Kiet Siel Gray is a type of Tusayan Gray Ware found primarily in northeastern Arizona.

Archaeological Culture: Ancestral Puebloan, Kayenta

Date Range: Kayenta Heartland: A.D. 1220-1320 (Christenson 1994), Flagstaff Area: A.D. 1250-1290 (per Christian Downum, Northern Arizona University).

Construction: By coiling.

Firing: In a reducing atmosphere.

Core Color: Light gray to dark gray, sometimes black.

Carbon Streak: Fairly frequent.

Temper: Abundant opaque angular gray or tan fragments; conspicuous on both surfaces, but not as noticeable as other surface irregularities.

Surface Finish: Very rough; scraped, often with structural coils not completely obliterated; often bumpy; surfaces deeply pitted; scraping marks conspicuous; often very coarsely crazed.

Surface Color: Gray.

Forms: Jars.

Vessel Thickness: 5 to 8.7 mm; walls usually relatively thick.

Decoration: No painted decoration.

Comparisons: Lino Gray has considerably finer temper composed entirely of quartz sand, better-smoothed surfaces (not bumpy), completely obliterated coils, and walls that are considerably thinner. Kana’a Gray has considerably finer temper composed entirely of quartz sand, better-smoothed surfaces (not bumpy), and neck coils that are flattened but not obliterated. Coconino Gray, Honani Tooled, and O’Leary Tooled have tooling marks on neck exteriors, considerably finer temper composed entirely of quartz sand, better-smoothed scraped surfaces (not bumpy), completely obliterated coils on body and base sherds, and thinner vessel walls. Medicine Gray has unobliterated neck coils that are slightly finger-indented, finer temper composed entirely of quartz sand, completely obliterated coils on body and base sherds, better-smoothed scraped surfaces (not bumpy), and thinner vessel walls.

Compiled from the following sources:
Christenson, Andrew (1994) A Test of Mean Ceramic Dating Using Well-Dated Kayenta-Anasazi Sites. Kiva 59(3):297-317.

Colton, Harold S., and Lyndon L. Hargrave. (1937) Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Wares. Museum of Northern Arizona Bulletin 11, Flagstaff, Arizona.

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