The Origin and Spread of Glaze-Painted Pottery as Seen from Tijeras Pueblo, NM

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"This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Habicht Mauche and her multi-institutional research team will examine the early development, production and exchange of glaze-painted pottery in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, from the perspective of the site of Tijeras Pueblo, using a mix of standard archaeological and innovative material science techniques. The Late Precontact Period (A.D. 1275-1400) among the Eastern Pueblos of the Rio Grande Valley was characterized by dramatic changes in demography, settlement structure, domestic and ritual architecture, and decorated ceramics. These material changes are interpreted as evidence for massive migration, the emergence of new and more complex social identities, the adoption of new religious practices, and the development of more structured local and regional political economies. Associated with these processes are the specialized production, widespread exchange and ritualized use of glaze-painted pottery among the Eastern Pueblos. An understanding of the origin and spread of glaze-paint technology, thus, has implications for understanding issues related to migration, community reorganization, and identity formation during this very dynamic period in the American Southwest.Tijeras Pueblo, located directly east of the modern city of Albuquerque, is an excellent place from which to launch an investigation of the early development and spread of the Rio Grande glaze ware tradition. Archaeological evidence suggests that local farmers, as well as possible immigrants from the Western Pueblo area, began to aggregate at the site sometime during the last decade of the thirteenth century. The site has yielded the earliest known tree-ring dates associated with Rio Grande Glaze Ware (A.D. 1313). Importantly, the site also has been the subject of several systematic and well-documented excavations, beginning in 1948, again in 1968-69, and finally between 1971-76. Ceramic collections, with site records and documentation, are housed at the Laboratory of Anthropology/Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe and the Maxwell Museum at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. The researchers will utilize a variety of innovative analytical techniques, including ceramic petrography, neutron activation analysis, and lead isotope analysis, to characterize existing ceramic collections from Tijeras Pueblo and, thus, to trace the circulation of techniques, raw materials, and finished objects through regional social and economic networks. In turn, they will explore how these networks facilitated migration and acted as arenas for the social reproduction and transformation of community and identity among the Eastern Pueblos. At the same time, this project will also make broader intellectual contributions to studies of migration and the relationship between technology and society.Tijeras Pueblo is located on National Forest Service property and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It currently has a self-guided interpretive trail and a new interpretive center is being constructed for visitors at the site. Dr. Habicht Mauche is working closely with National Forest archaeologists and local volunteers to assure that the results of her research feed directly into interpretive efforts at the site. By engaging undergraduate and graduate students as research assistants, this project promotes the integration of research and teaching.