First posted by C. Dean Wilson 2013

Awatovi Black-on-yellow was defined by Colton and Hargrave (1937). This represents the earliest type of Jeddito Yellow ware type, and exhibits designs similar to those noted on Tusayan Black-on-white as well as types associated with other white ware traditions, but is distinguished by consistent firing in an oxidizing atmosphere, distinct pastes, and surface treatments (Hays 1991; Smith 1971). Jar exteriors and bowl interiors are not slipped and surfaces tend to be well-polished. Surfaces and pastes may be yellow, light red, reddish brown, tan or pink. Temper includes fine quartz sand and sherd particles. Changes in temper appear to reflect a shift to the use self-tempered clays in yellow wares through time. Pastes are very fine and easily shatter. Vessels are fairly thick. Forms are most commonly represented by bowls and ladles although globular jars do occur. Another common jar shape has a flatter shoulder and a wide, short, short neck. Vessel lips usually rounded, more than half are semi-circular or very slightly beveled in cross section. Decorations are executed in iron-manganese pigment that varies from a dense black, and/or red to brown color. Bleeding occurs on the edges of painted areas that is pale reddish to bluish color. Designs are composed of relatively large geometric motifs that cover much of the decorated surface. The top framing tends to be tends to begin just below the rim. Design fields are organized around discontinuous banded lines that began just below bowl. Designs may be organized along zonal, radial, or overall layouts. Bowl exteriors may consist of bold geometrical elements, angular frets, or isolated figures. Designs rarely have framing lines but may contain subdivided zones. It can often be difficult to differentiate Awatovi Black-on-yellow from Jeddito Black-on-yellow based on what are sometimes minor variations in paste and design, and there definite overalap in the criteria used to define the two types,

References:
Colton, Harold S. and Lyndon L. Hargrave
1937 Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Wares. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin No. 11, 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. 55m University of Arizona Press, Tucson.

Smith, Watson
1971 Painted Ceramics of the Western Mound at Awatovi. Reports of the Awatovi Expedition, Report No. 8. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Vol. 38. Peabody Museum, Cambridge.

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