The Rio Grande white wares comprise multiple pottery traditions of the prehistoric Puebloan peoples of New Mexico. About AD 750, the beginning of the Pueblo I Era, after adhering to a different and widespread regional ceramic tradition (the Cibola White Ware tradition) for generations, potters of the Rio Grande region of New Mexico began developing distinctly local varieties of black-on-white pottery. This pottery involved the use of black mineral paint (mostly before AD 1200) or black vegetal paint (mostly after AD 1200) on a white, off-white, or light gray background. The black-on-white tradition finally died out about AD 1750.
Archaeologists divide the Rio Grande white wares into arbitrary types with much shorter life spans, primarily to help them date sites. Individual potsherds are assigned to types based on a combination of attributes including paste, temper, slip, paint composition, and design styles.