Ancestral Pueblo: Greater MogollonJornada MogollonNorthern Jornada (Sierra Blanca)Three Rivers Red WareLincoln Black-on-red

Type Name: Lincoln Black-on-red

Period: 1300 A.D. - 1400 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 2012

Lincoln Black-on-red was defined by Mera and Stallings (1931). This type consists of late forms of Three Rivers Red Ware that are usually distinguished by a red slip and black mineral paint (Runyon and Hedrick 1987; Wilson 2000; Wiseman 2002). It is likely Lincoln Black-on-red date sometime between 1300 and 1500 (Wiseman 2014).

Temper is a fine crushed igneous rock composed of white feldspar and black particles that reflect sources in the Sierra Blanca, Capitan, and Jicarilla mountains (Wiseman 2002). Examination of sherds assigned to various types of the Three Rivers Red Ware tradition indicates a good but not absolute correlation between paint color, paste color, and design style. Wiseman (2014) notes that Lincoln Black-on red in the Roswell area display designs common in Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta. The distinction of this type based on paint is further complicated by the occasional terracotta sherd with decorations in both red and black lines. Painted decorations tend to be limited to bowl interiors. Designs most closely resemble those noted on Glaze A forms such as Aqua Fria Glaze-on-red from the Rio Grande region.

Lincoln Black-on-red is characterized by a limited decorative repertoire and a remarkable degree of uniformity over a wide area. Rims are usually solidly painted. Decorations usually consist of narrow lines and connecting triangles. Later Lincoln Black-on-red exhibit increased vertical and diagonal segments oriented amount the vessel. Wide lines occasionally occur on vessel exteriors. Stewart (1979) sorted Lincoln Black-on-red from a variety of sites in Sierra Blanca region, placing this pottery into one of three broad classes he labeled as A, B, and C based on overall layout and symmetry of designs. Class A included band designs usually organized within horizontal lines just below the bowl rims. Class B refers to designs spread over much of the bowl interior in radially symmetric layouts. Class C includes designs with rotational layout structure with decorative fields on opposite portions of the vessel. A final variety may reflect the development of Lincoln into a glaze form that represents a local copy of Aqua Fria Glaze-on-red (Kelley 1984; Mera and Stallings 1931; Wiseman 2014), and this type may be sometimes confused with Rio Grande glazed forms. Wiseman (2002) notes that a sub-glaze effect noted for Lincoln Black-on-red may have resulted from the intentional over firing of vessels. Characteristics contributing to this interpretation include distorted surface colors and surface crackling. Lincoln Black-on-red was the latest of the Three Rivers Red Ware types produced in the Northern Jornada and seems to have developed out of Three Rivers Red-on-terracotta and also influences by early glaze wares (Aqua Fria Glaze-on-red).

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.

Stewart, Joe D.
1979 The Formation of Decorative Traditions in the Jornada Area: A Case Study of Lincoln Black-on-white, In Jornada Mogollon Archaology, edited by P.H. Beckett and R.N. Wiseman. pp 295-344, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.

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 . P. Gauthier, pp 37-40. Archaeological Society of New Mexico, Albuquerque.




Related Photos

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl sherd

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl

Lincoln Black-on-red bowl