PERIOD: Pueblo II
DATES: ca 900-ca 1100 A.D. (Colton 1958). Also given as 1050 to 1130 A.D.
(Downum 1988), 1060+ to 1178 A.D. (Breternitz 1966), and 1000 to 1100 A.D.
(Ambler 1985; Mills et al. 1993).
See Ware Description, except:
Surface Appearance: Bowl interiors and jar exteriors are usually polished
but may be bumpy. They are sometimes slipped. Slip ranges from a thin wash
to a thick slip. Decorations also typically appear on the inside of bowls
and the outside of jars.
Surface Color: Usually dead white, but occasionally has a bluish tint
Rims: Usually rounded, can be flat or beveled. Bowls have straight necks
while jar neck forms vary.
Decoration and Paint: Paint is a fairly dense, dull black carbon
paint that often appears to have a slightly brownish tint. Paint may occasionally
be slightly watery. Designs typically appear on bowl interiors and jar exteriors.
Bowl bottoms, jar bases, and rims are undecorated. Design styles vary greatly.
Common design elements include stripes
and wide (greater than 5 mm), straight horizontal lines that are typically
rectilinear. Large opposed triangles sometimes form rows of open diamonds.
Triangles are often elongated isoscles triangles. Solid areas and lines frequently
have pendant dots. Common designs include interlocking scrolls and frets at
line endings. Checkerboard designs also commonly occur. Curved lines appear
occasionaly. Design layout is usually banded. Parallel vertical lines running
perpendicular to the rim may divide the design into segments. Stepped elements
and solid squares appear rarely.
RANGE: See Ware Description
COMPARISON:Types with similar design styles include Red Mesa Black-on-white
and Puerco Black-on-white, both of which have mineral paint; Holbrook A Black-on-white,
which has a thick white slip, dark gray (iron-rich) paste, and sherd temper;
and Deadmans Black-on-gray, which is not polished, has fine, very clear quartz
sand with mica temper, and exhibits paddle-and-anvil construction. Kana-a
Black-on-white has more narrow lines that overlap at junctions, less even
linework, smaller black areas, and ticks rather than pendant dots. Wepo
Black-on-white has been identified by some analysts as a stylistic and
temporal integrade between Kana-a and Black Mesa. Wepo displays elements of
both styles, often combining thin Kana-a style linework with the pendant dots,
large filled triangles, and segmented design layout common to Black Mesa (although
any combination of characteristics is possible). Wepo correlates to what many
early analysts have referred to as "Early Black Mesa". Sosi Black-on-white
has more precise linework, less closely massed elements, triangles are more
often isolated or combined in a series to make a serrated pattern, and pendant
dots are never present.
CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: Anasazi, Kayenta Branch
©
Copyright 2001 Northern Arizona University.
Black Mesa Black-on-white
DESCRIPTION:
