New Mexico Geological Society Annual Spring Meeting — Abstracts

A petrographic analysis of Santa Fe black-on-white pottery sherds, corrugated pottery sherds, and local geologic materials at Tecolote Pueblo (LA 296) in northeastern New Mexico was conducted to determine provenience of manufacture of the pottery. This study focused on the temper portions of the sherds and the non-clay portions of the geologic formations, those fractions measuring > 0.10 mm in diameter. Temper minerals included quartz, plagioclase feldspar, potassium feldspar, biotite, muscovite, calcite, hornblende, epidote, and pyroxene. Temper material also included a variety of lithic fragments including granite, siltstone, aphyric basalt, and hornblende- and augite-porphyritic basalt. Distinguishing optical and crystallographic properties of minerals and lithic fragments were noted, such as grain size, grain shape, and twinning. Point count analysis was also conducted on each sample to calculate modal percentages of the geologic constituents within each sample group. Qualitative and quantitative analyses have revealed similar geologic materials within all three groups and similar ranges of amounts of each temper material within the pottery samples. The data indicate that the Santa Fe black-on-white and corrugated pottery sherds are distinguished only by temper size. The Santa Fe black-on-white pottery sherds have a smaller temper size (averaging 0.15 mm in diameter) than the corrugated sherds (ranging between 0.50 and 0.25 mm in diameter). Both pottery groups are constructed of material similar in composition to local geological sources suggesting that they both were locally produced. The data are still undergoing analyses for statistical significance. Completion of the study is anticipated by May 2003.