BACKGROUND

PERIOD: Prescott Phase

DATES: AD 1100 to 1250, coincident with the Prescott Phase.

See Ware Description, except:

Temper: May be medium size, moderate amount with small to fine flakes of mica.

Surface Color: Tan to dark gray most common.

Vessel Forms: Medium to large jars; seed jars; bowls rare.

Decoration and Paint: Painted bowl interiors, interior and exterior of jars. Paint is blood red, with a matte luster, usually relatively thick and opaque, consisting of iron minerals. Both broad and narrow line designs appear, including dots, sawtooth lines, angular and curvilinear spirals and interlocking spirals, triangles, hooked triangles, squares, swastikas. Swastikas and curvilinear spirals appear derived from Sacaton Red-on-buff. Other designs appear to derive from Flagstaff Black-and-white and Walnut Black-on-white.

RANGE: Presently only reported from the Prescott heartland and its eastern margins--the Upper Verde, Chino, and Williamson Valleys.

CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: Prescott Culture

REMARKS: Synonym is Verde Red-on-gray (Fish and Whiffen 1967; James 1974). While obviously related to Prescott Black-on-gray, the design motifs of Prescott Red-on-gray are generally smaller in scale and involve finer linework. As noted by James (1974), "Motifs are often grouped in contiguous panels, each with different elements. Another design variation couples closely-spaced repetitious exterior elements with small isolated interior elements." It appears also to be related to the type Prescott Red-on-buff (Verde Red-on-buff), in its use of interlocking hooked triangles, triangular spirals, opposed sawteeth, and stylistically independent contiguous panels. The direction of influence cannot be specified with available evidence. All of these elements are also found (though less well executed) in Prescott Black-on-gray. Some believe this appears to represent an attempt either to copy contemporary Hohokam pottery or to incorporate selectedelements from the Hohokam ceramic tradition into the Prescott tradition. This is debated by others who also see the influence of the Anasazi design styles from the north.

© Copyright 2001 Northern Arizona University.

Prescott Red-on-gray

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