Posted by Dean Wilson 2014

Cebolleta Black-on-white was defined by Dittert (1959) to refer to decorated pottery thought to be indicative of white wares produced in the Acoma or Cebolleta Province that appear to display characteristics indicative of a slight divergence from other Cibola white wares produced during the Pueblo II and very early Pueblo III periods (Dittert 1959; Dittert and Plog 1980; Powers and Orcutt 2005). As originally defined it refers to painted pottery that intermediate between Puerco Black-on-white and Reserve Black-on-white. Thus, it is characterized by combinations of characteristics that seem to be transitional between painted Pueblo II types defined for the Chaco or Cibola tradition and late Pueblo II and Pueblo III types defined for the Southern Cibola tradition.


Cebolleta Black-on-white may be most easily distinguished from contemporary white ware pottery types produced elsewhere in the Cibola region by hard pastes and surfaces covered with a white well-polished slip. Temper is quartz sand and sherd sometimes with fine black basalt fragments. Designs are executed in black mineral paint and commonly include large opposed solid and hatched elements similar to those noted in pottery assigned to Reserve Black-on-white and Socorro Black-on-white. A variation on this theme consists of banded hatched panels parallel to a solid motif such as a saw tooth elements. Decorated forms thought to represent early examples of this type displayed solid elements forming motifs where painted and unpainted design elements are balanced. In order to provide information relating to stylistic variation within this type, I have previously separated sherds exhibiting surfaces and other characteristics described for Cebolleta Black-on-white into stylistic varieties as defined by other Cibola types and included a Puerco and Reserve style (Wilson 1994).

References:
Dittert, Alfred E
1959 Culture Change in the Cebolleta Mesa Region Central Western New Mexico. Ph.D dissertation, University of Arizona, Tucson.

Dittert, Alfred E, and Fred Plog
1980 Generations in Clay; Pueblo Pottery of the American Southwest. Northland Press, Flagstaff.

Powers Robert P.,and Janet D. Orcutt
2005 The El Malpais Archaeological Survey Phase I. Intermountain Cultural Resources Management Professional Paper No, 70, Santa Fe.

Wilson, C. Dean
1994 Armijo Canyon Ceramic Analysis. In The Armijo Canyon Archaeological Survey, by J. P Elyea, P. Hogan, and C. D. Wilson, pp 49-69. Prepared for Bureau of Land Mangement, Rio Puerco District. Office of Contract Archaeology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.

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Cebolleta Black-on-white bowl sherds

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