Protohistoric Ancestral Apache Dismal River groups (A.D. 1600–1750)
participated in large exchange networks linking them to other peoples on the
Plains and U.S. Southwest. Ceramic vessels made from micaceous materials
appear at many Dismal River sites, and micaceous pottery recovered from the
Central High Plains is typically seen as evidence for interaction with
northern Rio Grande pueblos. However, few mineral or chemical
characterization analyses have been conducted on these ceramics, and the
term “micaceous” has been applied to a broad range of vessel types
regardless of the form, size, or amount of mica in their pastes. Our recent
analyses, including macroscopic evaluation combined with petrography and
neutron activation analyses (NAA), indicate that only a small subset of
Dismal River sherds are derived from New Mexico clays. The rest were likely
manufactured using materials from Colorado and Wyoming. Seasonal mobility
patterns may have given Dismal River potters the opportunity to collect mica
raw materials as they traveled between the Central Plains and Front Range,
and this has implications for the importance of internal Plains social
networks during the Protohistoric and Historic periods.