Turkey Hill Red is an Alameda Brown Ware type found around the San Francisco Mountains in northern Arizona.

Archaeological Culture:  Sinagua

Date Range: ca. A.D. 1150-1275.

Construction: By paddle and anvil.

Firing: In an oxidizing atmosphere.

Core Color: Black, gray, dark brown to brick red.

Temper: Abundant; predominantly opaque angular fragments of volcanic tuff, variable size, gray, white, or reddish; frequently some black volcanic sand; occasional isolated grain quartz sand.

Surface Finish: Exterior bowl and jar surfaces smoothed, compacted or coated with a thin slip, slip sometimes slightly powdery; usually well-polished, polishing marks often conspicuous; interior bowl surfaces frequently not smoothed; anvil marks conspicuous.

Surface Color: Exterior bowls and jars red, maroon, or brown; interior bowls black, red, brown; interior jars gray or brick-red; color core and surface do not contrast except when smudged or slipped.

Forms: Bowls, jars (predominate), usually smudged; often difficult to distinguish form from individual sherds.

Vessel Thickness: 3.9 to 13.8 mm; average 7.7 mm.

Decoration: None, except on the Turkey Hill White-on-red variant (see below).

Variants

• Turkey Hill Smudged – Differs from Turkey Hill Red only by having smudged interiors (bowls).
• Turkey Hill White-on-red – The same as Turkey Hill Red, except for the addition of white painted bands, crosses, and dots.

Comparisons: Verde Red temper is usually more abundant, mostly crystalline rock, coarse feldspar, quartz, anvil marks usually more conspicuous, and surfaces usually less well polished with temper often very conspicuous on worn surfaces. Tuzigoot Red temper is finer with smaller proportions of opaque angular fragments, texture core medium to fine, surfaces usually fairly well polished, not powdery, mica-like particles sometimes apparent in temper; vessel walls average somewhat thicker. When painted, Turkey Hill is similar to Sunset White-on-red, but differs in temper.

Other Names: Dark Red Ware, Undecorated Red Ware, Red Ware with Glossy Black interior, Flagstaff Ware, Gila Ware.

Compiled from the following sources:
Colton, Harold. (1958) Pottery Types of the Southwest. Museum of Northern Arizona Ceramic Series No. 3D. Flagstaff, Arizona.

Compiled by:
April Peters, Northern Arizona University Anthropology Laboratories.