Pottery Production at Cowboy Wash Pueblo: A Central Village on the Ute Piedmont Frontier

Summary

Cowboy Wash Pueblo (5MT7740), south of Sleeping Ute Mountain in the Northern San Juan Region, is the largest and latest pueblo in the Cowboy Wash Community. In collaboration with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Potter and colleagues (2013) recorded a large rubble area (~1000 m2), 13 pit structures, a potential D-shaped structure, and a surprisingly sparse surface assemblage (n=206). They also noted that the east edge of the pueblo is endangered by arroyo cutting. Due to this and because it was unclear if the surface pottery was representative of its occupation, the CU-Boulder field school (2016), under the direction of Potter and Ortman, conducted test excavations in an exposed room, kiva, and 13 midden units. This poster presents the results of an analysis of pottery from these excavations. Included in these contexts was an unfired corrugated vessel and raw materials used in its production on the floor of the kiva. Results reveal a short-occupation period during the A.D. 1225-1280 interval, patterning in the distributions of vessel form and design, and information about pottery production, acquisition, and the aggregation process when the village was established.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16882