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Determining Provenance of Shell-Tempered Pottery from the Central Plains Using Petrography and Oxidation Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Donna C. Roper
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Social Work, 204 Waters Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506 (droper@ksu.edu)
Richard L. Josephs
Affiliation:
Department of Geoscience, 121 Trowbridge Hall, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (richard-josephs@uiowa.edu)
Margaret E. Beck
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 114 Macbride Hall, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 (margaret-beck@uiowa.edu)

Abstract

Late prehistoric sites on the Central Plains contain both grit/grog- (mineral-) tempered pottery and shell-tempered pottery. This appearance of shell-tempered pottery around cal A.D. 1000 has traditionally been explained as a colonization from the Mississippi River valley with further dispersal via trade. As a result, very little is known about the role of this material in the region. We report the results of a provenance analysis of shell-tempered pottery from seven sites extending from the Missouri River valley to north-central Kansas. We use petrography and oxidation analysis to compare the shell-tempered pottery across these localities and the shell-tempered to the mineral-tempered pottery from each locality, and we compare mineral inclusions and clay characteristics in all pottery with published geological and pedological information for each locality. The results demonstrate that shell-tempered pottery was locally produced throughout at least a portion of the Central Plains. Differences in firing technology are apparent across the study area and may play a role in the distribution of shell-tempered pottery. Two other results are the identification of composite temper in a notable proportion of the sherds studied, and indications of from where on the landscape Central Plains potters were procuring their raw materials.

Resumen

Resumen

Sitos prehistóricos tardíos de los Llanos Centrales contienen cerámica templada por minerales ("grit/grog") y también cerámica templada con conchas de aqua dulce. La aparición de cerámica templada con conchas alrededor del año 1000 d.C. se ha explicado tradicionalmente en términos histórico-culturales. Por consiguiente, no se sabe mucho del papel de estos materiales en la región. Reportamos los resultados de un análisis de cerámica templada con conchas encontrada en siete sitios, desde el valle del Río Misuri hasta la región norcéntrica del estado de Kansas. Hacemos el análisis petrográfico y el de oxidación para comparar la cerámica templada con conchas con la templada por minerales en cada uno de los sitios, y comparamos las inclusiones minerales y las características de la arcilla de toda la cerámica con la información geológica y pedológica que se ha publicado para cada sitio. Los resultados demuestran que la cerámica templada con conchas se produjo localmente por lo menos en una parte de los Llanos Centrales. Se notan diferencias en la tecnología de cocer la cerámica a través del área estudiada y es posible que tengan un papel en la distribución de la cerámica templada con conchas otros dos resultados son la identificación del temple compuesto en una proporción significativa de los fragmentos estudiados, y también indicaciones de dónde en los Llanos Centrales los alfareros encontraron la materia prima para su trabajo.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2010

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