Posted by C. Dean Wilson 2014

While the utility ware occurring in Jemez region was described in detail by Reiter (1938), they were not assigned to formal types. The approach used here to describe utility wares produced in the Jemez region follows recent descriptions that use a combination of Jemez and descriptive labels to describe this pottery (Kulishek 2005Jemez Gray Polished Exterior refers to a range of vessel forms common during the proto historic and historic periods (Kulishek 2005; Reiter 1938).

Vessels are plain and surfaces are polished and often smudged. Temper may consist of large vitric tuff and a dark crystalline rock that contains crystallites and large crystals of plagioclase feldspar and some pyroxene (Shepard 1938). While it likely that the two tempers reflect different areas of production, given their common occurrence in assemblages in the Jemez Mountains, they both considered indicators of pottery produced near or within the Jemez region. Vessels are almost exclusively represented by cooking jars. The paste cross-section of almost all the sherds examined was dark gray to black, with extremely low frequencies exhibiting gray, brown, to reddish colors in these cross-sections.

References:
Kulishek, J.
2005 The Archaeology of Pueblo Population Change on the Jemez Plateau, A.D.1200 to 1700: The Effects of Spanish Contact and Conquest. Ph.D. Dissertation, Southern Methodist University.

Reiter, Paul
1938 The Jemez Pueblo of Unshagi, New Mexico, with Notes on the Earlier Excavations at Amoxiumqua and Giusewa, Monographs of the School of American Research. 6. University of New Mexico and the School of American Research, Santa Fe.

Shepard, Anna O.
1938 Appendix VI: Technological Notes on the Pottery from Unshagi. In The Jemez Pueblo of Unshagi, New Mexico, with Notes on the Earlier Excavations at Amoxiumqua and Giusewa , edited by P. Reither, pp. 205-211. Monographs of the School of American Research. 6. University of New Mexico and the School of American Research, Santa Fe.

Related Photos

Jemez Plain jar

Jemez Gray jar

Jemez Gray jar

Jemez Gray jar

Jemez Gray Polished jar sherds (exterior surface)

Jemez Gray Polished jar sherds (interior surface)