Exploring the Ubiquitous through the Unusual: Color Symbolism in Pueblo Black-on-White Pottery

Abstract

One of the common design characteristics on black-on-white pottery from the eleventh and twelfth centuries in the northern American Southwest is the use of thin, parallel lines (hachure) to fill the interior of bands, triangles, or other forms. This essay explores a proposal offered by Jerry Brody that hachure was a symbol for the color blue-green. Brody's proposal is examined by exploring colors and color patterns used to decorate nonceramic material from the Chaco Canyon region of northwestern New Mexico. His proposal is supported and the implications of this conclusion for Chaco Canyon and for future studies of this nature are discussed.