Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

The Classic Adaptation 211Table 6.9. Estimates of ceramic importsinto Chaco Canyon by period. aConservative MaximumEstimated EstimatedPeriod (A.D.) Percentages PercentagesPre-SOO 16.6 79.4SOO-920 2S.1 67.9920-1040 25.2 45.21040-1100 39.8 63.61100-1200 50.4 66.51200-1300 45.7 76.7a Taken from H.Toll and McKenna (1997:Tables 2.58and 2.59).timates indicate a dip in the Early Bonito phase, whichmight signify decreased interaction between Chacoansand their neighbors at this time.Within the entire Classic period, there are someinteresting shifts in source areas. Based on the assumptionthat chalcedonic cement sandstone representsinteraction and importation with southern groups, theoverall percentage for this temper type peaks betweenA.D. 800 and 920. The percentages for trachyte, indicativeof western ties, increase steadily through timeand peak between A.D. 1040 and 1100. San Juanigneous temper was never high; it decreased afterA.D. 920, reached a low of2.4 percent between A.D.1040 and 1100, increased slowly thereafter, andpeaked at 16.4 percent between AD. 1200 and 1300(H. Toll and McKenna 1997:Table 2.58). Other importedtemper types are low during the A.D. 800 to920 period, slowly increase between A.D. 1040 and1100, and show a greater increase thereafter. Basedon these trends, ties always connected the Chacoans topeople in many directions; these ties were neversevered, but closer reliance on different areas shiftedfrom the south to west, and later to the north.Other studies helped define the areas of ceramicproduction and level of craft specialization, but thereare many caveats that can be applied to differentexplanations for behavior that suggest craft special-ization (H. Toll 1985; H. Toll and McKenna1997: 164-211). The basic underlying assumption isthat the more standardization in the size of severalproduction variables, the more likely that craftspecialization existed. Also, different wares probablyhad different functions; therefore, each ware wasexamined separately to tease out the significance of thevariables analyzed. Because red wares and smudgedwares were few in number, H. Toll and McKenna(1997) focused on gray wares (thought to have beenused for storage and cooking) and white wares(thought to have been used for serving and specialpurposes).Because broad-based ceramic shifts affectinterpretations of specialization, H. Toll (1985:216-223; Toll and McKenna 1997:215) also took intoaccount six shifts: 1) The change from mineral tocarbon paint; 2) the change in vessel forms with smallorifices (e.g., Lino jars with necks and tecomates) towide-mouthed jars; 3) the appearance of the exteriormanipulation of gray ware neck coil width, whichtook place around A.D. 900 in Chaco; 4) an abandonmentof fugitive red treatment on vessel exteriors; 5)the adoption and rejection of vessel forms (e.g. gourdladles, pitchers, kiva jars, and mugs); and 6)decorative changes such as those seen between RedMesa to Gallup black-on-white designs. These nearlycontemporaneous changes throughout the Anasaziregion, especially those that occurred early, could bethe result of several organizational or functionalreasons. Functional reasons included a possible improvementin resistance to thermal shock by increasingthe texturing of gray ware vessels or the conservationof fuel by using organic paint that could be fired atlower temperatures. Organizational considerations includethe production by a limited number of pottersacross space who could quickly correlate improvementsand changes, decisions by authorities, or the useof style to indicate group membership that wouldfacilitate interaction among groups in an unpredictableenvironment (Gillespie 1985; Schelberg 1982a). Becauseof the extent of the changes and their timing, H.Toll suggested that social reasons were more likely.The level of specialization was difficult todetermine. H. Toll (1985; H. Toll and McKenna1997:206-207) found no evidence for the productionof specialized forms by producers attached to eliteleaders; the technology used to produce special forms