Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Technological Organization and Thermal Efficiency of Grayware Ceramics from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

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Under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Crown, Marianne Tyndall will address the correlation between ceramic technological change and wood resource depletion in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Studies of past environmental conditions indicate that Chaco Canyon has been a barren, arid landscape with few trees and little water for the last 2,000 years. Despite the harsh environment and scarce resources, however, Chaco Canyon has a long history of human occupation. Wood for building and fuel were scarce as early as the eighth century. Adaptations in the manufacture and use of ceramics are one response to such scarcity. The intensity and duration of habitation in Chaco Canyon despite the extreme environment presents an ideal setting within which to examine how potters change the way they make ceramics in response to dwindling fuel. This research proposes that local potters modified certain attributes of culinary ware during ceramic production to improve the thermal efficiency of cooking vessels. Clay vessels most suitable for cooking may be produced one of two ways. Vessels with thin walls transfer heat rapidly but require hotter and longer firing conditions during manufacture. Alternatively, thick-walled vessels require less fuel during initial firing, but use more fuel during cooking. Tyndall argues that potters in Chaco Canyon chose the former strategy to make pots more thermally efficient in daily cooking. Laboratory analyses will target attributes that influence thermal efficiency: vessel size, wall thickness, porosity, original firing temperature, and temper choice. This research is significant because it considers the social and environmental contexts within which ceramic technology changes. The production and use of culinary ceramics involve decisions regarding vessel function, resource availability, and cooking behavior. Therefore, fuel-use patterns and food-processing strategies will be studied. The availability of timber resources will be derived from published paleoenvironmental studies, while data regarding fuel use and cooking strategies will be gathered from excavation reports. Correlated with laboratory analyses, these data will provide complementary information regarding changes in cooking technology. The intellectual merits of this research reach beyond the anthropological discipline. The laboratory methodology will create an invaluable database upon which to build future research on the thermal efficiency of prehistoric utilitarian ceramics. Databases concerning macrobotanical remains and food-processing tools will highlight the culinary and nutritional behavior of prehispanic Chaco communities and track dietary changes through time. Scholars who study American Southwest ecology may find data regarding fuelwood availability an important resource. This study is unique in its extensive examination of utility ware recovered from Chaco sites. By using museum collections, new data will be generated from a valuable, yet under-utilized resource. The substantial number of whole jars and sherds available for study offers an opportunity to observe changes in cooking technology with a large sample. Broader impacts of this research include the concerns of interested tribal councils. All findings will be disseminated to those groups who regard Chaco Canyon as their ancestral lands. Furthermore, results will be made available to the Chaco Canyon National Historical Park to enhance the interpretive services provided to over 85,000 annual visitors. The study will create links among the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, and University of New Mexico. Finally, this project will provide invaluable graduate student training.