From the Southwest Ceramic Typology Project: Obelisk Gray is distinguished from other early polished or "plain brown ware" types by the presence of added sand or sand temper rather than natural silt of volcanic inclusions characteristic of many other early plain ware types. This type is distinguished from Lino Gray and other early gray ware types by the presence of at least one polished surface that often is bumpy and unevenly polished and striations and streaks are common on the surface. Surfaces and paste color is highly variable ranging from light gray, dark gray, buff, brown, to orange in color. Pastes tend to be slightly more silty and friable than that noted in later plain gray ware types. In some cases, the variability in paste color and textures has resulted in assignments of some examples of this type to Obelisk Gray and other examples to Obelisk Brown. Such assignments may sometimes useful but may also obscure the transitional nature of this technology. Vessel forms tend to be small and thick relatively to size compared to similar forms noted in later gray ware types

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