Mogollon Bowl – ca. 1100-1200 A.D.
The rich red and black geometric design on this ceramic bowl is known as the Casas Grande style, a sophisticated art form attributed to the ancient Mogollon culture who lived in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern US. Casas Grandes was the largest and most advanced Mogollon settlement with a distinct cultural identity, which flourished between 1130 and 1450 AD. The Mogollon were a mountain people who lived in what is today northwestern Mexico and parts of the southwestern states of Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico. They lived in the rugged mountain and canyon country and were similar in many ways to the Pueblo cultures in the southwestern US, but they had a different cultural identity with unique architectural traditions, religion, and burial practices. The Mogollon also developed a distinct form of pottery with an easily recognizable style.
The Mogollon were renowned for their polychrome ceramics with geometric designs. One particular style, called Casas Grande style, was a specialized artform often using iconography of painted animals as well as human figures engaged in daily tasks, religious rituals, and social behaviors. This style of pottery has been found at Casas Grandes, the largest and most advanced Mogollon settlement which flourished between 1130 and 1450 AD.
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