May 14, 2026 Monthly Meeting
Indigenous Ceramics in Spanish Missions
Guest Speaker: Kelton Sheridan
Abstract: Ceramics are one of the most ubiquitous and enduring materials in the archaeological record. Yet their interpretive potential is often constrained by typological ambiguity and lack of standardized analysis. This talk presents findings from field- and collections-based analyses of bone-tempered pottery from Mission Espada and Rancho de las Cabras, two 18th century Spanish colonial sites in Central Texas. Bone tempered pottery appears across both precolonial and colonial contexts in the region. Through close analysis of ceramic production and use, Sheridan argues that the continued production of bone-tempered pottery reflects ways Indigenous communities navigated colonial encounters through everyday practices. This presentation highlights the role of ceramics in sustaining Indigenous lifeways under colonial conditions and outlines new directions for analyzing these ceramics.
Speaker Bio
Kelton Sheridan is a postdoctoral research fellow at Southern Methodist University in the Archaeology Research Collections and Anthropology Department. Sheridan completed her PhD in Anthropology and a portfolio in Native American and Indigenous Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2025. Her research centers on illuminating Indigenous histories in Texas using archaeological inquiry and community-based research and explores how ceramic analysis can trace long-term changes and continuities of Indigenous technological practices before and during colonialism. Sheridan is also a board member of Edwards Plateau Archaeological Research Group, a non-profit focused on education, preservation, and stewardship of Indigenous archaeological sites in Texas.