Olla

The Ancestral Sonoran Desert People used large jars, called ollas (Spanish for jar), to store water and dried foodstuff.This large jar was discovered in 1906, and was left in situ because archeologists were afraid they would damage it by removing it. The olla was successfully excavated sometime between 1927 and 1938, when it is first documented in museum collections.

It is rare to find a complete example of an olla this size in the archeological record. Without the assistance of a potter’s wheel, this olla was made entirely by hand. The red color comes from the mineral content of the clay and the black marks near the top are the result of the firing process.