First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2012

The definition of pottery defined here as Mangas (Boldface Style I) Black-on-white has a long and somewhat complicated history (Lekson 1990). This type as described here includes what would now be considered the early forms of black-on-white pottery from the Mimbres region defined by Cosgrove and Cosgrove (1934) as Mimbres Bold Face Black-on-white, and slightly later by Haury (1936) as Mangas Black-on-white. It also includes the range of forms now commonly referred to as Mimbres Style I (Scott 1983; Anyon and LeBlanc 1984; Shafer 1995). Pottery described using these range of terms and referred here in the discussions that follow as Magnus Black-on-white refer to the earliest "Mimbres" black-on-white pottery (Bradfield 1931; Brody 1977; Cosgrove and Cosgrove 1932; Haury 1936; Shafer 1995; Shafer and Brewington 1995; Wilson 1999; Woolsey and McIntyre 1996).

Mangas Black-on-white reflects the beginning of a long sequence of the production of black-on-white ware pottery, that while often decorated with intricate and increasingly elaborate designs, essentially representing a slipped and painted brown ware. The technological characteristics of this pottery reflect the challenges of producing black-on-white pottery with color combinations similar to that achieved in regions of the Colorado Plateau using the self-tempered volcanic paste and slip clays found in the Mogollon Highlands.

Pastes tend to be brown to gray. Slips are usually white to light pink and are often soft and chalky. Slipped surfaces are usually smoothed and moderately polished. The exterior of bowls and interior of jars are usually not slipped. Unslipped surfaces are usually gray to brown. The great majority of the pottery assigned to this type represents bowls, although jars are also represented. Bowls are usually polished on the interior and exterior surfaces. Rims are usually rounded to tapered and solidly painted. While paint color can be an important attribute in separating this type from earlier Three Circle Red-on-white, other attributes are also important indicators of this type, because a significant frequency of "misfired" examples may exhibit decorations in brown to red paint and again may reflect a struggle to create black-on-white pottery with local resources. Decorations are applied in a black, brown, to red mineral paint that appears to have been polished into the surface.

Designs are executed in bold designs covering much of the decorative surface. Motifs include wavy lines, triangles, curvilinear scrolls, ribbons with wavy hachures, and wide saw-toothed lines. While design styles are similar to those noted on earlier Mogollon painted types, there were definite changes in the organization of these designs (Brody 1977). Designs are often arranged into quartered or banded patterns where different elements were combined together to form larger motifs. These often included a mixture of squiggle hachured and solid designs. These sections were usually separated from similar pattern combinations by a series of thin lines. Three distinctive layouts commonly occur on this type: designs which are divided into quadrants, circular layouts, and the extension of unbroken fields across the surface (Brody 1977). The repeated images often occur across entire decorative field created through the repeated images created from a combination of a few motifs. Lines are not as straight, and evenly and closely spaced as later Mimbres white ware types. Similar elements and layouts appear to have been executed in pottery associated with contemporaneous pottery produced in other Southwestern regions although the overall designs noted for Mangas Black-on-white are quite distinct from that produced in other Southwestern regions. Painted styles described for Mangas Black-on-white may be roughly analogous although certainly not identical to those noted in examples of Santa Cruz Red-on-buff and Gila Butte Red-on-buff in the Hohokam region and Red Mesa Black-on-white in the Anasazi region.

Pottery assigned here to Mangas Black-on-white appears to have been produced sometime between A.D. 750 to 1000. The late dates given here is partially based on the Northern Mogollon chronology (Berman 1979; Wilson 1999) and is later than the ending dates derived from dated contexts in the Mimbres region (Shafer and Brewington 1995). Further evaluations of contexts associated with this type may provide important clues concerning the nature and dating of occupations in different regions of the Mogollon Highlands. While the production of Mangas Black-on-white may have largely limited to the Mimbres region, it occurs over a wide area including regions of the Mogollon to the north as well as regions of the Jornada Mogollon to the east.

References:
Anyon, Roger and Steven A. LeBlanc
1980 The Galaz Ruin. University of New Mexico Press, Albuqurque.

Berman, Mary Jane
1979 Cultural Resources Overview, Socorro Area, New Mexico. United States Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.

Bradfield, Wesley
1931 Cameron Creek Village, A Site in the Mimbres Area in Grant County, New Mexico. Monograph School of American Research, No. 1, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Brody, J. J.,
1977 Mimbres Painted Pottery. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Cosgrove, Hattie S., and C. Burton Cosgrove
1932 The Swartz Ruin, A Typical Mimbres Site in Southwestern New Mexico. Papers of the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, Vol 15, No. 1, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Haury, Emil W.
1936 The Mogollon Culture of Southwestern New Mexico. Gila Pueblo, Medallion Papers No. 29, Globe, Arizona.

Lekson, Stephen H.
1990 Mimbres Archaeology of the Upper Gila, New Mexico. The University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Shafer, Harry J and Robbie L.Brewington
1995 Microstylistic Changes in Mimbres Black-on-white Pottery: Examples from the Nan Ruin, Grant County, New Mexico. Kiva 66(1)5-29.

Wilson, C. Dean
1999 Ceramic Types and Attributes. In Archaeology of the Mogollon Highlands Settlement Systems and Adaptations; Volume 4. Ceramics, Miscellaneous Artifacts, Bioarchaeology. Bone Tools and Faunal Analysis, edited by Y.R Oakes and D.A. Zamora, pp 5-86. Archaeology Notes 232, Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.

Woosley, Anne I. and Allan J. McIntyre
1996 Mimbres Mogollon Archaeology. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.

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