An Investigation of Diachronic Trends in El Paso Polychrome Painted Designs of the Jornada Mogollon

Abstract

For more than one hundred years, archaeologists in southern New Mexico and the neighboring west Texas and northern Chihuahua have studied the prehispanic lifeways of the Jornada Mogollon culture. Identifying when occupations at Jornada sites occurred largely relies on chronometric dates and on cross dating of previously defined local pottery types – El Paso Brown, El Paso Bichrome, and El Paso Polychrome. Through a study of approximately 130 painted Jornada Mogollon vessels, this paper improves site dating capabilities by describing temporally sensitive El Paso Polychrome subtypes. This study was possible thanks to advances in digital media, museum collections, and substantial volume of new archaeological data, all of which remained unavailable even two decades ago. It is our hope that the newly defined El Paso Polychrome subtypes offer more accurate dating of sites and also provide a brand-new perspective of understanding the variation in painted designs on El Paso Polychrome.