First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2012

Alma Rough was defined by Martin and Rinaldo (1943) and refers to unpolished plain brown pottery that appears to have been most common in the earliest Mogollon contexts (Wilson 1999). Sherds assigned to Alma Rough rim vessels are assumed to have derived from vessels with smoothed and unpolished surfaces. Sherds sometimes classified as Alma Rough may have actually been derived from Alma Plain vessels from which the polish had worn off on soft surfaces. This effect may be a particularly common occurrence in surface assemblages where sherds have been subjected to various weathering processes. Most pottery assigned to the category appears to have been derived from cooking/storage jars. Other forms include bowls, seed jars, and ollas. Seed jars represent the dominant vessel form for this type at sites dating to the Early Pithouse period and cooking/storage jars are the dominant form during later occupations. Rim and body sherds exhibiting characteristics of Alma Rough should be classified separately given that body sherds can originate from vessels associated with a number of different textured types.

While Alma Rough body sherds occur at sites dating to all phases of the Mogollon, the frequency of this type decreased during the Late Pithouse period and its common occurrence appears to be a fairly good indicator of components dating to the early spans of the Pithouse periods. Temper and paste is identical to that noted for other early Mogollon brown ware types, although the range in the size of temper grains tends to be slightly larger that noted for other brown ware types.

References:
Martin, Paul S.
1943 The SU Site, Excavations at a Mogollon Village, Western New Mexico, Second Season, 1941. Fieldiana: Anthropology 32(2). Chicago.

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.

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