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................x LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: FROM POTTERY TO PEOPLE ...................................................1 2. CERAMICS AND IDEOLOGY ....................................................................................7 Technological Style, Agency and Ethnicity ...................................................................7 Potters and Craft Learning in the Prehistoric Southwest .............................................17 Style and Social Organization ......................................................................................19 Vessel Form and Function ...........................................................................................21 3. CULTURAL CONTEXT AND IDENTITY: CENTRAL TO CHACO OR CLOSE TO HOME? .....................................................29 Chaco Canyon ..............................................................................................................30 Chacoan “Outliers” ......................................................................................................32 The Chaco Regional System ........................................................................................34 Mogollon and Ancestral Puebloan Culture History .....................................................41 Cox Ranch and Cerro Pomo Pueblos ...........................................................................47 Cox Ranch and Cerro Pomo: Participants in the Chaco Regional System? ................61 4. MOGOLLON AND PUEBLO POTS ON THE LANDSCAPE: CERAMIC DISTRIBUTION IN THE SOUTHERN CIBOLA REGION ..................63 vii Ceramics of the Southern Cibola Region .....................................................................63 Distribution of Mogollon and Pueblo Pottery ..............................................................65 5. MAKING POTTERY FABRICS SPEAK: METHODS .............................................75 Rim Arc ........................................................................................................................75 Museum Collections ....................................................................................................77 Oxidation Studies .........................................................................................................79 Apparent Porosity ........................................................................................................81 Temper
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