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Third Thursday Food for Thought Program Presents “Scientific Evidence for Tonto Basin Salado Polychrome Pottery Production and Exchange”
October 19, 2023 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s Third Thursday Food for Thought program will feature “Scientific Evidence for Tonto Basin Salado Polychrome Pottery Production and Exchange” by Mary F. Ownby, PhD. This free Zoom online presentation, sponsored by Old Pueblo Archaeology Center, will be held on Thursday, October 19, 2023 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. (ARIZONA/Mountain Standard Time, same as Pacific Daylight Time).
The importance of Salado Polychrome pottery for understanding fourteenth-century population dynamics in the Southwest cannot be underestimated. This ware was clearly significant in the assimilation and adaptation of migrant groups into local populations in southern Arizona and New Mexico. Arizona’s Tonto Basin was an important area of Salado Polychrome production and exchange. Chemical (neutron activation analysis) and petrographic analyses of both decorated and utility ware vessels from six Tonto Basin sites illustrate the complexity of Salado Polychrome production and consumption. The results show there were multiple pottery production locations (though one is clearly dominant) and significant exchange among sites in the basin. The use of raw materials atypical of Hohokam ceramic traditions may indicate some Salado Polychrome was made by migrant potters. This study is an example of how Salado Polychrome pottery research continues to clarify how migrant groups settled into their new homes and utilized pottery as a form of cultural connection amongst themselves and their local friends.
To register for the Zoom webinar go to https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_i3aLfJ0wTr2i-89axO3QCQ. For more information contact Old Pueblo at info@oldpueblo.org or 520-798-1201.
Flyer: 20231019(v1)ThirdThursday_MaryOwnby_ TontoBasinSaladoPolychrome
Caption: Thin section petrographic image in cross-polarized light, and Cliff Polychrome (a Salado type) bowl, photos courtesy of Mary Ownby