A Stylistic Approach to Abrupt Ceramic Change in Salinas Province, New Mexico

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The sudden emergence of Tabira Black-on-white and Tabira Polychrome pottery during the late 16th to early 17th century in the southern portion of Salinas Province, central New Mexico after hundreds of years of production of Chupadero Black-on-white has been the topic of archaeological inquiry for decades. Competing models for the relationship between the pottery types have been suggested. Some researchers have highlighted the many stylistic differences between the types, most notably the emphasis of representational motifs among Tabira specimens, and have argued that the types represent two distinct, dichotomous ceramic traditions. Others, however, see some of the differences between the types as the result of exceptionally conservative, yet present change in Chupadero Black-on-white style through hundreds of years of production. Here I discuss the preliminary results of a design analysis of Chupadero Black-on-white and Tabira Black-on-white/Polychrome pottery. Ultimately, I argue that the data favor models of subtle, gradual Chupadero Black-on-white change, with a sudden burst of stylistic change around the turn of the 17th century.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25190