Almost two thousand years ago, with the beginning of agriculture in North America, previously nomadic Indian peoples began to settle down. This allowed Indian peoples to develop hand built vessels or pottery for utilitarian purposes. Different pottery shapes were developed for various customs, ceremonies, and techniques, which included gathering water, storing grains and liquids, and preserving seeds that were collected for the next planting. There is also a rich cultural history of making pottery for utilitarian, ceremonial, and aesthetic purposes associated with the remote river valley on the plains of Northern Mexico where the village of Mata Ortiz is located.
The craft culminated in the development of cooking pots that were made to sit on rocks in open fires, water jars with indented bases so they could rest comfortably on the heads of water gatherers, and storage vessels for water and grains. Women were the gatherers, and men were the hunters; therefore, the women became the chief pottery makers. All around the United States, Indian villages became known for their variety of pot shapes and decorative styles. The early containers were unadorned except for the texture of the pot’s coils, pinches, or indents made from pointed sticks, and symmetry was not important.
Mata Ortiz Pottery is influenced by the master potter Juan Quezada, who was inspired by ancient pot shards from the ancient Casas Grandes potters that he discovered while hiking in the mountains surrounding the village of Mata Ortiz. Today, Quezada and other Mata Ortiz potters are leading a renaissance of the region's native art tradition. Their contemporary work parallels the art of indigenous potters to the north, the Hopi, Zuni, Acoma Indians, and others.
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