Publication Date

Summer 7-28-2026

Abstract

This dissertation investigates changes in the gendered division of labor among potters in the Middle Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico (MRG) between A.D. 1100 and 1500. During this time, diverse groups coalesced into some of the largest communities seen in the region until the industrial era. New architectural, technological, religious, and trade practices emerged to help knit these communities together during a dynamic period of change. Pottery making practices changed alongside other developments transforming from manufacture for local consumption to surplus production for exchange. Previous research on gendered divisions of labor have largely portrayed gendered labor as static rather than as dynamic, adaptive processes where roles and boundaries are constantly being renegotiated within society. This research examined locally produced corrugated ceramic material from five sites in the MRG. Fingerprint impression found on locally produced corrugated wares are used as a proxy for sex and gender to further our understanding of how gendered divisions of labor shift over time in response to changing vi sociocultural practices like those seen in the MRG. An analysis of fingerprint data from two Coalition and three Classic Period sites found that as demand for ceramics increased, changes in the gendered division of labor were required to help meet new production needs, underscoring the reality that gendered labor in the Ancestral Puebloan world was a dynamic and adaptive practice.

Keywords

Gender, Labor, Southwest Archaeology, Ceramics

Document Type

Dissertation

Language

English

Degree Name

Anthropology

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

Anthropology

First Committee Member (Chair)

Hannah V. Mattson

Second Committee Member

Osbjorn Pearson

Third Committee Member

Kari Schleher

Fourth Committee Member

Samantha G. Fladd

Comments

Revision submitted 7/27/2026 incorporating formatting suggestions from Samantha Goodrich. 

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