First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2013

Lino Gray was first defined by Colton and Hargrave (1932) to describe early plain gray wares produced in the Tusayan Region. This type has also been used to denote similar sand-tempered pottery that occurs over an extremely wide area that includes the Cibola region, the Tusayan and other regions of the Western Anasazi, and even portions of the Middle Rio Grande (Colton 1955; Colton and Hargrave 1937; Dittert and Plog 1980; Peckham 1992; Wilson 2007). One possible solutions to the dilemma presented by a type that cross cuts many regions involves the assignment of plain sand temper into a descriptive type that includes similar plain gray ware pottery tempered with sand is the assignment of this pottery to descriptive categories that note the presence of plain surfaces (Hays-Gilpin and van Hartesveldt 1998). It might be possible to sometimes distinguish Lino Gray produced in the Tusayan region based on very large sand temper and very dark surface color (Dittert and Plog 1980), although there appears to be considerable overlap in early sand tempered plain wares produced in different regions. Lino Gray is characterized by both interior and exterior surfaces that are not polished, painted or slipped.

Gray wares, assigned to Lino Black-on-white generally exhibit a fairly hard pasted indicative of relatively high firing temperatures characteristic of an established technology. Temper may consist of sand or sandstone displaying a range of sizes and degree of sorting. The sand temper often protrudes through the surface. Examples of pottery assigned to Lino Gray common exhibit light firing pastes with a darker core in the middle indicative of the use of a low iron clay. A wide variety of vessel forms is represented by Lino Gray, including wide mouth cooking or storage jars, ollas, dippers, bowls, seed jars, and gourd jars. The range of forms is much wider prior to the mid eighth century, after which many of the forms, such as cooking or storage jars and seed jars; begin to be replaced by both other gray ware types and other wares. Exterior surfaces commonly exhibit a fugitive red slip resulting from the application of powdered hematite to the surface. Sooting and wear patterns commonly indicate use as cooking, although a range of uses are certainly reflected.

References:
Colton, Harold S. and Lyndon L. Hargrave
1937 Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Wares. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No. 11, Flagstaff.

Colton, Harold S.
1955 Pottery Types of the Southwest: Wares 8A, 9A, 9B, Tusayan Gray and White Ware, Little Colorado Gray and White ware. Ceramic Series 3A. Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.

Dittert, Alfred E., and Fred Plog
1980 Generations in Clay; Pueblo Pottery of the American Southwest. Northland Press, Flagstaff.

Hays-Gilpin, Kelley., and Eric van Hartesveldt
1998 Prehistoric Ceramics of the Puerco Valley: The 1995 Chambers-Sanders Trust Lands Ceramic Conference. Museum of Northern Arizona Ceramic Series No.7. The Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.

Peckham, Stewart
1992 From This Earth: The Ancient Art of Pueblo Pottery. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

Wilson, Gordon P.
2010 Guide to Ceramic Identification: Northern Rio Grande Valley and Galisteo Basin to AD 1700. Laboratory of Anthropology Technical Series, Bulletin No. 12. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

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Lino Gray jar

Lino Gray jar

Lino Gray jar with handle

Lino Gray jar

Lino Gray jar with handle

Lino Gray jar with handle

Lino Gray seed jar