The Social Life of Pots Glaze Wares and Cultural Dynamics in the Southwest , AD 1250-1680 edited by J. Habicht-Mauche, S. L. Eckert, and D. L. Huntley PDF

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The Social Life of Pots Glaze Wares and Cultural Dynamics in the Southwest, AD 1250-1680 edited by Judith A. Habicht- Mauch e Suzanne L. Eckert , , and Deborah L. Huntle y The Universi ty of Arizona Pre s s Tucso n To the memory of Anna O. Shepard, within whose long shadow we all work. The Universir...

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The Social Life of Pots Glaze Wares and Cultural Dynamics in the Southwest, AD 1250-1680

edited by Judith A. Habicht-

Mauch e

,

Suzanne L.

and Deborah L. Huntle

y

The Universi ty of Arizona Pre s s Tucso

n

Eckert ,

To the memory of Anna O. Shepard, within whose long shadow we all work.

The UniversirY of Arizona Press O zoo6 The A¡ìzona Board ofRegents All rights reserved archival-quality paper' @ This book is Printecl on acid-free' ofAmerica States Manufactu¡ed in the Uniled

rrIo09o8o7o66543"'

Dâta Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publicâtion in the Southvesl' dynamics cultural The social life ofpots : glaze wares and no ,15o-'68o 7 taittd by Judith A Habicht-Mauche' L Huntley' Suzanne L Eckerl' and Deborah p.cm. index' Includes bibliographical references and ptper) : alk (hardcover IsBN-r3: g?8-o-8I65-2457-o

IsrN-ro: o-8r65-2457-z (hardcover : alk 2 Pueblo Pottery-Antiquities 3 Zuni Pueblo pottery-Themes) motives r. '"nr,.ru Potter¡^craft paper)

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(ceramics)-southwest, o. olazes_southrvest, New. 7. Glazing l Habicht-Mauche' Judith À 1959-

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II. Eckert,

Nerv-Antiquities

Suzanne

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Fluntle¡ Deborah L '

1969

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899 P9s66 2006

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in part by the proceeds ofi oi1**i Publication of rhis book is made possible Challenge Grant trom the I\atronal ofa .."","d 'nith rhe assistence "ndo*-"n, Endowment fo¡ the Humanities' a federal agency'

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Contents

Preface ix

I

The Social History of Southwestern Glaze Wares Judith A. Habicht-Mauche 3

./

Giaze Ware Technology, the Sociaì Lives ol)&.s, and Communities of Pracrice in the La¡e PrehiÉtoric Southwest Miriam T. Stark 17

The Production and Distribution of Glaze-Painted Pottery in the Pueblo Southwest: A

Synthesis

Suzanne L.

Ickert

34

The Social Contexts of Glaze Paint Ce¡amic Production and Consumption in the Silver Creek Areâ Thomas R. Fenn, Barbara J. MiLIs, and Maren Hopkins 6o Decorating Glaze-Painted Pottery in East-Central Arizona Scott Van

Keuren

86

From Recipe to Identity: Exploring Zuni Glaze Ware Communities

ofPractice

Deborah L.

Huntley

ro5

The Decline of Zuni Glaze Ware Production in the Tirmultuous Fifteenth Century Gregson Schachner rz4 .:.

the Glaze Wares and Regional Social Relationships on r4z Rio Alamosa Toni S. Laurnbach

Preface

Black-on-White to Glaze-on-Red: The Adoption of Glaze Technology in the Central Rio Grande Valley Suzanne L. 10

n

Eckert

163

Inferring Social Interactions from Pottery Recipes: Rio Grande Paint Composition and Cultural Tiansmission Glmthia L' Herhahn I79

*Glaze

Lead, Paint, and Pots: Rio Grande Intercommunity Dynamics from a Glaze Ware Perspective Kit Nelson and Judith A. Habicht-Mauche r97

Rio Grande Glaze Ware Technology and Production: Historic Expediency Patricia Capone z16 73

Directionality and Exclusivity of Plains-Pueblo Exchange during the Protohistoric Period,

1,4

ln r45o-r7oo

Kathryn Leonard z3z

Rio Grande Glaze Paint Ware in Southwestern Archaeology Linda S. Cordell 253

Notes

273

BibliographY

277

Contribìitors

3r5

About the

Index

Editors

Anna O. Shepard published her landmark monograph Rio Grønde Glaze Pøint Wøre: A Study lllu*røting the Pløce of Cerømic Tèchnologicøl Anøþsis in Archøeological Reseørch (1942) more than sixty years ago, yet it stands as the most comprehensive treatment ofsouthwestern glaze-p¿inted pottery ever written. Over the last decade, this unique ceramic tradition has been the subject ofrenewed interest and attention by specialists in southwestern ceramics. This renaissance in southwestern Sl¿ze ware studies has been spurred, in part, by a broader revival ofinterest, after many decades ofneglect, in the Late Precontact ¿nd Early Contâct periods in the Americ¿n Southwest. The late thirteenth through fifteenth centuries are now recognized as a time ofunprecedented and dynamic social change in the

3r7

3r9

region. Glaze-painted pottery has much to tell us about these changes, as a record of changing aesthetics, ideologies, and

ritual practices and

as

a marker of technological prâctices and local knowledge thât shifted as people moved through this dynamic social landscape. In addition, the increased availability ofa new generation ofinstrumental techniques for the geochemical analysis and characterization of ceramic materials, including instrumental neutron activation analysis (INel), electron microProbe' and inductively coupled plasma mâss spectroscoPy (Ice-ras), has added

greatly to the tool kit of those studying southwestern ceramics. These techniques have begun 1o allow us to study technological practice at previously unimagined levels ofdetail and at multiple scales. Thus, the time ¡,,:

viii / Contents

reseems more than ripe to reassess the stâte of southwestern glaze ware the of understanding evolving search and what it has contributed to our relationship between technological pÍactice and social change in the late precontâct to early contact Southwest. In order to begin this conversation, the editors organized a symposium, entitled "The Soci¿l Life of Pots: Glaze Wares and Cultural Tiansformation in the Late Prehistoric Southwest" for the zooz Meetings of the Sociéty for American Archaeology, held in Denver' Colorado At this sym-

Allyson Carter and Chris Szuter, for their patience and suPPort throushout this project. Judith A. Habicht-Mauche Suzanne L. Eckert Deborah L. Huntley

posium, fifteen scholars met to present their research on southwestern glaze-painted pottery. These researchers included a mix of graduâte students, recent PhDs, and more experienced ceramic analysts, tr¿ined in a variety of analytical techniques and working on proiects that spanned the entire temporal range and geographic breadth of late Precontact to early contact glaze ware production in the Southwest Linda Cordell and

Miriam Stark provided important commentâry on how our work fit into the broader history of southwestern archaeology and ceramic technology studies, respectivelY.

This half-day symposium generated a lively series of discussions and debates among the participants. After the meetings' papers were revised, circulated, and revised again. After two rounds of peer review and additional revisions, the current volume finally took shape and was accepted for publication by the University ofArizona Press. We would like to thank our four anonymous reviewers, whose extensive and detâiled critical comments helped us to mold these somewhat eclectic symposium papers into a more focused and coherent volume, which we hope will make a significânt and lasting contribution to both southwestern culture history and ceramic technology studies. Amanda (Amy) Scherer provided invaluable assistance in helping to proofread and format the manuscript for publication. Helen Cole of Graphic Services at ucsc redrafted a number of the figures for this volume. We are grateful for her artistic skill and professionalism, which Breâdy enhanced the overall look ofour book We also appreciate the thorough attention to detail provided by our copyeditor, John

Mulvihill. A special thanks to Suzanne Eckert's husband, Keith Maggert, our "MacWi zard" and all-around "knight in shining armor," who that managed to get infected by a computer virus. And finally, many thanks to the editorial staffat the University of Arizona Press, and most especially saved the day by helping us debug an earlier version of the mânuscript

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Preface

Preface

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xi

The Social Life of Pots

1,

The Social History of the Southwestern Glaze llVares Judith A. Habicht-Mauche

The Late Precontact, or Pueblo IV, period (ao rz75-r4oo) in the Ame¡rcan Southwest was marked by a series ofdemographic upheavals throughout the Pueblo world that resulted in the formation of a radically new social landscape. Massive migrations led to the displacement and reorganization oflocal communities and regional social networks as some areas, such as the Four Corners and Colorado Plateau, were completely depopu-

lated, while others, such as the Zuni area and the Rio Grande Valle¡ received substantial influxes of new populations (see fig. r.r). In many areas, people from diverse ethnic, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds were forced to come together to remake their social worlds from the shreds

and tatters of existing cultural traditions. The proliferation and spread of new social and religious institutions and their associated rituals restructured the relationship between the individual, society, and the cosmos, leading to major transformations in notions of community, individual and corporate identity, and the nature ofleadership and power in Pueblo society. Associated with these social transformations we see dramatic changes in decorated ceramic traditions throughout the Southwest.These changes reflect a distinct break with the aesthetic and technological traditions of

the past. Aesthetic changes include the introduction of new polychromatic color schemes, the use of new paints and painting techniques to add depth, texture, shâding, ând outline, changes in òverall design struc-

ture and symmetry, and a greater emphâsis on iconographic and representational imagery. From â technological perspective, some of these new decorated wares appear to be characterized by a greater efficiency and standardization of production, suggesting thât they may represent the products of more specialized household and community-based industries (Motsinger rygz). They tended to be traded over longer distances and through broader regional and interregional networks of exchange than

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EN

the earlier local black-on-white ceramic types (Habicht-Mauche r993a). There is also increasing evidence that the context of use of these vessels may have extended beyond the domestic sphere and that they may have played important public roles in ritual displays and community feasts (Spielmann r998). Beginning in the late thirteenth centur¡ first in east-central Arizona and then spreading eastward through ¡he Ztní and Acoma regions to the central and southern Rio Grande, potters experimented with copperand lead-based pigments thât vitrified upon firing, forming a glossy glaze paint. Southwestern glaze-painted ceramics represent one of only a very

few examples of glaze technology that developed indigenously in the Americas (see chap. 3). A, glaze is a thin glassy substance that is melted and fused to the surface of a ceramic body (Rice 1987; Vandiver rggo). Ceramic glazes are commonly applied as a surface coâting to decrease permeability and to enhance surface luster and texture. However, in the late precontact Southwest, glazes were applied as â paint to add texture and color to the vessel surface and as a bold outline to matte-painted ând slipped designs. Glazes are compositionally and technologically complex. The primary constituent ofglazes is silica, which melts to form glass. Glazes also typically contain a variety of impurities, known as fluxes. Fluxes are essenttal to glaze production, because they lower the melting point of silica, allowing glass to form at relatively low temperâtures. This is important because if a ceramic body is held at too high a temperature for too long causing the vessel to warp and melt. A common is lead, which.allows glazes to form at temperatures as fluxing material low as 5oo-óooo Celsius, well within the firing range of most nonindustriâl potters. Lead is also popular because it produces a beautiful, clear, lustrous glaze. Oxides of metals, such as copper, iron, or manganese, are often added to glazes as colorants. However, these metal oxides also act as fluxes. In addition, most glazes contain some alumina, which controls

it will begin to vitrify,

Social History ofSouthwestern Glaze Wares

/

5

the viscosity of the melted glass and prevents the glaze from becoming too runny. Because of the sophistication and uniqueness of this technological achievement, southwestern glaze wates h¿ve received considerable attention from archaeologists over the past three-quarters of a century (De Atley ig86; Hawley rg38; Kidder and Shepard 1936; Shepard r94z; Warren rgTg). Much of this research has focused on resource acquisition and patterns ofexchange ofglaze ware vessels as traced through chemical andlnineralogical charâcterization studies However, despite the growing

volume and sophistication ofrecent glaze ware analyses, less attention has been paid to synthesizing these studies within abroad social and historical framework. How did glaze ware production, distribution' and use articulate with transformations in social organization, notions of community, iclentity formation, regional alliance, and the spread ofnew ritual systems in the late precontact Southwest? What role did glaze ware pots play in Pueblo social life and in what contexts? How did these processes differ from one glaze-producing area to ânother and at different times? These are all questions that remain to be examined in detail' This volurne reflects an initial attempt to âddress some of these issues

from a broad, pan-regional, and' comparative perspective The participants represent a diverse cross section ofresearchers working throughout ihe glaze-producing âreas of the Southwest, including east-centrâl Ariregion, the lower Rio Puerco of the East, and the central and southern Rio Grande Valley (figs. r. r and r.z) The chapters cover the full historical range ofglaze ware production from the late thirteenth century up through the Early Colonial period. The research reported on here utilizes a variety ofanalytical techniques, including typological and stylis-

zoîa, ïhe Zuîi

tic analyses, optical petrography, instrumental neutron activation analyplasma sis (IN,re), elecúon microprobe analysis, and inductively coupled permâss spectroscoPy (IcP-Ms). Despite the diversity of approaches and spectives, all the participants share a common objective to move beyond technical analysis and to begin to develop broader frameworks for examining the changing role ofglaze-decorated ceramics in the social dynamics of the late precontact and early contact South\ryest In so doing, we also hope to make a contribution to theoretical studies ofthe creative interplay between material culture ¿nd processes of social formation and culture history.

6

/ Judith A. Habicht-Mauche

F¡ameworks for Analysis classes of their circulawith potential as a result of social things become charged tion within or âmong specific cultural ¿nd historical milieus. From this perspective, according to Appadurai, things, like persons, can be said to have "social lives." Such a view opens up a new way ofthinking about the relationship between material culture and society. As Dietler and Herbich (r998) have noted, archaeological approaches to the social significance of materiâl culture have been mired in a false debate over whether things should be seen primarily as the passive reflection of cultural norms and social practices (e.g., Sackett rggo) or as more active "agents" in the dynamic construction of social relationships and cultural identities (e.g., Wiessner rg83; Wobst t977). As they point out, such views "are not necessarily contradictory; they are merely partial." What is missing from these debâtes is an understanding of the reflexive, constitutive relationship between structure and agency (Sahlins r98r) and ofthe role of"practice," that is to say, human action in the material world, in mediating that relationship (Bourdieu ry77). As Appadurai (1986:5) puts it:

Arjun Appadurai (1986) has argued that specific objects or

Even if our own approach to things is conditioned necessarily by the view that thinBs have no meanings apart from those that human transactions, attributions, and motivations endow them with, the anthropological problem is thât this formal truth does not illuminate the concrete, historical circulation of things. For that we have to follow the things themselves, for their meanings are inscribed in their forms, their uses, their trajectories.

It

is only through the analysis of these tra.iec-

tories that we can interpret the human transactions and calculations that enliven things. Thus, even though from a theoretical point ofview humân actors encode things with significance, from a methodological point ofview it is the things-in-motion that illuminate their human and social context.

Things are made, exchanged, used, and discarded by people as part of material transâctions and performances that make up the dây-to-day, rough-and-tumble of human social life. The choices, strategies, and actions mobilized by people in the context of these m¿terial transactions and performances are largely conditioned by socially mediated views of

Social History of Southwestern Glaze Wares

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7

ft

Fig. 1.2. Archaeological sites and ore sources discussed in this volume

A= Selected Lead úd Copper Sources

how the world works and how things should be done (Lemonnier 1986)' But personal experience often fractures or disrupts our socially derived understandings ofthe world, opening a window ofcreative arnbiguity, an opportunity for innovation and change, especially in response to contradiction, competition, and conflict.Thus, ifwe want to understand the role

ofmaterial culture in this creative process ofcultural formation and social trânsformation, we need to examine, in detail, the conditions and contexts in *hich specific obiects or classes ofobiects are made and then circulate

within and among different cultural and social arenas, both across space and through time. In Appadurai's words, we must trace these "things-inmotion" as they move through the various trajectories of human interaction that construct their "social lives." Appadurai (r986:34) makes a further distinction between the cultural biography of things and their social history. Cultural biographies trace the florv of specific objects "as they inove through different hands' contexts, and uses," creåting a unique historical trajectory or life history for each individual object from production to discard. Such an approach incorporâtes, but moves beyond, the detailed reconstruction ofproduction sequences or ch.øîne 0þératoire method currently fâvored by French archaeologists (see Stark, chap. z, this vol.) by considering the entire use life of an object and its shifting social contexts and significances. Sociâl histories, on the other hand, relate to whole classes or types of things as their tech-

nologies ofmanufacture, networks ofexchange, contexts ofuse, and social meanings shift over broader domains of time and space. In order to fully

exam...