Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande ValleyNorthern Rio GrandeGreater Tewa Basin (Northern Tewa)Northern Rio Grande Historic Bichrome - Polychrome WareSankawi Black-on-cream

Type Name: Sankawi Black-on-cream

Period: 1500 A.D. - 1690 A.D.
Culture: Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande Valley
Branch: Northern Rio Grande
Tradition: Greater Tewa Basin (Northern Tewa)
Ware: Northern Rio Grande Historic Bichrome - Polychrome Ware


First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2012

Sankawi Black-on-cream was defined by Mera (1932). Pottery assigned to this type exhibit combinations of characteristics transitional between late biscuit ware forms and historic polychrome types (Harlow 1970; 1973; Mera 1932; 1939; Wilson and Lewis 2014). Sankawi Black-on-cream as used here is represented by a range of forms indicative of production during both the very late Classic and early historic periods or from about the beginning of the sixteenth to the end of the seventeenth century.

Harlow (1970) described Sakona Black-on-tan as a late seventeenth century development distinguished from Sankawi Black-on-cream by the formalization of the Tewa shouldered or keeled bowl shape. The definition presented here for Sankawi Black-on-cream would include some forms previously assigned to Sakona Black-on-tan. Sankawi Black-on-cream tends to have thinner walls and is harder than biscuit ware types, and appears to represent a stage of development in Tewa decorated pottery technology that begin in the Pajarito Plateau (Harlow 1970; 1973; Wilson and Lewis 2014).

Pastes are often pink to orange, and reflect an increase in the degree of oxidation and firing temperature. Both interior and exterior surfaces tend to be more consistently light cream or tan in color, and are often crackled. Slips are fairly thick and tend to be evenly applied. In areas that have been weathered, there may be an obvious contrast between the reddish paste and cream slip. Temper consists of fine tuff similar to that noted in Tewa Polychrome types. Designs are executed in bands similar to those noted in biscuit ware types although execution is simpler and uses less line work.

A variety of vessel forms are represented. Bowls are characterized by flat rim tops, and uniform wall thickness although bowls tend to be slightly thicker near the top of the rim, and often forms a sharp angle toward the base. Another change reflected in Sankawi Black-on-cream includes jars with longer necks. Examples of Sankawi Black-on-cream from historic components include hemispherical and shouldered bowls, jars, and soup plates, and hemispherical bowls with a terraced rim. Sankawi Black-on-cream vessels tend to display both interior and exterior decoration on bowls and soup plates, and exterior decoration on jars.



Design motifs include thin parallel and zigzag line with pendant dots, solid or hachured triangles, narrow checkerboards, and awanyus. Designs of Sankawi Black-on-cream appear to represent simplified forms of late biscuit ware types. Designs are organized in bands similar to those noted in later biscuit ware types although execution is simpler. Lines tend to be thinner and more widely spaced than in earlier biscuit ware types. Design arrangement tends to be less formal than earlier types, and vessel decoration is less extensive. Decorations were usually confined to a band near the lower portion of the jar. Design fields were often offset by framing lines. Soup plates are less likely to contain framing lines, although the interior rims of two of the three examples contained parallel zigzag lines. Techniques of dividing the design field of shouldered bowls, which can be seen in later types such as Sakona Polychrome and Tewa Polychrome, are also evident in Sankawi Black-on-cream. The area between the bowl rim and the shoulder or keel of the bowl is set aside with a design band, which is separated from design bands covering the vessel underbody. In later types, it is this design band which is retained and given prominence.

Sankawi Black-on-cream appears to have been first produced at sites on the Pajarito Plateau during the beginning of the sixteenth century. The production of this type spread to the Tewa Basin where it gradually developed into various historic Tewa polychrome types. Sankawi Black-on-tan was an important trade ware during the early colonial period and is common in the earliest Spanish Colonial sites in the Northern Rio Grande and appears to have been produced until the end of the seventeenth century.

References:
Harlow, Francis H.

1970 History of Painted Tewa Pottery. In The Pottery of San Ildefonso Pueblo, Detailed Study, by K Chapman, pp 37-51, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

1973 Matte Paint Pottery of the Tewa, Keres, and Zuni Pueblos. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

Mera, H. P.
1932 Wares Ancestral to Tewa Polychrome. Laboratory of Anthropology Technical Series Bulletin No. 4. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

1939 Style Trends of Pueblo Pottery in the Rio Grande and Little Colorado Cultural Areas from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century. Laboratory of Anthropology Memoris 3. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

Wilson, C. Dean and Candace Lewis
2014 Introduction to Mera’s “Wares Ancestral to Tewa Polychrome”. In Since Mera: The Original Eleven Bulletins, With Essays and Opinions Derived from Recent Research, edited by E. J Brown, R. N. Wiseman and Rory P. Gauthier, pp 89-93. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.




Related Photos

Sankawi Black-on-cream jar

Sankawi Black-on-cream bowl sherds (interior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream bowl sherds (exterior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream jar

Sankawi Black-on-cream soup bowl (exterior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream soup bowl (interior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream soup bowl (interior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream soup bowl (exterior surface)

Sankawi jar sherds

Sankawi Black-on-cream bowl sherd (interior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream bowl sherd (exterior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream bowl (interior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-cream bowl (exterior surface)

Sankawii Black-on-white bowl (interior surface)

Sankawi Black-on-bowl (exterior surface)