Raymond F. Robinson (1914-2016) was a geologist with a passion for archaeology. He worked in mining and exploration for ASARCO, Duval, Phelps Dodge, and other companies in Arizona and beyond. In the 1950s and 60s, Mr. Robinson excavated a number of adobe pueblo rooms in the Cork site, located a few miles north of Safford on a cotton farm, and at Elmer’s Farm nearby. Before his death at the age of 102, he turned over his collection to the Arizona State Museum (ASM). Researchers from ASM, Archaeology Southwest, and Northern Arizona University currently are exploring the collection to assess its considerable research value. Learn more...
- San Carlos Red-on-brown jar
This jar bears the color scheme and a painted decoration characteristic of Hohokam pottery found throughout southern Arizona, but clues indicating how it was made and the raw materials used to make it reveal that it was produced in the Safford Basin during the 1300s. - Black-on-white pitcher with a design characteristic of the Mogollon Rim region
This jar has a brown paste, indicating it probably was made locally in the Safford Basin, but its white slip, black paint, and broad-line design imitate Snowflake Black-on-white pottery from the Mogollon Rim region to the north. - Gila Polychrome Eccentric Jar
This jar is especially interesting, as both its shape and its painted decoration indicate a strong connection between its maker and the ancient people who inhabited the Kayenta area of northeastern Arizona. Archaeologists refer to this vessel form a “submarine pot” or a “football pot” and assume that such objects were used as canteens. Vessels of this shape were absent from central and southern Arizona before the depopulation of parts of northeastern Arizona by the people archaeologists refer to as the Kayenta culture. When Kayenta groups moved southward, they contributed much to the ceramic tradition associated with the Salado archaeological phenomenon. The northerners brought their native vessel shapes, vessel manufacturing techniques, and also painted design styles. The vessel in this photograph bears the characteristic “Kayenta bat-wing design” brought to southern Arizona by ancient immigrants. - Mogollon style corrugated jar
Brown jars with indented corrugated patterns like this are characteristic of the Mogollon culture area to the north and east of the Safford Basin. - Kayenta style gray corrugated jar
This jar resembles Puebloan cooking jars from the Kayenta region, but probably was made locally in the Safford Basin or nearby by immigrants from the north or their descendants. - Mogollon style corrugated smudged bowl
The very fine indentations and shiny black polished interior suggest this bowl was imported to the Safford Basin from the Mogollon region to the north and east. Smudging results from deliberately firing the pot with smoke-producing fuel such as pine needles in the interior of the vessel. Experimental evidence suggests that smudging might retard the growth of bacteria in vessels intended for serving food. - Mogollon style corrugated jar
Brown jars with indented corrugated patterns like this are characteristic of the Mogollon culture area to the north and east of the Safford Basin. - Pueblo style corrugated jar
The gray color of this cooking jar is a hallmark of gray utility ware pottery found on the Colorado Plateau in the Kayenta and Cibola regions. - Black-on-white pitcher with a design characteristic of the Mogollon Rim region
This jar has a brown paste, indicating it probably was made locally in the Safford Basin, but its white slip, black paint, and broad-line design imitate Snowflake Black-on-white pottery from the Mogollon Rim region to the north.