page_title: Pueblo III Period
section_title: Pottery
hierarchical_section_title: Pueblo III Period / Pottery
context_page_description: The Pueblo III Period was the third period, also called the "Great Pueblo period" when Ancestral Puebloans lived in large cliff-dwelling, multi-storied pueblo, or cliff-side talus house communities. By the end of the period, the ancient people of the Four Corners region migrated south into larger, centralized pueblos in central and southern Arizona and New Mexico.
  The Pueblo III Period is roughly the same as the "Great Pueblo Period" and "Classic Pueblo Period".
context_section_description: Corrugated gray ware and decorated black-on-white pottery were prevalent in the beginning of the Period.  Gray pottery vessels were used for cooking and storage.  Designs, primarily geometric designs and symbols of people, animals and birds, were painted on the exterior of black-on-white pottery and the interior of bowls.  The pottery made included cooking vessels, jars, mugs, bowls, pitchers, and ladles. Pottery making became an art form for individuals who specialized in distinctive styles made for trade.  Polychrome (multiple colored) pottery painted in white, orange, red and black was made at the end of the Pueblo III period.
  Due to the considerable refinements during this period, pottery from Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon are considered "some of the world's finest ceramic art, ancient or modern."
caption: Chalcedony Knife (AD 1000–1200) from Chaco Culture National Historical Park
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