In some parts of West Texas – along stretches of the Rio Grande, in the country west of the Guadalupe Mountains – they’re not at all uncommon. Broken pieces of prehistoric pottery – known to archeologists as “potsherds” – are striking artifacts. As fragments of painted vessels, they vividly evoke Native American life, in both its aesthetic and practical dimensions.
And archeologists are unlocking their stories. Archeologist Tuesday Critz is analyzing potsherds in the Chihuahuan Desert, and her findings are opening a window into our region’s complex Indigenous past.
“With ceramics, that's one line of evidence for social connection,” Critz said. “These people are interacting with each other economically or culturally, ritually, however that interaction might be. And by doing this kind of research, we can see that connection.”
A University of Missouri PhD student, Critz studies a culture called the Jornada Mogollon. Up until 1450 CE, in what’s now Far West Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Chihuahua, the Jornada built adobe pueblos. They farmed corn and other crops. And they created an array of painted pottery styles.
That includes “El Paso polychrome” – with geometric forms in red, black and brown. There are “Three Rivers redwares.” And there’s a striking style known as “Chupadero black-on-white.”
Critz analyzed fragments of all these styles with a technique called “neutron activation analysis.” She carefully removed the paint from each potsherd, to reach the paste or slip that the prehistoric potter applied to the vessel. She ground that paste into a fine powder – and then, in a special instrument, she blasted the powder with radiation. The process reveals the levels of each atomic element in the slip.
“And that creates a chemical signature that we can use to match with other sherds that have those similar signatures,” Critz said. “And then you can hopefully tie those to physical places on the landscape.”
Those “chemical signatures” shed light on cultural identities and relationships. In some cases, Critz was able to identify specific production locales. At a site called Madera Quemada, near El Paso, archeologists found clay that had been prepared but not yet made into pots. Critz found potsherds with the same “signature” across the region.
Based on abundance, Three Rivers redwares were likely produced in New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin, and what’s now the White Sands Missile Range. Chupadero black-on-white was created in the high country north of Ruidoso, New Mexico.
The styles probably reflect distinct cultural groups. But those groups were connected. Critz found that while some El Paso styles were made strictly for local use, others were traded widely. The people who made the Chupadero and Three Rivers styles imported pots from the El Paso area, and vice versa. Critz found that Chupadero was made in two distinct locales. Curiously, those areas did not trade with one another. It suggests a social “disconnect,” Critz said.
Pots may have been traded for utilitarian reasons. Chupadero-style vessels, for example, were typically large, suitable for water storage. But less practical factors may have been in play. Perhaps groups visited one another for feasts or celebrations, bringing their finest pots with them. Potsherds are found at rock-art sites – perhaps diverse communities joined together for ceremonies.
For now, Critz said, those details are elusive.
“What can we say about these connections?” she said. “Interpreting that at this point is a little bit beyond what I can do with the information that I have. But it’s something that I'm very much looking forward to being able to answer in a few years.”
One thing is certain: while the Chihuahuan Desert can seem like a “wilderness,” it has a deep social history.
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