First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2012

Reserve Black-on-white was defined by Nesbitt (1938). This type refers to Cibola white ware pottery exhibiting very widespread styles common in the southernmost provinces of the Anasazi and northernmost provinces of the Mogollon (Crown 1981; Doyel 1980; Hays-Gilpin and van Hartesveldt 1998; Rinaldo and Bluhm 1956; Reid, Montgomery, and Zedeno 1995; Wilson 1999). This type appears to been produced from about A.D. 1000 to 1200 and spans a period during which a wide range of types including Escavada, Puerco, Gallup, and Chaco McElmo Black-on-white were produced in areas of the Cibola or Chaco region to the north. In areas of the Southern Cibola, pottery such characteristics appear to be transitional between Red Mesa and Tularosa Black-on-white. Examples assigned to the Puerco Valley variety of this type exhibit porous gray, dark gray or gray-brown pastes indicative of the use of high iron clays and abundant sherd temper.

Vessel surfaces for pottery assigned to Reserve Black-on-white tend to be white in color, and paste also tends to be white to light gray sometimes with a gray core. Surfaces are sometimes but not always slipped. Vessels are moderately polished but generally not as much as Tularosa Black-on-white. Reserve Black-on-white vessels also tend to be relatively thin as compared Tularosa Black-on-white. Vessel forms are dominated by jar forms including ollas and pitchers although they are also represented by ladles and bowls.

Reserve Black-on-white is fairly similar in appearance and form to Tularosa Black-on-white, and sherds and vessels belonging to these types are often distinguished by slight differences in design styles and layouts or surface finish. Hatched elements are reflected by thin evenly spaced lines that are oriented diagonally from the framing lines. Lines are thin and the range of spacing is similar to that as noted for Gallup Black-on-white. Reserve Black-on-white vessels are commonly decorated with opposed solid and hatched elements. Hatched elements are usually wider than solid elements. Hatched elements include triangular, rectilinear and curvilinear shapes. Solid design elements include scrolls, narrow broad lines, triangles, and saw-tooth. Design elements are relatively large, particularly when compared to those noted for Tularosa Black-on-wide. In addition, spacing between hatched lines is relatively wide. Allover layouts are most abundant although banded layouts are also fairly common. Given the dominance of Reserve Black-on-white at late Pueblo II period or Reserve phase assemblages in the Southern Cibola region, there has often been a tendency to place some sherds exhibiting only solid or hatched designs from assemblages from sites in regions in the Southern Anasazi and Northern Mogollon into from into this type.

References:
Crown, Patricia L.
1981 The Ceramic Assemblage. In Prehistory of the St. John's Area, East Central Arizona: The TEP St Johns Project. edited by D. A. Westfall, pp 233-290. Arizona State Museum Archaeological Series No. 153. Tucson.

Doyel, David E.
1980 Stylistic and Technological Analysis of the Dead Valley Ceramic Assemblages, In Prehistory in Dead Valley, East-Central Arizona: The TG&E Springerville Report, edited by D. E. Doyel and S.S . Debwoski, pp 141-224. Cultural Resource Management Section. Arizona State Museum and The University of Arizona, Archaeological Series No. 144, Tucson.

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.

Nesbitt, Paul
1938 Starkweather Ruin. Logan Museum Publications in Anthropology, Bulletin 6, Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin.

Rinaldo, John B., and Elaine Bluhm
1956 Late Mogollon Pottery Types of the Reserve Area. Fieldiana: Anthropology 36 (7):149-187.

Reid J. Jefferson, Barbara Klie Montgomery and Zedeño, and Maria Nieves Zedeño
1995 Refinements in Dating Late Cibola White Ware. The Kiva 69 (1): 31-44.

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Reserve Black-on-white jar sherd

Reserve Black-on-white jar sherd

Reserve Black-on-white jar sherd

Reserve Black-on-white sherds

Reserve Black-on-white bowl sherds

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white jar with handle

Reserve Black-on-white vessels

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white jars

Reserve Black-on-white bowl

Reserve Black-on-white bowl