Ceramic Distribution and Exchange: Jeddito Yellow Ware and Implications for Social Complexity

Abstract

The scale of late prehistoric sociopolitical complexity on the Colorado Plateau has been widely debated in the American Southwest. Proponents of an alliance model use Jeddito Yellow Ware, manufactured at Hopi Mesa villages, as one of four index wares. This distributional study of Jeddito Yellow Ware challenges aspects of the alliance model by using a data set that contains over 430 yellow ware sites throughout areas of NE Arizona. This pottery is found on the full range of site types and sizes, rather than simply at the large sites (i.e., >50 rooms) that the alliance model assumes. Within the core production area, Jeddito Yellow Ware is not characterized by restricted access to such pottery: most (89%) yellow ware sites have two rooms or less. We argue that the distribution of Jeddito Yellow Ware in our study area can be understood in the context of inter-community exchange and community based craft specialization, rather than through elite-controlled ceramic exchange networks.