With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Barbara Mills will conduct an analysis of two Zuni pottery samples. One derives from complete vessels collected from living individuals in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The other comes from archaeological materials excavated from known Zuni sites which were occupied from the 15th to 17th centuries A.D. The goal of the study is to use the ethnographic samples as a control and on this basis, reconstruct both pottery making and social organization during the earlier period. Dr. Mills will focus on both shape and size of vessels as well as the raw materials from which they are constructed. In particular, she is concerned with degrees of standardization since this can be taken as an indirect measure of social organization. She will analyze raw material through use of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis, Inductively-Coupled Plasma Emission Spectroscopy and electron microprobe analysis. The degree of standardization in raw material preparation will be determined through visual imaging techniques. Careful ethnographic studies in the United States began in the late 1800's and much first hand data are available for groups like the Zuni from that period. However, it is uncertain how stable native American social organization is over time, given increasing influence of European contact. For anthropologists, this poses a major problem since 19th and 20th century models are usually (and with doubtful validity) extended back in time. Dr. Mills postulates that organization of ceramic manufacture reflects societal organization: especially degree of authority centralization. Through analysis of well controlled ethnographic and archaeological pottery samples, she will be able to examine social change through time. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of native American history and prehistory. It will also serve to develop techniques which will be of anthropological use in many parts of the world.
