Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande ValleyNorthern Rio GrandeGreater Tewa Basin (Northern Tewa)Northern Rio Grande Gray WareSapawe Micaceous Washboard

Type Name: Sapawe Micaceous Washboard

Period: 1400 A.D. - 1600 A.D.
Culture: Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande Valley
Branch: Northern Rio Grande
Tradition: Greater Tewa Basin (Northern Tewa)
Ware: Northern Rio Grande Gray Ware


First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2012

Sapawe Micaceous Washboard was named by Mera (1935). Rio Grande utility ware utility ware forms produced during the Late Classic period reflect a shift away from smeared corrugated and toward distinct pastes and surface finishing techniques described for Sapawe Micaceous-Washboard. This type represents the dominant gray ware type at late Classic period sites in the Northern Rio Grande region and appears to have been produced from sometime in the early fifteenth to the end of twelfth century. Sapawe Micaceous-washboard is most commonly associated with Biscuit B or Bandelier Black-on-white from Northern Rio Grande ceramic assemblages dating to the middle and late Classic period (Gauthier 1987).

Surfaces are often covered with a micaceous slip and are tan, dark brown to gray. Paste cross-section is dark gray, black to dark brown, and surfaces are commonly a gray silver color. Pates tend to be silty in appearance and are often vitrified. Sherds tend to be hard and dense. This type is almost always represented by jar forms which tend to be fairly thin. Sapawe Micaceous-washboard is tempered with micaceous schist or granite that appears to be natural constituent in the clay (Gauthier 1987; Wendorf 1953). Slightly obliterated coils are evident on the exterior surface. This creates a series of parallel ridges without distinct junctures between the coils. Examples from assemblages dating to the end of the Classic period may sometimes exhibit slight polishing or sooting on the interior and reflect the transition to early polished micaceous wares common in assemblages dating to the early Spanish Colonial period.

References:
Gauthier, Rory
1987 Ceramics. In Howari: Excavation at a Northern Rio Grande Biscuit Ware Site, by D Fallon and K Wening,,pp 35-90. Museum of New Mexico, Laboratory of Anthropology Notes 261b, Santa Fe.

Mera, H. P.
1935 Ceramic Clues to the Prehistory of North Central New Mexico. Laboratory of Anthropology Technical Series Bulletin No. 8, Santa Fe.

Wendorf, Fred
1953 Salvage Archaeology in the Chama Valley, New Mexico. School of American Research Monograph No.17, Santa Fe.




Related Photos

Sapawe Micacacous Washboard sherds

Sapawe Micaceous Washboard jar

Sapawe Micaceous Washboard jar