Secret Identities and X-Ray Vision: Applying CT-Scanning to Roosevelt Red Ware Formation Techniques in the Tonto Basin

Summary

The techniques used to form ceramic vessels—in this case, coiling and scraping as opposed to the use of a paddle and anvil—have long been treated as key elements differentiating among archaeological "cultures" in the US Southwest. At the same time, finished vessels often retain little or no obvious visual evidence of the technique used in their formation, and this low visibility has implications for both ancient practice and modern archaeological analysis. We utilize computed tomography (CT scanning) to examine the formation techniques used in producing Roosevelt Red Ware in the Tonto Basin, an area with a deep history as a geographic and cultural frontier between archaeological traditions. While this pottery is ubiquitous in the 14th- to 15th-century Tonto Basin, contemporaneous sites otherwise show substantial differences in material culture and were likely home to diverse populations. Along with a broader examination of variation in Roosevelt Red Ware vessel forms and use among sites, exploring the techniques used to make these vessels in relationship to deep histories of ceramic production can shed new light on the place of this pottery in social diversity in the Tonto Basin and the greater Southwest.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21733