The Distribution of Obsidian and Ceramics across T'aitöna Pueblo

Abstract

The thirteenth century saw a great migration of people into the Northern Rio Grande region. One of the small, dispersed unit pueblos in the area, T’aitöna, experienced an increase in population during this period. There are multiple lines of evidence, including ritual constructions, supporting the possibility that a new cultural group joined with the local group to build the pueblo’s multistory 10 room block village. There are also indications that the different cultural groups worked to create a coalescent society, including unique architectural features such as the center-post/basin room support developed at and used throughout T’aitöna Pueblo. This thesis reports on the spatial analyses conducted on obsidian and ceramic assemblages from the T’aitöna excavations. A 323-piece obsidian assemblage was mapped based on the geological source of each artifact that was obtained through X-ray Fluorescence. At T’aitöna Pueblo, obsidian sourced from El Rechuelos, Valles Grande, and Cerro Toledo in the Jemez Mountains, were distributed in roughly the same proportions for each room block. El Rechuelos was over 50% in each location, with Valles Grande as the second most abundant, and Cerro Toledo the third most represented. Spatial analyses of the distributions of Kwahe’e Black-on-white and Santa Fe Black-on-white ceramics indicate that both pottery types were used during the 70 years that the settlement was occupied. Both the obsidian and the pottery were found in the greatest concentrations in the midden. This may be a strong indication that all the rooms in the pueblo were being used for habitation or storage. The distribution trends found in each spatial analysis support the view that the multiple cultural groups living together at T’aitöna Pueblo were participating in creating a coalescent society.