Ceramic Field Identification Manual Agua Fria National Monument Project

Roosevelt Red Ware

TYPES:
Gila Polychrome | Tonto Polychrome | Cliff Polychrome | Los Muertos Polychrome

BACKGROUND

PERIOD: Pueblo III, Pueblo IV, Hohokam Classic and Late Classic

DATES: A.D. 1200 to A.D. 1400+

CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: Salado

GEOGRAPHIC RANGE: East to west from the Agua Fria River to the Rio Grande and north to south from the Little Colorado River to Sonora and Chihuahua (Wood 1987).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Description of Roosevelt Red Ware

Construction: Variable; most vessels are formed by coiling and finished by scraping, while some appear to have been made using the paddle-and-anvil technique (Crown 1994:41).

Thinning: 89% thinned by scraping, 10% thinned using the paddle-and-anvil technique, and less than 1% thinned by pinching (Crown 1994: 41-42)

Finishing: Slipped, floated, polished, and paint (Crown 1994: 42; Wood 1987:43).

Firing: At temperatures below 900° in a neutral, or neutral-to-reducing atmosphere (Crown 1994:45).

Temper: Variable. May include sand, sherd, or sand-and-sherd combinations (Crown 1994:41).

Core Color: gray to black, tan to brick-red (Colton 1937:86)

Paste: Variable, ranging from buff, to tan, to brown (Crown 1994:45)

Core Texture: Medium to fine (Colton 1937:86)

Fracture: Slightly crumbling, friable (Colton 1937:86)

Surface Appearance: Generally slipped, polished, and painted. Vessels may be unslipped or unpolished. Slip may be red or white. Vessels are painted with black paint.

Surface Color:Red, white, black.

Firing Clouds: No information available.

Thickness: Bowl Walls: 3.9 to 7.1 mm (Colton 1937:87). Jar Walls: 4.0 to 7.4 mm (Colton 1937:87).

Weathering and Use Wear Patterns: No information available.

Vessel Forms: Incurved, outcurved, recurved, straight-walled, oval, semi-flaring incurved, and semi-flaring hemispherical bowls; jar forms range from small to large, and also include exotic shapes including, mugs, human and animal effigies, and football shapes (Crown 1994:46-47). Bowl forms are most common (Crown 1994:46).

Rims: No information available.

Paint Type: Mineral or organic paint is used, with organic paint more frequent (Crown 1994:44). When mineral is used it has a thin, dull, matte surface (Hays-Gilpin 2005).

Decoration: Solid or hatchured stripes, steps, keys, squares, triangles, scrolls, scrolls with scalloped or serrated edges (Colton 1937:87)

COMPARISON: White Mountain Redware. Roosevelt Red Ware is softer and fired at a lower temperature. White Moutnain Redware has denser paint often including a subglaze (Hays-Gilpin 2005).

REMARKS: According to Christian Downum there is no current evidence for an end date of production (Hays-Gilpin 2005).

Authored by: Diana Dunn, Leigh Anne Ellison, Matthew C. Guebard, Christopher E. Rayle