Using Petrographic Analysis to Identify Pottery Production: Shoshone Pottery Making at the Ravens Nest (48SU3871) Southwestern Wyoming

Summary

Petrographic analysis has been commonly used to identify trade in ceramics and stone tools. At the Raven’s Nest site petrographic analysis was used to characterize the compositional variation in the ceramic assemblage recovered during excavation. The homogeneous nature of the ceramic pastes of the assemblage prompted additional petrographic study of local soils and geologic outcrops. Comparison of the local resources with the ceramics indicated the possibility for the local production of pottery at the site. A high concentration of kiln wasters and the recovery of a unique ceramic vessel support the identification of Ravens Nest as a location for the production of pottery by the Shoshone.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• People, Pottery, and Petrography: Recent research in ceramic petrography

Keywords

Spatial Coverage