First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2013

Sikyatki Polychrome was defined by Hargrave (1932). This type was produced in the Hopi region and may have been occasionally traded to areas outside this region. Forms exhibiting characteristics for Sikyatki Polychrome appear to have produced from about A.D. 1375 to 1625.

Pottery assigned to this type is similar to Jeddito Yellow with the addition of decorations in both red as well as black pigment. Paste and surfaces are creamy yellow color (Colton 1956; Hargrave 1932; Hays 1991). Temper consists of extremely fine quartz sand that appears to represent natural clay inclusions. Decorated surfaces are not slipped but are highly polished. Vessel forms are primarily represented by bowls and dippers with rare examples of jars. Decorations are applied in both a black iron-manganese and red iron oxide pigments. Overall quality and execution of designs varies considerably. Decorations are applied on jar exteriors and usually bowl interiors and exteriors. Design styles on early forms of is characterized by the addition of red (sometimes watery) paint to outline black geometric elements similar to that noted for early Jeddito Black-on-yellow . Slightly later forms consist of open geometric designs with large red areas. Late forms consist of varying shades of red-orange painted designs, incorporated fully in solid design fields rather than just outlining black elements. Later designs are represented by curvilinear, asymmetric life forms and abstract bird designs.

References:
Colton, Harold S.
1956 Pottery Types of the Southwest: Tsegi Orange Ware, Winslow Orange Ware, Homol’ovi Orange Ware, Jeddito Yellow Ware, Awatovi Yellow Ware. Museum of Northern Arizona Ceramic Series No. 3C. Northern Arizona Society of Science and Art, Flagstaff.

Hargrave, Lyndon L.
1932 Guide to Forty Pottery Types from the Hopi Country and the San Francisco Mountains, Arizona. Museum of Northern Arizona, Bulletin 1, Flagstaff.

Hays, Kelley A.
1991 Ceramics. In Homol’ovi II: Archaeology of an Ancestral Hopi Village, Arizona. E.C. Adams & K. Hays (Eds.), pp. 23-49. Anthropological Papers of the University of Arizona, No. 55. University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

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Sikyatki Polychrome bowl

Sikyatki Polychrome jar sherd

Sikyatki Polychrome bowl sherd

Sikyatki Polychrome jar sherd

Sikyatki Polychrome dipper sherd

Sikyatki Polychrome jar sherds

Sikyatki Polychrome jar sherds

Sikyatki Polychrome jar

Sikyatki Polychrome bowls