Exit78 Photo of the Day #108
Clay coil cooking pot, Anasazi State Park Museum, Utah 12, Boulder, Utah, October 6, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II)
Cooking Pot (from Anasazi Pottery – Evolution of a Technology, Penn Museum)
The formula for Anasazi cooking pot clays was achieved by A.D. 700 and remained stable for the subsequent six centuries of occupation in the Four Corners area. However, there were dramatic changes in the appearance of cooking vessels throughout this period. Initially, the coils of clay that made up the pot were carefully scraped on both interior and exterior surfaces, welding coils together and creating plain surfaces. Prior to A.D. 700, and especially during the brown ware phase of Anasazi pottery development, these plain surfaces were then polished to greater or lesser degrees. By A.D. 700, polishing ceased and most cooking jars were left plain. By the late 8th century, potters began to leave unobliterated coil junctures on the exteriors of the vessel necks, creating a neckbanded appearance. In the early 10th century, some neckbands were rhythmically indented, creating a corrugated appearance. At first these surface treatments were confined to the neck region of the vessel, but by the late 10th century entire cooking jar exteriors were covered with corrugations. Corrugation became the norm for most Anasazi cooking jars from this time through the 13th century abandonment of the Four Corners area.
Anasazi as a cultural label (Wikipedia)
The term “Anasazi” was established in archaeological terminology through the Pecos Classification system in 1927. It had been adopted from the Navajo. Archaeologist Linda Cordell discussed the word’s etymology and use:
“The name “Anasazi” has come to mean “ancient people,” although the word itself is Navajo, meaning “enemy ancestors.” [The Navajo word is anaasází (<anaa- “enemy”, sází “ancestor”).] The term was first applied to ruins of the Mesa Verde by Richard Wetherill, a rancher and trader who, in 1888–1889, was the first Anglo-American to explore the sites in that area. Wetherill knew and worked with Navajos and understood what the word meant. The name was further sanctioned in archaeology when it was adopted by Alfred V. Kidder, the acknowledged dean of Southwestern Archaeology. Kidder felt that it was less cumbersome than a more technical term he might have used. Subsequently some archaeologists who would try to change the term have worried that because the Pueblos speak different languages, there are different words for “ancestor,” and using one might be offensive to people speaking other languages.”
Many contemporary Pueblo peoples object to the use of the term Anasazi; controversy exists among them on a native alternative. Some modern descendants of this culture often choose to use the term “Ancestral Pueblo” peoples. Contemporary Hopi use the word Hisatsinom in preference to Anasazi.
Series notes:
- The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
- Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.
