Exploring Gender, Trade, and Heirloom Micaceous Ceramics at Los Ojitos, 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.

Hispanic homesteaders brought Sangre de Cristo Micaceous ollas to their new homes at Los Ojitos (LA 98907), a village site occupied between 1865 and 1950 on the Pecos River in east-central New Mexico. A subset of these ceramics resembled previously identified historic-period micaceous types from northern New Mexico. However, many sherds deviated significantly from established type descriptions, reflecting local or regional trade and manufacture. The relatively low frequencies of micaceous ceramics recovered in excavations at Los Ojitos, including sherds painted with store-bought tempera paint or found in stratigraphic context with 20th-century artifacts, suggest these ceramics became harder to replace in the late 19th century on the periphery of the Hispanic New Mexican homeland. As curated heirlooms, micaceous ceramics may have taken on new meanings for women in the Hispanic New Mexican diaspora as reminders of intergenerational relationships and cultural identity, while performing as tools crucial to the maintenance of familiar domestic practices.

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): 24025