GRAY WARE PRODUCTION IN THE MESA VERDE REGION: AN ANALYSIS OF KILNS AND KILN DEBRIS

Abstract

Burned pit features have been identified as possible kilns on two sites in the Yellow Jacket Community in the central Mesa Verde region. Here, the features are determined to be gray ware kilns through a comparison to known kilns throughout the area and through an examination of pottery in associated deposits. Unlike most kilns confirmed to date in the Mesa Verde region, these structures were associated primarily with the production of corrugated gray ware vessels. The size of the kilns as well as the temper and technological style of the associated gray ware assemblages are used to evaluate the organization of gray ware production in the late Pueblo III period. It is determined that potters worked in small, household-sized groups but in areas spatially and visibly open to the entire community. While potters clearly acted with substantial autonomy, there is evidence to suggest that households on a single site may have shared learning networks and that the acquisition of non-local igneous tempers was organized above the household level.