From Plain Wares to Polychromes: A Geospatial Evaluation of Ceramics in the Casas Grandes Region

Summary

The past twenty-five years have seen a significant increase in archaeological fieldwork in the Casas Grandes region of Chihuahua, Mexico. Among significant issues in Casas Grandes archaeology is the relationship between sites close to Paquimé and those in its borderlands. Investigations into ceramic distributions across the landscape have the potential to provide a greater understanding of the relationship between sites and their relationship to Paquimé. In this study, we reexamine Carpenter’s (2002) influential map of ceramic types distribution by examining ceramic assemblages (e.g., Casas Grandes Polychromes, Salado Polychromes, and El Paso Polychrome) at various sites (e.g., Brand’s surface collections, Janos joint project surface collection, and excavated wares from Galleana, Villa Ahumada, and 76 Draw) within the region. These data are analyzed via ArcGIS, which contains analytical applications that can be used to address the mechanisms behind geospatial variation. Ultimately, we find that a few ceramic type "zones" need to be reconsidered and likely remapped.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Casas Grandes: Addressing Key Issues of Chronology, Culture Change, Social Organization, and Exchange

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17422