First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2014

Another type included here with Jornada Brown Ware types was recognized as a variety of Playas, a Casas Grandes tradition type by Wiseman (1981). This type is distinguished by similar forms produced in the Casas Grandes region by traits indicative of production in the Northern Jornada or Sierra Blanca region. Thus, the presence of pottery described as Playas Indented Sierra Blanca variety is interpreted as indicating the adoption of the Playas style by potters in the Northern Jornada Mogollon region. Sites containing pottery assigned to this variety are located in the Hueco Bolson, eastern Tularosa, Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe Mountains, and are in Southeastern New Mexico east of the Pecos River (Wiseman 1981; 2002). Pottery assigned to this type may have been produced from about A.D. 1100 to 1400.

This type is distinguished from examples of Playas Incised from the Casas Grandes region by crushed biotitic hornblende from the Sierra Blanca which is identified by the presence of coarse feldspar grains that range from light gray to pink. Paste is relatively soft and granular, and is light gray to black, and may exhibit a carbon streak. Vessel forms seem to be exclusively represented by jars with relatively wide mouths and squat rounded bodies. Exterior surfaces are almost always polished and sometimes covered with a red slip with decorations in incised or a series of punctated lines. Surfaces may range from a gray, brown, to red color depending on degree of oxidation and use of red slip clay. Designs are usually organized in simple patterns of short parallel lines. These lines may also be used as framing lines. Designs are often restricted to the upper body starting below the curvature of the neck and extending to the widest part of the shoulder. Overall appearance of pottery assigned to this variety range from fairly crude to extremely well made and intricately decorated. Some of the pottery assigned to this type could easily be mistaken for forms produced in Casas Grandes region were if not for temper while others are clearly poor copies of Casas Grandes forms.

References:
Wiseman Regge N.

1981 Playas Incised Sierra Blance Variety: A New Pottery Type in the Jornada Mogollon. Transactions of the 16th Regional Archaeological Symposium for Southeastern New Mexico and Western Texas. Midland Archaeological Society.

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.

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