Tradition Name: Southern Cibola

First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2013

The Southern Cibola tradition as described here is used to distinguish areas of the Southern Colorado Plateau just below the Mogollon Highlands west-central New Mexico and the Mogollon Rim in east-central Arizona where distinct decorated wares were produced during later periods. This includes some of the districts defined by Kintigh (1996) to define the post-Chacoan Cibola region including the Zuni, Manuelito Canyon, Petrified Forest, Silver Creek, and Upper Little Colorado districts and some that were not including the Fence Lake, Quemada, and Acoma districts.

Types associated with this tradition are only separated from those defined for the Cibola or Chaco traditions for forms known to have been produced during later periods given similarities of pottery produced across extremely wide areas during earlier periods. The broadest area defined by these pottery distributions is that associated with distinct white wares decorated with mineral paint produced during and after the late Pueblo II period. The white ware sequence for this sequence is reflected by a continuum from Reserve Black-on-white to Tularosa Black-on-white to Pinedale Black-on-white. Traditions defined for smaller areas in this region include White Mountain Red Wares thought to have largely been produced in the Upper Little Colorado district. Types reflecting occupations dating into the historic period are limited to areas of the Zuni and Acoma district that continue to be occupied by Pueblo groups. Late pottery forms known to have been produced in these villages include glaze ware and historic matte painted types.

Related Wares

• Acoma Historic Matte Paint Ware
• White Mountain Red Ware
• Zuni Historic Matte Paint Ware
• Zuni-Acoma Glaze Ware