Puzzlehouse Archaeological Site Report - Ceramic Type Collection

Type sites:	Mesa Verde N. P.: Spruce Tree House; Cliff Palace; Mug House. Aztec Ruin. (Breternitz et al:46).
Dating:	Pueblo III. AD 1180 – 1300 or abandonment. P III – AD 1200-1300 (Breternitz et al:46, Lucius and Breternitz:27). P III – AD 1180-1300, dominant after first decades 1200s (Varien:Appendix A(1)). P III – AD 1180 – abandonment, ~1300 (Wilson and Blinman:52).
Texture:	Fine and very fine (Breternitz et al:45, Varien:Appendix A(1)).
Temper:	Not useful for distinguishing Mesa Verde ceramics from McElmo. The range of tempers, singly or in combinations, includes: sherd, igneous and metamorphic rock, and sandstone (all crushed), and sand (Breternitz et al:41). The CCAC Site testing program found crushed sherd the most common, with crushed rock and sand also present (Varien:Appendix A(1)). In a Mug House study of 294 vessels typed McElmo-Mesa Verde, there were 14 different temper kinds or combinations. 31% of these vessels had only sherd temper, much of which included crushed rock. 9% had only crushed rock. 22% had rock mixed with some sherd. 24% had sherd with some rock. Other combinations included sand and crushed sandstone. When the temper analysis was broken down by type (64 McElmo and 222 Mesa Verde samples), the percentages of temper types were almost exactly the same for each (Rohn:146). Breternitz reports (Breternitz et al:41) and recent study at CCAC confirms that P III temper varies from site to site, possibly related to the distance from or depletion of rock sources (Robin Lyle, personal communication).
Slip:	Well slipped, ‘pearly’ finish (Varien:Appendix A(1)). Slip ‘common, usually. . .pearly white’ (Wilson and Blinman:52). At Mug House – 63% of McElmo, 92% of Mesa Verde (Rohn:147). At Puzzle House: from moderate to very thick, less consistent on exteriors.
Polish:	Well polished (Wilson and Blinman:52; Varien:Appendix A(1)). At Mug House, 91% (Rohn:147). At Puzzle House: From somewhat uneven, showing polishing marks, to consistent, high polish with a satiny-smooth surface. ‘Pearly’ is not seen but some have the tactile finish of satin. Exteriors generally of lesser quality.
Paint:	Carbon, but in certain areas, including the Lowry area, mineral was used (Wilson and Blinman:53; Breternitz et al:45; Varien:Appendix A(1)). Carbon on all but one of 294 specimens (Rohn:147). Paint found on every surface of bowls except their resting point (Rohn:149).
Rims:	Most classic and diagnostic is a squared top with no change in wall thickness (Rohn:148). Among the many variations: exterior walls tapering slightly toward the rim; rims flat and slightly rounded at exterior; rims flat and slightly angled upwards to the exterior, rims angled upward to a lip flaring beyond the exterior wall; rims gently rounded with no change in wall thickness (Cattenach:190; and all seen at Puzzle House). Rim tops are usually decorated with dots, lines, or elaborate combinations or patterns, such as zig-zags or squiggles. Sometimes the rim is divided to provide parallel rows of decoration (Rohn:148).
Shape:	Bowl: Thick, even walls. Generally hemispherical without taper. At Mug House, two bowl sizes: 14 – 22 cm. and 26 - 32 cm. diameters (Rohn:147) Seed jar: More common in earlier proveniences. One at Mug House (Rohn:179) was a flattened sphere with square medallions separated by hatching – a classic Mesa Verde design – on a vessel with gray slip. Canteen: At Mug House, 2. Small necks with outward-angled rimtops, ticking, pair of small round handles alongside neck, shoulder low on vessel, decoration neck or handles to greatest girth. Design is Mesa Verde, but paint work of variable precision (Rohn:178). Pitcher: At Mug House, 2. Rounded body, short neck, no taper, rounded rim, strap handle (Rohn:178). Ladle: At Mug House – same characteristics as McElmo ladles, though fewer found. ‘Kiva’ jar: At Mug House, 25 of 29 were Mesa Verde, the others McElmo or untyped (Rohn:179). Typical shape is flattened sphere with raised rim and inner flange to accommodate a lid. Paint occurs on upper exterior, rim, and inner flange. Designs schemes include bands with framing lines, and medallions surrounded by hatching About two-thirds were pierced with 2 or 4 pairs of holes for hanging thongs (Rohn:180-81). Olla: Spherical or globular, with shoulder at broadest point or lower, rounded or strap handles at or just below shoulder. Short neck often corrugated, may be straight or curved, with flared rim or slight lip, often ticked (Rohn:182-83). Mesa Verde band and medallion design conventions prevail. Other Jar Shape: Much like olla but somewhat flattened, with flared, ticked rim but no real neck, a wider mouth, handles below shoulder; decoration in accord with other jar types (Rohn:184).
Design:	Framing lines – the classic diagnostic characteristic: Single or multiple, with endless variation in line and space width. Parallel to the rim, enclosing the band above and below, but not touching band. ‘Thick-followed-by-thin’ is classic line combination. An initial thicker line at or below the rim is succeeded by one or more thinner lines. Below a band design, usually a corresponding set of lines in reversed order. A line touching or incorporated into the band is called a border-line. A single framing line, often thick, denotes Mesa Verde if the rest of the characteristics agree. (A band design with an attached border-line is McElmo.) Framing lines may be embellished with a pattern of dots. A broad band may consist only of framing lines; dots in such a pattern have been called ‘musical notes’. The most common decoration schemes: Bands: Generally filled with carefully-spaced elements such as opposing stepped triangles, sometimes worked into a key design; diamond-shaped medallions surrounded by hatching; complex, continuous angular frets. They are bordered by framing lines (see above). The entire unit may be quite broad but an undecorated space remains at bottom. Centered designs: Usually without framing lines, design extends to rim or to a single border-line at rim, and fills entire bowl. Centered designs divide the bowl interior into two, three, or four equal fields, with the design motif replicated in each sector. These are usually connected by solid, thicker, framed lines, sometimes arranged as the arms of a pinwheel. The arms may emanate from the bottom center or border an unpainted central triangle. The motifs may float in the hatched space between them or touch the rim at points dividing the sectors (Rohn:166-67). Sometimes, motif-filled medallions are surrounded by hachure. All-over designs: complex, segmenting the entire surface into a variety of fields, each filled with design or hachure, and separated by bordering lines. These fields run directly to the rim, often with no border-line. Scrolls reappear. Unlike Mancos scrolls, they generally do not emerge from ticked triangles, or interlock. Often angular rather than rounded (Hayes and Lancaster:124). Some occur as spirals; some frame an interior design element. Exterior decoration common on Mesa Verde bowls at the type sites. It occurs but is not common at Puzzle House. Band designs are common - from simple keys or frets to elaborate patterns with framing lines (see Cattenach:176-83). Other exterior motifs are: checkerboard, dots in a grid, turkeys, animal and human figures. Also: opposing stepped triangles in a host of permutations and connected to other parts of a band or medallion, even-armed ‘crosses’ made of inward-pointing triangles, squares filled with design and trimmed with fringed triangles outside each corner.