First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2012

Kiatuthlanna Black-on-white was defined by Gladwin and Gladwin (1934) and Gladwin described in detail by (1945). This type can be quite difficult distinguish from other Cibola white ware types, but seems to refer to white ware pottery exhibiting traits transitional between White Mound Black-on-white and Red Mesa Black-on-white as usually defined (Hays-Gilpin and van Hartesveldt 1998; Reed and others 1998; Sullivan 1984; Windes and McKenna 1998). Given the transitional nature of this type, it appear to date from the late Pueblo I to early Pueblo II period or from the late ninth to early tenth century.

Kiatuthlanna Black-on-white is sometimes distinguished from Red Mesa Black-on-white based on the presence of whiter, duller, and thinner slips. Surfaces tend to be well polished. This is also the earliest Cibola White Ware type commonly tempered with crushed sherd. Decoration is in a black or brown mineral paint. Kiatuthlanna Black-on-white is commonly assigned to Cibola white ware forms exhibiting the Kana'a style as defined for the Tusayan region but in mineral paint. Lines tend to be thin and widely spaced. Lines are thin, and often consist of parallel framing lines. Designs tend to intersect the bowl rim angle. Some potential differences between Kiatuthlanna and Red Mesa Black-on-white are noted by Windes (1993). These include designs pendant from the rim, broad lines, browner paint, and thicker off white slips for Kiatuthlanna Black-on-white. Designs often tend to be reflected by widely spaced thin lines similar to that noted on Kana'a style Black-on-white. Kiatuthlanna Black-on-white seems to reflect a variation of this style produced in mineral paint by potters in the Cibola region. Pottery with similar designs sometimes exhibit porous gray pastes indicative of production in the Puerco Valle(Hays Gilipin and Hartesveldt 1998) and may include pottery originally defined by Mera as Dead River Black-on-white (Mera 1934).

References:
Gladwin, Harold S.
1945 The Chaco Branch: Excavation at White Mound and in the Red Mesa Valley. Medallion Papers 33, Gila Pueblo, Globe.

Gladwin, Winifred and Harold S. Gladwin.
1934 A Method for the Designation of Cultures and Their Variants. Medallion Papers No. 15, Gila Pueblo, Globe.

Hays-Gilpin, Kelley., and Eric van Hartesveldt
1998 Prehistoric Ceramics of the Puerco Valley: The 1995 Chambers-Sanders Trust Lands Ceramic Conference. Museum of Northern Arizona Ceramic Series No.7. The Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.

Reed, Lori S., Joell Goff, Kathy Niles Hensler
1998 Exploring Ceramic Production, Distribution, and Exchange in the Southern Chuska Valley: Analytical Results from the El Paso Natural Gas North Expansion Project, Pipeline Archaeology 1990-1993: The El Paso Natural Gas System Expansion Project, New Mexico and Arizona, Vol XI, Book 1, Report no, WCRM (F)74, Farming ton.

Sullivan, Alan P.
1984 Design Styles and Cibola Whiteware: Examples from the Grasshopper Area, East-Central Arizona, In Regional Analysis of Prehistoric Ceramic Variation: Contemporary Studies of Cibola Whitewares, edited by A.A. Sullivan an J. L. Hantman, pp 74-94. Anthropological Research Papers No. 31. Arizona State University,Tempe.

Windes, Thomas C.
1977 Typology and Technology of Anasazi Ceramics. In Settlement and Subsistence Along the Lower Chaco River, edited by C. Reher, pp 270-369, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

Windes, Thomas C., and Peter J. McKenna
1989 Cibola White Ware and Cibola Grayware: The Chaco Series. Paper presented for the New Mexico Archaeological Council Ceramics Workshop, Northwestern New Mexico Region, Ms. On file, National Park Service, Santa Fe.

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