Ceramic Petrography and Woodland Period Social Interactions in Florida and the Southeastern United States

Author(s): Neill Wallis; Ann Cordell; Thomas Pluckhahn

Year: 2015

Summary

Swift Creek Complicated Stamped pottery found throughout much of the lower Southeastern U.S. is arguably the premier material for the systematic study of Woodland interactions. The unique impressions of individual carved wooden paddles are often found on pottery at multiple sites, lending an unparalleled level of detail and spatial resolution to social connections. Furthermore, the distribution of vessels potentially reflects a broad range of interactive practices among a large proportion of past populations rather than only the occasional practices of a few individuals. Petrographic analysis of Swift Creek pottery has been undertaken as part of an ongoing research program that uses integrated materials analyses of pottery, including Neutron Activation Analysis, digital imaging of paddle stamp designs, technological analysis, and absolute dating, to identify patterns of social interaction. This paper focuses on petrographic data obtained thus far. Several hundred samples have been taken from more than two dozen sites distributed across Florida and Georgia and dating between AD 200 and 800. Preliminary integrative results indicate that interactions were geographically extensive, but clearly most intensive along particular corridors.

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Cite this Record

Ceramic Petrography and Woodland Period Social Interactions in Florida and the Southeastern United States. Ann Cordell, Neill Wallis, Thomas Pluckhahn. Presented at The 80th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Francisco, California. 2015 ( tDAR id: 397056)

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Keywords

General
ceramic petrograpy • Swift Creek Pottery • Woodland period

Geographic Keywords
North America - Southeast

Spatial Coverage

min long: -91.274; min lat: 24.847 ; max long: -72.642; max lat: 36.386 ;