THE TIJERAS CERAMIC RESEARCH PROJECT

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1 THE TIJERAS CERAMIC RESEARCH PROJECT Judith A. Habicht-Mauche The late precontact, or Pueblo IV period (A.D ) in the American Southwest was marked by a series of demographic upheavals throughout the Pueblo world that resulted in the formation of a radically new social landscape. Associated with these social transformations are seen dramatic changes in decorated ceramic traditions throughout the Southwest. The spread of these new pottery types required the movement of new technological and social knowledge between communities that influenced not only how decorated pottery was made, but also how and in what contexts it was used and what meanings its daily production and use evoked. The project was funded by a major multi-year research grant from the National ScienceFoundation ( ), as well as support from the Academic Senate Committee on Research and the Division of Social Sciences at UCSC. Members of the Friends of Tijeras Pueblo inventoried the collections at the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, University of New Mexico and helped with ceramic attribute analysis and data entry. Graduate student, Emma Britton, and numerous undergraduate volunteers have also assisted with both field collection of ceramic resources and a variety of lab analyse. Major collaborators on this project include, Linda Cordell, former director of the CU Museum (deceased), Suzanne L. Eckert (Arizona State Museum) and William D. James (Texas A&M). This research has been done with permission from and in consultation with the Cibola National Forest (Sandia District) and the Pueblo of Isleta(Department of Cultural and Historic Preservation). The Tijeras Ceramic Research Project utilizes a variety of analytical techniques, including attribute analysis, mineralogical and chemical characterization studies, and lead isotope analysis, to examine and characterize ceramic collections from the fourteenth century site of Tijeras Pueblo (AD ) in the central Rio Grande region of New Mexico. These data are used to trace the circulation of ideas, techniques, raw materials, and finished objects through inter-regional networks of social interaction and shared cultural practices. In turn, the project explores how these networks functioned as conduits that facilitated migration and acted as arenas of social production that transformed practices of community and identity among the Ancestral Eastern Pueblos during the late precontact period. Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, University of California, Santa Cruz, judith@ucsc.edu Suzanne L. Eckert, Arizona State Museum William D. James, Texas A&M Rob Franks, IMS Marine Analytical Lab, UCSC Linda Cordell, University of Colorado Museum (deseased) Keywords: Pottery, Technology, Production and Exchange, Communities of Practice, Ceramic Petrography, LA-ICP-MS, Lead Isotope Analysis, INAA, Rio Grande Valley Permanent URI: External Links: Bounding coordinates (decimal degrees): West: North: East: South: Citation Example: Judith A. Habicht-Mauche (2015) The Tijeras Ceramic Research Project. SAA Current Research 249, accessed (current date) Current Research Online No: 249:1

2 Prof. Habicht-Mauche analyzing ceramic petrographic thin sections. Current Research Online No: 249:2

3 Samantha Linford collecting clay samples near Tijeras Pueblo Current Research Online No: 249:3

4 Suzanne Milward making test tiles from field clays. Current Research Online No: 249:4

5 Hunter Burgess prepping acid disolutions of glaze paints for lead isotope analysis. Current Research Online No: 249:5

6 Glaze Ware sherd fragments after refiring to compared oxidized paste colors. Current Research Online No: 249:6 Powered by TCPDF (