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Clay, Conflict, and Village Aggregation: Compositional Analyses of Pre-Classic Pottery from Taos, New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Severin M. Fowles ,
Leah Minc ,
Samuel Duwe  and
David V. Hill
Severin M. Fowles
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027
Leah Minc
Affiliation:
Radiation Center, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331
Samuel Duwe
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
David V. Hill
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712
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Abstract

As was the case throughout much of north-central New Mexico, the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries marked a period of rapid settlement pattern change in the Taos District as dispersed pithouse and small pueblo hamlets were replaced by tightly clustered pueblos and ultimately by the emergence of large aggregated villages. Here we consider the effects of this transition on the manner in which local potters procured raw clay for the production of black-on-white ceramics. Adopting the Rio Grande del Rancho drainage as our study area, we first outline the major clay sources within the drainage. We then report on neutron activation and petrographic analyses of both modern clays as well as archaeological ceramics from sites that span the settlement transition in question. These analyses suggest that settlement aggregation was accompanied by a noticeable reduction in the diversity and quality of clay sources used by local potters, most likely as a result of newly restricted procurement strategies associated with the formation of buffer zones between village aggregates. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of this trend with respect to the economic situation of early large villages in the area.

Résumé

Résumé

Como sucedió en la mayor parte del norte y centro de Nuevo México, la epoca de finales del siglo XII al XII marcó un periodo de cambio súbito en los patrones de asentamiento del Distrito de Taos, al reemplazarse el patrón disperso de casas semisubterráneas y pequeños caseríos por un patrón de agrupamiento de aldeas de tipo Pueblo y, finalmente, por el surgimiento de asentamientos mayores de aldeas agregadas. En este articulo consideramos los efectos que esta transición tuvo en la manera en la que alfareros locales obtenian barro para la producción de cerámica del tipo negro-sobre-blanco. Nuestra área de investigación incorpora el drenaje del Río Grande del Rancho. Después de reconocer los mayores yacimientos de barro dentro de esta zona, reportamos los resultados del análisis de activación de neutrones y petrográficos, tanto de barros modernos como de cerámica arqueológica proveniente de sitios que abarcan la transición de los patrones de asentamiento en cuestión. Estos análisis sugieren que el patrón de asentamiento agregado estuvo acompañado por una reducción notable en la diversidad y calidad de los yacimientos de barro utilizados por alfareros locales, probablemente como resultado de nuevas estrategias restringidas de adquisición, asociadas con la formación de zonas de reserva intermedias entre aldeas. El ensayo concluye con una consideración de las implicaciones de esta tendencia con respecto a la situación económica de grandes aldeas tempranas en el área.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , January 2007 , pp. 125 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2007

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