Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T11:28:07.266Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Analysis of Slips and Other Inorganic Surface Materials on Woodland and Early Fort Ancient Ceramics, South-Central Ohio

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Spencer J. Cotkin ,
Christopher Carr ,
Mary Louise Cotkin ,
Alfred E. Dittert  and
Daniel T. Kremser
Spencer J. Cotkin
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
Christopher Carr
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Mary Louise Cotkin
Affiliation:
910 Hartwell Dr., #3, Savoy, IL 61874
Alfred E. Dittert
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Daniel T. Kremser
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Box 1169, One Brookings Drive, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Petrographic analyses were made of 386 utilitarian pottery vessels from 23 dated components of 18 Early Woodland through early Fort Ancient period sites (ca. 1150 B.C.–A.D. 1300) in south-central Ohio. The analyses reveal that a significant percentage ( 11.6 percent) of the 386 vessels bear uncolored (i.e., unpigmented) pottery slips and washes, that these surface materials were common (>56 percent) among the 23 sampled components, and that they were produced throughout most of the examined prehistoric sequence, including the earliest Early Woodland, when pottery making began in the Midwest. In contrast, a literature review indicates that uncolored slips and washes are unrecorded for utilitarian wares in the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands, that both colored and uncolored slips are unknown for any ceramics of the Early Woodland period, and that colored slips or washes in the pre-Mississippian Midwest have been observed in only low frequencies. Electron microprobe analysis of seven sherds show the compositional similarity of the clays of slips to the clays of their associated vessel bodies, indicating that the slips were made from the same raw clays as the bodies, but with no or little added rock temper and/or with the sieving of the slip clay. Contextual analyses give further insights, including the possible uses of slips and washes for decoration and to decrease vessel wall permeability. Calcite and apatite coatings on the vessel surfaces also were observed and are interpreted. Results indicate greater continuity between and Midwestern and Southeastern United States in ceramic technology than previously thought, and suggest a need for caution in electron microprobe and INAA chemical studies of Midwestern ceramics.

Résumé

Résumé

Se realizaron análisis petrográficos a 386 vasijas de cerámica utilitaria de 23 componentes provenientes de 18 sitios de la parte sur-central de Ohio, fechados desde la fase Woodland Temprano hasta la parte inicial del periodo Fort Ancient (ca. 1150 A.C B 1300 D.C.). El análisis revelo que un procentaje significativo (11.6%) de las 386 vasijas tienen engobes y recubrimientos sin coloratión (esto es, sin pigmento), que estas superficies fueron comunes (>56%) entre los 23 componentes muestreados, y quefueron producidas a lo largo de la mayor parte de la secuencia prehistórica examinada, incluyendo la más temprana que coresponde a Woodlands Temprano, cuando se inicia la manufactura de cerámica en la región del Mediooeste (Midwest) Norteamericano. En contraste, una revisión en la literatura indica que los engobes y recubrimientos sin coloratión no se registraron en las vajillas utilitarias de la prehistoria de la región Woodlands del Este, que las cerámicas del periodo Woodlands Temprano no presentan engobes con color o sin color, y que los engobes o recubrimientos con color en el periodo pre-Mississippi del Mediooeste se han observado solamente en frecuencias bajas. El resultado del análisis de microsondeo de electrones practicado a siete tiestos muestra una compositión similar entre las arcillas de los engobes y las arcillas de los cuerpos de las mismas vasijas, indicando que los engobes fueron hechos de las mismas arcillas que las arcillas usadas para fabricar los cuerpos de las vasijas, pero sin desgrasantes o con una pequeña cantidad de desgrasantes de roca y/o cirniendo las arcillas del engobe. Los análisis contextuales proporcionan datos adicionales, incluyendo los posibles usos de engobes y recubrimientos para decoratión y para reducir la permeabilidad de las paredes de la vasija. También fueron observados e interpretados los recubrimientos de calcita y apatita sobre las superficies de las vasijas. Los resultados indican una mayor continuidad en la tecnología cerámica del Mediooeste y el Sureste de los Estados Unidos de lo que anteriormente se había pensado, y sugiere la necesidad de tomar con cautela los análisis del microsondeo de electrones y los estudios químicos INAA de las cerámicas del Mediooeste.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 316 - 342
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Albee, A.L., and Ray, L. 1970 Correction Factors for Electron Probe Microanalysis of Silicates, Oxides, Carbonates, Phosphates, and Sulfates. Analytical Chemistry 42: 1408–1414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Society for Testing Materials 1955 ASTM Standards, Part 3: Cement, Concrete, Ceramics, Thermal Insulation, Road Materials, Waterproofing, Soils. ASTM, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Arnold, D.E. 1985 CeramicTheory andCulturalProcess. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Barkes, B. M. 1981 An Analysis of Late Woodland Ceramics from the Decco (33 DL28), Ufferman (33DL12), and W.S. Cole (33DL11) Sites: The Cole Complex Reconsidered. Manuscript on file, Archaeological Collections, Ohio Historical Center, Columbus.Google Scholar
Belmont, J. S., and Williams, S. 1981 Painted Pottery Horizons in the Southern Mississippi Valley. Geoscience and Man 22: 19–42.Google Scholar
Bence, A.E., and Albee, A. L. 1968 Empirical Correction Factors for the Electron Microanalysis of Silicates and Oxides. Journal of Geology 76: 383–403.Google Scholar
Boggs, S. 1987 Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Merrill Publishing, Columbus, Ohio.Google Scholar
Bonn, H.L., McNeal, B. L., and O'Connor, G. A. 1985 Soil Chemistry. 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Braun, D. P. 1983 Pots as Tools. In Archaeological Hammers and Theories, edited by Moore, J.A. and Keene, A.S., pp. 107–134. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Burton, J. H., and Simon, A. W 1993 Acid Extraction as a Simple and Inexpensive Method for Compositional Characterization of Archaeological Ceramics. American Antiquity 58: 60–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, C. 1982 Soil Resistivity Surveying. Center for American Archaeology, Evanston, Illinois.Google Scholar
Carr, C. 1985 Radiographic Analysis of Ceramic Technological Variation for the Absolute Dating of Archaeological Assemblages. Proposal BSN-8604544, Anthropology Program, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Carr, C. 1990 Advances in Ceramic Radiography and Analysis: Applications and Potentials. Journal of Archaeological Science 17: 13–34.Google Scholar
Carr, C. 1992 Modeling the Evolution of Alliance Strategies as Systems Regulators in Egalitarian Societies. In Grants Completed: Biennial Report of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. Wenner-Gren Foundation, New York.Google Scholar
Carr, C. 1993 Identifying Individual Vessels with X-radiography. American Antiquity 58: 96–117.Google Scholar
Carr, C, and Haas, H. 1996 Ohio Woodland AMS and Beta-Count Radiocarbon Dates. West Virginia Archaeologist 48(1 & 2): 19–53.Google Scholar
Carr, C, and Komorowski, J-C 1995 Identifying the Mineralogy of Rock Temper in Ceramics Using X-Radiography. American Antiquity 60: 723–750.Google Scholar
Carr, C, and Riddick, E. B. 1990 Advances in Ceramic Radiography and Analysis: Laboratory Techniques. Journal of Archaeological Science 17(l): 35–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carskadden, J. 1999 Fort Ancient in the Central Muskingham Valley of East era Ohio: A View from the Philo II Site. In Cultures before Contact: A Conference on the Late Prehistory of the Ohio Region, edited by Genheimer, R.. Ohio Archaeological Council, Columbus.Google Scholar
Cordell, A. S. 1984 Ceramic Technology at a Weeden Island Period Archaeological Site in North Florida. Ceramic Notes 2; Occasional Publications of the Ceramic Technology Laboratory. Florida State Museum, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Cowan, C. W. 1986 Fort Ancient Chronology and Settlement Evaluation in the Great Miami Valley, Volume II: Excavations and Chronology. Manuscript on file, Ohio Historic Preservation Office (Columbus) and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.Google Scholar
Church, F. 1987 An Inquiry into the Transition from Late Woodland to Late Prehistoric Cultures in the Central Scioto Valley, Ohio, Circa A.D. 500-1250. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Ohio State University, Columbus.Google Scholar
Cole, F.-C, and Deuel, T. 1937 Rediscovering Illinois. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Cotkin, M. L., Carr, C., and Cotkin, S. J. 1989 Petrographic Investigation of Woodland-Age Ceramic Vessels in Ohio. Abstracts with Programs 21: A234. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Cox, K.G., Bell, J. D., and Pankhurst, R. J. 1979 The Interpretation of Igneous Rocks. George Allen & Unwin, London.Google Scholar
Dittert, A. E. Jr. 1987 Analysis of Selected Ceramics from the San Xavier Archaeological Project. In The San Xavier Archaeological Project, Appendix A., Ceramics, by Slawson, L.V., Wallace, H.D., and Dittert, A.E., pp. 187–228. Southwest Cultural Series 1 (4). Cultural and Environmental Systems, Tucson.Google Scholar
Dittert, A. E. Jr. 1991 Intrusive Ceramic Sherds from Star Valley. In The Archaeology of Star Valley, Arizona: Variation in Small Communities, edited by Lindauer, O., Bradley, R.J., and Redman, C.L., pp. 611–627. Anthropological Field Studies 24. Department of Anthropology, Office of Cultural Resource Management, Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Dittert, A. E. Jr., and Plog, F. 1980 Generations in Clay: Pueblo Pottery of the American Southwest. Northland Press, Flagstaff.Google Scholar
Duma, G. 1972 Phosphate Content of Ancient Pots as Indication of Use. Current Anthropology 13: 127–130.Google Scholar
Elam, M., Carr, C., Glascock, M. D., and Neff, H. 1992 Ultrasonic Disaggregation and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis of Textural Fractions of Tucson Basin and Ohio Valley Pottery. In Chemical Characterization of Ceramic Pastes, edited by Neff, H., pp. 93–111. Prehistory Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Essenpreis, P. 1982 The Anderson Village Site: Redefining the Anderson Phase of the Fort Ancient Tradition of the Middle Ohio Valley. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Famsworth, K. B., and Emerson, T. E. (editors) 1986 Early Woodland Archaeology. Center for American Archaeology, Kampsville, Illinois.Google Scholar
Ferring, C. 1985 Petrographic Analysis of Archaeological Ceramics: Implications for Provenance of Late Prehistoric Sherds from the Southern Plains. Abstracts with Programs 17: 581. Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Ferring, C, and Perttula, T. K. 1987 Defining the Provenance of Red Slipped Pottery from Texas and Oklahoma by Petrographic Methods. Journal of Archaeological Science 14: 437–156.Google Scholar
Fontana, B. L., Robinson, W. J., Cormack, C. W., and LeavittJr., E. E. 1962 Papago Indian Pottery. University of Washington Press, Seattle.Google Scholar
Ford, J. A., and Quimby, G. I. 1945 The Tchefuncte Culture, An Early Occupation of the Lower Mississippi Valley. Memoir 2. Society for American Archaeology, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Franklin, U. M., and Vitale, V. 1985 The Environmental Stability of Ancient Ceramics. Archaeometry 27: 3–15.Google Scholar
Freestone, I.C. 1982 Application and Potential of Electron Probe Microanalysis in Technological and Provenance Investigations of Ancient Ceramics. Archaeometry 24: 99–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freestone, I.C, Meeks, N. D., and Middleton, A. P. 1985 Retention of Phosphate in Buried Ceramics: An Electron Microbeam Approach. Archaeometry 27: 161–177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gartley, R., Carskadden, J., and Morton, J. 1975 Painted Pottery in Fort Ancient. Ohio Archaeologist 25(3): 15–17. 46(1-2): 55-75.Google Scholar
Graybill, J. R. 1981 The Eastern Periphery of Fort Ancient (A.D. 1050-1650): A Diachronic Approach To Settlement Variability. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle.Google Scholar
Greber, N., and Ruhl, K.C. 1989 The Hopewell Site. Westview Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1943 The Fort Ancient Aspect. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1950-1958 Prehistoric Pottery of the Eastern United States. Unpublished ceramic type book on file, Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1952 Some Early and Middle Woodland Types in Illinois. In Hopewellian Communities in Illinois, edited by Deuel, T., pp. 94–129. Scientific Papers 5(3). Illinois State Museum.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1967 Eastern North American Archaeology: A Summary. Science 156(3772): 175–191.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. W 1951 Excavations at the Site of San Luis. In Here They Once Stood: The Tragic End of the Apalachee Missions, by Boyd, M.F., Smith, H.G., and Griffin, J. W., pp. 139–160.Google Scholar
Hally, D. J. 1983 Use Alteration of Pottery Vessel Surfaces: An Important Source of Evidence for the Identification of Vessel Function. North American Archaeologist 4: 3–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hanson, L. H. Jr. 1966 The Hardin Village Site. Studies in Anthropology 4. University of Kentucky Press, Lexington.Google Scholar
Hedges, K., and Dittert, A. E. 1984 Heritage in Clay: The 1912 Pueblo Pottery Collection of Wesley Bradfield and Thomas S. Dozier. Paper 17. San Diego Museum of Man.Google Scholar
Heilman, J. M., and Schwab, A. 1980 Fort Ancient in Southwestern Ohio. Manuscript on file, Dayton Museum of Natural History, Dayton, Ohio.Google Scholar
Hoffman, M. P. 1960 The Hiser Site. In Indian Mounds and Villages in Illinois, edited by Blume, E. A., pp. 25–30. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Holstein, H. O. 1973 Replication of Late Woodland Ceramics from Western Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 43(3-4): 75—87.Google Scholar
Hooten, E. A. 1920 Indian Village Site and Cemetery Near Madisonville, Ohio. Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Kamilli, D.C., and Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C. 1979 Petrographic and Electron Microprobe Analysis from Tepe Yahya, Iran. Archaeometry 21: 47–59.Google Scholar
Kellar, J. H. 1979 The Mann Site and “Hopewell” in the Lower Wabash- Ohio Valley. hiHopewell Archaeology: The Chillicothe Conference, edited by Brose, D. and Greber, N., pp. 100–107. Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio.Google Scholar
McGregor, J.C. 1958 The Pool and Irving Villages: A Study of Hopewell Occupation in the Illinois River Valley. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Marwitt, J. P., Davis, B., Batug, S., Albaneso, V., Yocum, T., 1984 Test Excavations atthe Island Creek Village Site. Unpublished report to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington, West Virginia. Contract DACW-69-82-C-0007.Google Scholar
Milanich, J. T. 1994 Archaeology of Precolumbian Florida. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Milanich, J. T, Cordell, A. S., Knight, V. J. Jr., Kohler, T. A., 1984 McKeithen Weeden Island. Academic Press, Orlando.Google Scholar
Mills, W C. 1906 Explorations of the Baum Prehistoric Village Site. Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society Publications 15: 45–136.Google Scholar
Mills, W C. 1917 The Feurt Mounds and Village Site. Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly 26: 305–149.Google Scholar
Mommsen, H., Kreuser, A., and Weber, J. 1988 A Method for Grouping Pottery by Chemical Composition. Archaeometry 30: 47–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, J. 1984 Toward a Late Woodland Taxonomy for the Central Muskingham Valley. Ohio Archaeologist 34(1): 41–47.Google Scholar
Murphy, J. L. 1975 An Archaeological History of the Hocking Valley. Ohio University Press, Athens.Google Scholar
Oehler, C. 1973 Turpin Indians. Popular Publication Series 1. Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, Ohio.Google Scholar
O'Malley, N. 1981 A Petrographic Analysis of Late Woodland Ceramics from the Sperry Site, Jackson County, Missouri. Plains Anthropologist 26: 240–249.Google Scholar
Petersen, J. B., and Hamilton, N. D. 1984 Early Woodland Ceramic and Perishable Fiber Industries from the Northeast: A Summary and Interpretation. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 53(14): 413—445. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh.Google Scholar
Petersen, J. B., and Sanger, D. 1991 An Aboriginal Ceramic Sequence for Maine and the Maritime Provinces. In Prehistoric Archaeology in the Maritime Provinces, edited by Deal, M. and Blair, S., pp. 121–178. Reports in Archaeology 8. Archaeological Services, Provincial Department of Municipalities, Culture and Housing, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.Google Scholar
Phillips, P. 1970 Archaeological Survey in the Lower Yazoo Basin, Mississippi, 1949-1955. Papers 60, Part One. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Prufer, O. 1965 The McGraw Site: A Study in Hopewellian Dynamics. Scientific Publications 4(1). Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Ohio.Google Scholar
Prufer, O., and Shane, O. C. II 1970 Blain Village and the Fort AncientTradition in Ohio. Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio.Google Scholar
Rice, P. M. 1987 Pottery Analysis. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Rye, O. S. 1981 Pottery Technology. Taraxacum, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1990 The Influence of Surface Treatment on Heating Effectiveness of Ceramic Vessels. Journal of Archaeological Science 17: 373–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiffer, M. B., Skibo, J. M., Boelke, T. C., Neupert, M. A., 1994 New Perspectives on Experimental Archaeology: Surface Treatments and Thermal Response of the Clay Cooking Pot. American Antiquity 59: 197–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sears, W H. 1948 Excavations at Kolomoki, Season 1-1948. Series in Anthropology 2. University of Georgia Press, Athens.Google Scholar
Sears, W H. 1956 Excavations at Kolomoki: Final Report. Series in Anthropology 5. University of Georgia Press, Athens.Google Scholar
Seeman, M. F. 1980 A Taxonomic Review of Southern Ohio Late Woodland. Manuscript on file, Department of Anthropology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.Google Scholar
Semenov, S. A. 1964 Prehistoric Technology: An Experimental Study of the Oldest Tools and Artifacts from Traces of Manufacture and Wear. Cory, Adams, and MacKay, London.Google Scholar
Shepard, A. O. 1976 Ceramicsfor the Archaeologist. Publication 609,9th edition. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar
Skinner, S. M., Norris, R., Wymer, D. A., Cowan, C. W., 1981 Results of a Data Recovery Program for Portions of the Howard Baum Site (33-RO-270), Ross County, Ohio. Unpublished report submitted to Barrett, Cargo, and Withers, Chillicothe, Ohio.Google Scholar
Smith, H. G. 1951 Leon-Jefferson Ceramic Types. In Here They Once Stood: The Tragic End of the Apalachee Missions, by Boyd, M.F., Smith, H.G., and Griffin, J. W., pp. 163–174. University of Florida Press, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Stoltman, J. B. 1989 A Quantitative Approach to the Petrographic Analysis of Ceramic Thin Sections. American Antiquity 54: 147–160.Google Scholar
Stoltman, J. B. 1991 Ceramic Petrography as a Technique for Documenting Cultural Interaction: An Example from the Upper Mississippi Valley. American Antiquity 56: 103–120.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reamer, P. 1993 Extended C-14 Data Base and Revised Calib 3.0 C-14 Age Calibration Program. Radiocarbon 35: 215–230.Google Scholar
Tankersley, K., and Meinhart, J. 1982 Physical and Structural Properties of Ceramic Materials Utilized by a Fort Ancient Group. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 7(2): 225–243.Google Scholar
Thorne, R. M., and Broyles, B. J. (editors) 1968 Handbook of Pottery Types Found in Mississippi. Southeastern Archaeological Conference Bulletin 7 and Mississippi Archaeological Association Bulletin 2. Google Scholar
Toth, A. 1977 Early Marksville Phases in the Lower Mississippi Val ley: A Study of Culture Contact and Dynamics. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University.Google Scholar
Turnbow, C, and Henderson, G. 1986 Notes on Fort Ancient Ceramic Phases in Northeastern Kentucky. Paper presented at the Fort Ancient Weekend Conference, Adams County, Ohio.Google Scholar
Turnbow, C, and Henderson, G. 1992 Ceramic Analysis. In Fort Ancient Cultural Dynamics in the Middle Ohio Valley, edited by A. Gwynn Henderson, pp. 113–294. Prehistory Press, Madison.Google Scholar
Turnbow, C. A., and Sharp, W. E. 1988 Muir: An Early Fort Ancient Site in the Inner Bluegrass. Archeological Report 165. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort.Google Scholar
Vernon, R., and Cordell, A. S. 1993 A Distributional and Technological Study of Apalachee Colono-Ware from San Luis de Talimali. In The Spanish Missions of La Florida, edited by McEwan, B. G., pp. 418–441.Google Scholar
Walthall, J. A. 1980 Prehistoric Indians of the Southeast. University of Alabama Press, University, Alabama.Google Scholar
Willey, G. R. 1949 Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 113. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Google Scholar