Technological Behavior in the Southwest: Pueblo I Lead Glaze Paints from the Upper San Juan Region
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Technological Behavior in the Southwest: Pueblo I Lead Glaze Paints from the Upper San Juan Region Brunella Santarelli1, David Killick2 and Sheila Goff3 1
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 U.S.A. 2 School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 U.S.A. 3 History Colorado, Denver, CO 80203 U.S.A. ABSTRACT Although widely employed in Eurasia, lead glazes were produced in only two small regions of the Americas prior to European contact, both in the Southwest. Southwestern glaze paints are unique in that they developed as decorative elements instead of as protective surface coatings. The first independent invention of glaze paints was in the Upper San Juan region of southwestern Colorado during the early Pueblo I period (ca. 700-850 CE). Despite recent interest in the later Pueblo IV glaze paints of New Mexico (ca. 1275-1700 CE), there have been no technological analyses of the Pueblo I glaze paints. This research project presents the first analysis and technological reconstruction of the Pueblo I glaze paints. It is in the production of the glaze paints that the potters were innovating and experimenting with materials. These early glaze paints have the potential to provide important information regarding both technology of production as well as the relationships and interactions of potters during this period in the Upper San Juan region. Preliminary results reveal a pattern of traits that involves raw materials, processing, properties and performance of the final product suggesting the existence of a patterned technological behavior. INTRODUCTION In the prehistoric American Southwest changes in ceramic traditions have long been associated with social transformations; one of these major changes was the introduction of glaze paints. Southwestern glazes are unique in that they were produced as paints, and thus functioned as a purely decorative element. The first invention of glaze paints was in the Upper San Juan River drainage of southwestern Colorado during the early Pueblo I period, from ca. 700-850 CE [1,2], these glaze paints had a limited temporal and spatial distribution. Lead glazed paints were reinvented along the Mogollon Rim of eastern Arizona during the 13th century, from there they spread into the Little Colorado and Zuni regions of New Mexico, and then to the Rio Grande Valley where the technology reached its peak during the Pueblo IV period (ca. 12751400 CE), and eventually disappeared after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 CE. Studies of these Pueblo IV glaze paints have increased our understanding not only of pottery production, but also of the social networks and communities of the potters who made them [3,4]. Despite recent interest in the Pueblo IV glaze paints, there have been no technological analyses of the Upper San Juan glaze paints. These early glaze paints have the potential to provide important information regarding both technology of production as well as the relationships and interactions
of potters during this period in the U
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