Research Overview
The largest bulk of what was found were commercial sites selling pottery made in the current time.
Typical of this is an excellent site:
www.pueblopottery.com
which also contains a historic pots section:
Historical evidence exists of American Indian pottery from about 2000
years ago. Pots were fabricated using coiling often around a form. The
potters wheel was not used in historical American Indian Pottery.
Mimbres Pottery
Early Mimbres Potter dates to around 200AD.
Lots of pots survive because they were commonly used in burial ritual often placed over the head of the deceased.
Before being placed in the burial pit, however, a pointed tool was used to symbolically "kill" a bowl by punching a hole through its base.
The Mimbres people virtually vanished from the archeological recond
around the time they stopped making Mimbres Classic Black-on-white pottery, A.D. 1150. About that time, the Mimbres people deserted their villages, taking all of the household goods they could carry to an unknown destination. Archaeologists have found no evidence of disease, famine, or warfare that might have prompted emigration on such a large scale. The pots and artifacts left behind allow us to share moments of an ancient world that might have otherwise been lost.
Mimbres ethnology reference:
www.mimbres.com/entheo/blmca.htm
Hopi Pottery
Early pottery started about 700 AD with a developed tradition in place by about 800 AD.
The pots are made by the coil and scrape method.
During the 14th century the Hopi potters evolved into making a
colorful new form of pottery called sikyatki polychrome.
This style, which involves painting directly on the polished body of the pot itself, continued until the late 1700's.
Due to wars with the conquering Spanish and
tribal disputes with the Navajo and Apache,
trading diminished and Hopi pottery production almost completely
disappeared around 1800.
Thus the pottery traditions were not handed down through
the centuries
but have been revivied based on archeological work and individual
discovery to be practiced
in the current day.
Sikyatki is
the name of an enormous ancient Hopi village on the east flank of
First Mesa that was abandoned about 1500. The abandonment of Sikyatki
is told in Hopi oral tradition as due to a dispute with Walpi, whose
descendents still reside on top of First Mesa, that resulted in the
destruction of Sikyatki.
A Hopi woman named Nampeyo (1860-1942) single-handedly revived the
art of
pottery making by exclusively using the polychrome technique.
Nampeyo is famous for her Sikyatki-revival style pottery.
Typical Uses of Pots
The primary use among the Pueblo Indian pots seems to be their use as
storage vessels. Serving or eating pots are unusual.
Pots survive from Pueblos where the Indians were settled in one
location.
Black Coloration
A firing technique called "smudging" is responsible for the blackened
coloration on some of the vessels. Finished pots were fired in a
closed or reduced oxygen atmosphere where dense smoke impregnates the
vessel surface with carbon, hence the blackened appearance. The fired
containers are allowed to cool and then are polished with a stone to
give the shiny, black appearance. - University of Missouri
http://www.native-languages.org/pottery.htm http://www.nativetech.org/pottery/ http://www.kstrom.net/isk/art/art_pot.html http://www.3mesas.com/pottery/main.html http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/Files/mimbres.htm
Princeton On Line Mimbres Pottery. This page includes a lesson plan for createing a coiled pot. http://www.missouri.edu/~anthmjo/museum.html
University of Missouri Museum of Anthropology http://www.ancestral.com/cultures/north_america/mimbres.html
Great discussion of Mimbres pottery and the surrounding culture http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/exhibits/online.shtml
On line exhibitions from the Arizona State Museum. These are
an excellent collection of pages that talk about the Archeology as well as the pots themselves. The online exhibition
includes 3D virtual reality images of many pots. This is by far the best online exhibition I have seen on any subject. http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/nampeyo/sikyatki.shtml
Ancestral Hopi Pottery from the Arizona State Museum http://www.nau.edu/~hcpo-p/arts/pot3.htm
Discussion of history of Hopi Pottery. http://www.ipl.org/div/pottery/
Internet Public Library piece on Pueblo pottery. A list of about 5 Pueblos with
a few photos of representative pots from each Pueblo. Do not miss the
Glossary which eclipses the rest of the site in depth of coverage.
http://www.umass.edu/arthist/pots/main.html
UMASS art history. Good collection of photos by tribal group. Little information beyond the photos. http://www.collectorsguide.com/fa/fa021.shtml
Glossary of terms used in Pueblo Pottery. Searches used in preparation of this page.
Google: (First Mesa)
Google: (Mimbres Pottery)
Google: (Sikyatki Pottery)
Google: (Hopi Pottery)
Google: (Pueblo Pottery)
Google: (Native American Pottery)
Google: (American Indian Pottery)
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