Connecting Tijeras Pueblo: Identifying Utility Ware Communities of Practice

This poster summarizes data on Southwestern utility wares from Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581), a fourteenth century village site in the Central Rio Grande region of New Mexico. Attributes such as paste color, vessel form, and surface modification were analyzed in order to characterize utility ware "communities of practice" at Tijeras Pueblo. Furthermore my research seeks to compare these aspects of utility ware form, style and production methods with those from adjacent areas of the Rio Grande a well as the Western Pueblo region, including the Zuni area, the Upper Little Colorado, and Mogollon Rim. This data shows unique characteristics and trends not seen in surrounding settlements, which raise questions regarding the identity and origin of utility ware potters at Tijeras and their relationship to other contemporaneous Southwestern sites.