The Evolution of Anasazi Ceramic Production and Distribution: Compositional Evidence from a Pueblo III Site in South-Central Utah

We start from the premise that ceramic evolution created the paste-compositional and formal diversity of archaeological ceramic assemblages. After discussing alternative models of formal and compositional diversity in ceramic assemblages, we examine an assemblage from an Anasazi site in southern Utah from which 206 sherds were characterized by neutron activation analysis. The assemblage is remarkably diverse compositionally, which indicates that vessels from a number of sources were used at the site. Equally interesting, similar vessels (belonging to a single “ware” category) occur in a number of distinct compositions, which indicates that they were made in multiple locations. We argue that the selective regime under which such an assemblage would accumulate is distinct from the selective regime under which assemblages with a strong association of form and composition would accumulate.