Ancestral Pueblo: Greater MogollonJornada MogollonNorthern Jornada (Sierra Blanca)Three Rivers Red WareThree Rivers Red-on-terracotta

Type Name: Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta

Period: 1100 A.D. - 1300 A.D.
Culture: Ancestral Pueblo: Greater Mogollon
Branch: Jornada Mogollon
Tradition: Northern Jornada (Sierra Blanca)
Ware: Three Rivers Red Ware


First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2014

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta was defined by Mera and Stallings (1931). This represents the most easily defined and widely distributed of the Three River Red Ware tradition types (Wiseman 2014). Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta is thought to have been produced sometime between A.D. 1150 and 1350 (Wiseman 2014).

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta is distinguished from other Three Rivers Red Ware types by designs executed in very thin lines in a red mineral paint over a surface that is polished but not slipped (Kelley 1984; Mera 1931; Runyon 1987; Wiseman 2002; Wilson 2000). Tempering material includes both gray and white feldspar and smaller black particles. Pastes and surfaces tend to be relative dense and hard, and orange to terracotta and sometimes exhibit a gray pasted in profile. The contrast in color between the orange to terracotta surfaces and red paint can be variable, with the combination of colors often producing a very distinct, consistent, and aesthetically please effect. In the cases where this effect does not appear to have been successfully achieved, the combination of surface color and paint may be more subtle with a dark gray paint over a gray surface. The consistent recognition of painted designs in occasional examples of this type may require a good light or magnification.

Designs noted for pottery assigned to Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta tend to be similar, but are very distinct from those noted for white wares (usually Chupadero Black-on-white) occurring in the same assemblages. Primary designs consists of a series of two to five narrow lines that are 2 to 4 mms in width applied that are organized as horizontal lines applied directly below the rim. These lines are consistent in width and spacing and form bands of broad rectilinear patterns although curvilinear and scroll shaped patterns covering much of the upper portion of the vessel. Secondary designs are sometimes incorporated into these lines and include small solid triangles and spiral lines. Rims are usually flat and painted red with a simple broad line is commonly painted on the inner lip directly below the rim. This type is dominated by bowl forms, although ollas have been noted but are rare. Bowl interiors are well polished and exteriors may exhibit some striations. Interiors of bowls are usually unpolished but may be slightly polished. Exteriors of jars are not polished while interiors are smoothed and unpolished.

References:
Kelley, Jane Holden
1984 The Archaeology of the Sierra Blanca Region of Southeastern New Mexico. Anthropological Papers No. 74. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Mera, H. P., and W. S. Stallings
1931 Lincoln Back-on-red. Laboratory of Anthropology Technical Series, Bulletin No. 2, Santa Fe.

Runyon, John W., and John A. Hedrick
1987 Pottery Types of the Southwest Federation of Archaeological Societies (SWFAS) Area. The Artifact (25)4 23-59.

Wilson, C. Dean
2000 Angus Ceramic Analysis. In The Angus Site: A Prehistoric Settlement Along the Rio Bonito Lincoln County, New Mexico, by D.A. Zamora and Y.E. Oakes, Office of Archaeological Studies Archaeology Notes 276, pp. 101-134. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

Wiseman Reggie N.

2002 The Fox Place: A Late Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Pithouse Village neare Roswell, New Mexico. Office of Archaeological Studies Archaeology Notes 234, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

2014 Introduction to Mera’s “Lincoln Black-on-red". 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 37-40. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.





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Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherds

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherds

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl

Three Rivers Red-on-teracotta bowl sherd

Three Rivers Red-on-teracotta bowl sherd

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherd

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherd

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherd

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherd

Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta bowl sherd