Salado Large Prehistoric Smudge Bowl Pottery

ca. 1200 AD

5.25" H x 8.875" D

Hand Coiled Redware Large Bowl from Arizona with a Burnt Blackened Inside and with Fire Clouds  

In Good Condition Broken and Glued and Missing Some Chips

Salado (or Roosevelt Red Ware Salado Polychrome) pottery from prehistoric Arizona (roughly AD 1250–1450, centered in the Tonto Basin but widespread) includes large bowls, some with smudged (blackened, often polished) interiors. The Salado tradition is associated with communities in central and southern Arizona (and into southwestern New Mexico and northern Mexico) that blended local Hohokam/Mogollon elements with influences from northern Ancestral Puebloan (Kayenta) migrants. Their hallmark decorated pottery—Pinto, Gila, and Tonto polychromes—features red, white, and black designs (often geometric, with “lifelines” near rims on bowls). These were widely traded and used in domestic, ceremonial, and burial contexts. Plain red utility wares were also common for everyday use.