The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts EL PASO POLYCHROME IN THE CASAS GRANDES REGION, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO: CERAMIC EXCHANGE BETWEEN PAQUIMÉ AND THE JORNADA MOGOLLON A Thesis in Anthropology by Jessica Prue Burgett © 2006 Jessica Prue Burgett Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2006 The thesis of Jessica Prue Burgett was reviewed and approved* by the following: Kenneth Hirth Professor of Anthropology Thesis Advisor Chair of Committee Frances Hayashida Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dean Snow Professor of Anthropology Ann Killebrew Associate Professor of Classical Archaeology and Mediterranean Studies & Jewish Studies George Milner Professor of Anthropology Head of the Department of Anthropology *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT El Paso Polychrome was the second most common non-local ceramic type at Paquimé, a 13th-15th century pueblo in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. Paquimé was one of the largest sites in the prehistoric Southwest. Most models of this center’s development and regional role focus on trade, and El Paso Polychrome is one of the most common non-local ceramic types at Paquimé. Researchers have generally assumed that El Paso Polychrome originates in the Jornada Mogollon culture area, centered in west Texas and southern New Mexico. This ceramic type’s status as a trade ware in northern Mexico has never before been tested, though the exchange of ceramic vessels is not the only possible explanation for El Paso Polychrome’s presence. The focus of this dissertation is testing this assumption that El Paso Polychrome is a trade ware at Paquimé and other sites in northwest Chihuahua. For this purpose a large sample of late El Paso Polychrome from Paquimé was systematically compared to samples from Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua, at the very southern extent of the Jornada Mogollon culture area, and to samples from several sites at Fort Bliss Army Air Artillery Range in the Jornada Mogollon heartland. Technological and design attributes were recorded for over 1600 El Paso Polychrome sherds from these three locations, and 300 of these samples were also thin-sectioned for petrographic analysis. This petrographic analysis provided information on mineral components, ceramic body recipe and grain-size distribution. When compared statistically, El Paso Polychrome from the Chihuahuan sites is not significantly different from samples from west Texas and south-central New Mexico. In addition, all El Paso Polychrome samples subjected to petrographic analysis were tempered with crushed granite, and there are no sources of granite within 30 kilometers of Paquimé or Villa Ahumada. This is well beyond the distance potters are willing to travel for raw materials in ethnographic studies. The frequency of El Paso Polychrome at Paquimé and its associated communities can be entirely accounted for by the movement of ceramic vessels rather than other causes, such as migration of potters or stylistic emulation. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................vii LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................xiv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….xvi Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................1 Research Objectives ......................................................................................7 Research Methodology..................................................................................7 Results ...........................................................................................................12 Thesis Organization.......................................................................................13 Chapter 2 Regional Systems and Ceramic Exchange in the Southwest .....................15 Distinguishing between Migration, Emulation, and Exchange.....................18 Migration .......................................................................................................22 Exchange of Ideas (Emulation) .....................................................................26 Ceramic Exchange.........................................................................................29 Distribution of Ceramic Styles in the Casas Grandes Regional System .......33 El Paso Polychrome: pots, people or ideas?..................................................35 Chapter 3 Overview: the Casas Grandes Culture Area...............................................38 Early Accounts and the First Period of Activity ...........................................39 The Second Period of Activity: The 1930s ...................................................41 The Joint Casas Grandes Expedition: 1958-61 .............................................42 Social Complexity and Exchange at Paquimé...............................................55 The Regional System: Beyond Paquimé .......................................................58 The Importance of El Paso Polychrome in the Casas Grandes Culture Area ........................................................................................................62 Local Geology ...............................................................................................66 Conclusion.....................................................................................................68 Chapter 4 Prehistory of the Jornada Mogollon Region ..............................................69 Defining the Jornada Branch in Time and Space ..........................................70 Jornada Mogollon Ceramics of the El Paso Area..........................................75 El Paso Area Geology ...................................................................................83 The Jornada Mogollon and Casas Grandes ...................................................87 Chapter 5 Methods: sample selection and petrographic analysis ...............................90 Site and Ceramic Sample Selection...............................................................90 v Paquimé....................................................................................92 Villa Ahumada.........................................................................97 Fort Bliss..................................................................................99 Petrographic Analysis in Archaeology..........................................................104 Petrographic methods used in this study .......................................................110 Chapter 6 Results & Statistical Analysis ....................................................................114 Whole Sherd Analysis ...........................................................................................115 Rim Diameter ................................................................................................115 Sherd Thickness.............................................................................................118 Cross-Section and Firing ...............................................................................119 Inclusion Sorting ...........................................................................................124 Inclusion Roundness......................................................................................127 Design: Line Width .......................................................................................131 Petrographic Comparisons...................................................................................134 Ceramic Body “Recipe” ................................................................................135 Grain Size Analysis .......................................................................................139 Minerals.........................................................................................................141 Paquimé .........................................................................................................143 χ2 value ........................................................................................................................145 Significance (p)............................................................................................................145 Chapter 7 Conclusion..................................................................................................147 Was El Paso Polychrome a trade ware at Paquimé? .....................................151 Was Paquimé deriving its El Paso Polychrome directly from the Jornada Mogollon? ..............................................................................................152 Why carry El Paso Polychrome 200 kilometers?..........................................157 Conclusion.....................................................................................................162 Bibliography ................................................................................................................164 Appendix A..................................................................................................................184 El Paso Polychrome Type Description and Photomicrographs ...................................184 El Paso Polychrome (Late or “Classic” variant) Type Description ..............184 Photomicrographs..........................................................................................188 Sample 29.................................................................................189