Much has been written about and much conjecture has taken place concerning Coronado’s path through Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona. I will now attempt to spell out my ideas on this route through several installments on this blog. Many scholars that have undertaken to trace Coronado’s route have the advantages of an understanding of medieval Spanish, or of the culture and ways of the people living in New Spain at that time. But I have the advantage of being able to read the works of many of these scholars and another advantage that most of them don’t have, something as difficult to acquire as a degree in cultural anthropology or medieval languages, I have an intimate understanding of the land. (more…)
The Chichilticalli Trail Part I – An Overview
Wednesday, June 24th, 2009The Enigma of Mata Ortiz
Thursday, November 17th, 2005First of all let me say that I have the utmost respect for Juan Quezada and the rest of my fellow traditional potters down in Mata Ortiz. What really baffles me is the sheer amount of public interest in their work as compared to that of the Pueblo Indians (more…)
POTTERY WITHOUT PUKIS?
Monday, December 13th, 2004It seems like all potters working in the traditions of the ancient Southwestern cultures employ pukis or something like them in their pottery making. Even the Mexicans of Mata Ortiz in their technologies which are seemingly unconnected to the ancient Indian potters use pukis.
(Puki, n : a shallow vessel used to shape a pottery vessel)
Yet a puki can be very limiting, you are limited to the size and shape of bowls you already have, and the number of pots made at one time is limited by the number of pukis available. Certainly the prehistoric potters of this area did not always use pukis, (more…)
BENTONITE?
Monday, November 22nd, 2004The hunt for the white Saladoan slip continues…
Last Saturday I hiked over 9 miles, a good deal of the way with a pack full of clay, to get what I suspect to be Bentonite clay from the Sacaton Wash area of the San Pedro Valley. I have used this clay before years ago, so I know what it’s like, but now I’m going to see how it performs with vegetal paint.
While I was out there, I climbed a small unnamed hill to look around and found a prehistoric shrine, (more…)
ONE STEP CLOSER TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY
Friday, November 19th, 2004My hunch was correct, the clay from Sacaton Wash does hold onto the vegetal paint to produce black designs from my Mesquite bean syrup. I presume that means it is Bentonite, although where that much volcanic ash would come from in this area is anybodys guess. Unfortunately the clay fires to a light yellow color, not even close to the right color for Salado Polychromes. (more…)
