Mounds, Mounding, and Polychrome Pottery in the Late Prehispanic Tonto Basin

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Both platform mounds and Roosevelt Red Ware (or Salado Polychrome) pottery have been interpreted as tied to religious practice in the late prehispanic southern Southwest, although the relationship between the two traditions is still debated. In the mid-14th-century (Gila phase) Tonto Basin, settlement included not only platform mounds with layouts that show clear connections to earlier platform mounds in the region but also included "syncretic mounds," in which "mounding" was used within what is essentially room-block space. These otherwise diverse sites are united by the use of Roosevelt Red Ware. The ware dominates painted ceramic assemblages at late excavated sites and many whole vessels were recovered from room floors. This paper will explore the role played by the production and use of Roosevelt Red Ware in the diverse social and religious landscape of the Gila phase Tonto Basin through ceramic sourcing, design analysis, and the analysis of intrasite provenience.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Why Platform Mounds? Part 2: Regional Comparisons and Tribal Histories

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23985