Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande ValleyNorthern Rio GrandeTaos (Northern Tiwa)Taos White WareVadito Black-on-white

Type Name: Vadito Black-on-white

Period: 1325 A.D. - 1600 A.D.
Culture: Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Upper Rio Grande Valley
Branch: Northern Rio Grande
Tradition: Taos (Northern Tiwa)
Ware: Taos White Ware


First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2014.

Vadito Black-on-white was defined by Dick (1965) based on excavations at Picuris Pueblo. This type refers to white ware forms that appear to have developed directly out of Talpa Black-on-white (Adler and Dick 1999; Dick 1965). These changes include increasingly flat and recurved rims, and seem to reflect influences from regions to the south. The postulated span of production of Vadito Black-on-white was mainly during the Classic period of the Northern Rio and appears to have spanned from about A.D. 1325 to 1600 (Adler and Dick 1999).

Principal forms described for rims include those with parallel sides with flattened lips, examples that are thickened on the interior with flattened or rounded lips, tapered and recurved forms, and those with interior bulges below the rim (Adler and Dick 1999). Temper is a quarzitic or arkosic sand and paste tends to be dark gray and coarse. Slip tends to be thicker than noted for earlier forms and ranges from white, gray, to tan. A thinner slip exhibiting similar characteristics may also occur on the exterior surface. Crazing occurs on the heavily slipped areas, and horizontal polishing marks are common. Designs executed in black organic pigment commonly occur on bowl interiors but also present on exterior surfaces. Design elements are usually poorly executed, and usually consist of solid geometric elements, as hachured designs are very rare. Most interior designs are organized in band patterns framed by lines. Design elements include pendants, triangles, interlocking scrolls, bars, and lines. The majority of the rimes are ticked with a series of dashes or occasionally with a double row of dots. Exterior designs may include simple lines and geometric motifs near the rim.

References:
Adler, Michael A. and Herbert W. Dick
1999 Picuris Pueblo Through Time: Eight Centuries of Change at a Northern Rio Grande Pueblo. Williams Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University.

Dick, Herbert W.
1965 Picuris Pueblo Excavations, Clearing House, Springfield, Virgina.