Pottery and Pigments in Arizona: Salado Polychrome
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but was heavily influenced by both Anasazi and Hohokam traditions and represents an amalgamation of both technology and design. The Tonto Basin, an extension of the Sonoran Desert (Figure 2), has long been considered the heartland of the Salado (after Rio Salado, the Salt River). During the Classic period, people left the Colo-
rado Plateau and moved south, bringing together the ceramic technologies and decorative traditions of the Anasazi, Mogollon, and Sinagua (Figure 2). The influx of migrant groups influenced the local central Arizona culture, which previously had strong ties to the desert Hohokam region. Carlson3 notes that major changes in ceramic wares coincided with major cultural change across much of the Southwest. In this case, black-on-white pottery was largely replaced by new styles including black-on-red and polychromes (multicolored designs). This discussion compares two of the largest platform-mound communities (Gila phase, A.D. 1325-1450) in the Tonto Basin, excavated during the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study (Rice12) (Figure 3), and considers the influences of different ceramic technological traditions on Salado-polychrome ceramics from these large multisite complexes. Counts of ceramics are totaled for the Cline Terrace Mound (U:4:33/132) and for the surrounding Cline Mesa sites, residential villages surrounding the platform mound located at the northwest end of the Tonto Basin along Tonto Creek. These counts are compared to those from the Schoolhouse Point
Figure 1. Tonto polychrome jar (Salado polychrome) decorated with carbon paint on a white slip with red slip surrounding the design field. (Gila Pueblo Collection [GP11267] from Roosevelt 5:10 [Cline Terrace Mound] Arizona State Museum.)
MRS BULLETIN/DECEMBER 1996
Pottery and Pigments in Arizona: Salado Polychrome
Mound (U:8:24/13a) and from the surrounding Schoolhouse Mesa sites located at the eastern end of Tonto Basin along the Salt River. Totals are also compared for the Livingston sites, including two early Classic-period platform mounds, located on the east side of Pinto Wash along the Salt River (Figure 3).
Pottery-Making and Decorating Traditions Before consideration of the archaeological data, it is relevant to summarize prehistoric pottery-making and decorating traditions, as well as those recorded during the historic period. Similarities in prehistoric and historic ceramic products
Figure 2. Map of the U.S. Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico) illustrating extent of major cultural areas (Hohokam, Anasazi, and Mogollon) and the location of the Tonto Basin study area.
Figure 3. Map of the Tonto Basin illustrating locations of the major platform-mound communities of the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study. The Cline Terrace Complex and Pinto Creek Complex, including Schoolhouse Point Mound and Livingston sites, are the focus of this discussion.
MRS BULLETIN/DECEMBER 1996
and techniques inform us about preceding technologies and point to technological continuities in these traditions. Prehistoric pottery in the U.S. Southwest wa
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