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Prehistoric Traditions

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Southwestern people have been making pottery for more than 2000 years. The first ceramics were very small hand modeled bowls or cups. By AD 500, large, 5-gallon jars were being made in the Tucson basin.

Archaeologists use a variety of techniques to study prehistoric pottery. They look at how the pot was made, its shape and its decoration. All these are clues to the identity of the original maker and when it was made and used.

Differences in manufacturing techniques provide the first line of evidence. All Southwestern cultures made “pinch pots” - pots formed by hand-shaping the clay into small vessels. Larger post were made by coiling ropes of clay onto a flat saucer-shaped base, then thinning and shaping the vessel walls either by scraping or by using a paddle-and-anvil. (See the Pottery Making exhibit case for an explanation of the paddle-and-anvil technique.)

The scraping technique was used in the eastern half of the region by the Anasazi and Mogollon and their variants. The paddle-and-anvil technique was used in the western half of the region by the Hohokam, Trincheras and Patayan. Both techniques were used in the Sinagua area. Additionally each of the pottery-making traditions used distinctive clays, vessel shapes and firing techniques.

The pots shown here are grouped according to these broad pottery-making traditions. They demonstrate both e the early and the later forms as well as the decorated “fancy” and the plain utilitarian pots made by each tradition.

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Image credits:
Display of prehistoric pottery (2002) - UA staff