Pottery type
Pinto Polychrome Pottery
Pinto Polychrome1280 - 1330 A.D.Key facts
- Age
- 1280 - 1330 A.D.
- Material
- Brown to reddish-brown clay tempered with sand. Interiors and/or exteriors are red-slipped; design fields are white or cream slip with black organic paint. Firing is predominantly oxidizing but may show darkened cores.
Description
Earliest well-defined Salado polychrome type. Bowls are red-slipped with white or cream panels carrying black painted designs. Motifs often use opposed hatched and solid elements, triangles, scrolls, and panel layouts that anticipate later Gila and Tonto styles. Only bowl forms are recognized for this type; jars are not typical.
Size
Bowls usually 18–30 cm in rim diameter and 8–16 cm deep. Wall thickness is moderate, reflecting an early phase in the Roosevelt Red Ware technological sequence.
Distribution
Found along the Mogollon Rim, Tonto Basin, Sierra Ancha, Globe highlands, San Pedro Valley, Point of Pines, and Upper Gila area, with concentrations near Roosevelt Lake and central Arizona mountain regions.
Mainly found in
Additional information
Pinto Polychrome marks the beginning of the Roosevelt Red Ware tradition. Transitional variants like “Pinto–Gila” share features with Gila Polychrome but retain Pinto’s restriction to bowls and lack distinctive banding lines. Pinto is a key type for dating late 1200s sites associated with early Salado communities.