Early pottery and the quest for fat in Northeastern North America

Summary

Accumulating evidence point toward hunter-gatherer communities as the first inventors of ceramic containers in many parts of the world, but the incentives behind this technological innovation remain elusive. In this presentation, archaeological information and biomolecular data from organic residues analyses are combined to support a scenario in which pre-agricultural communities in Northeastern North America used early pottery as a fat rendering device, whether the fat came from fish oil or bone grease. Rather than a sine qua non for extracting nutrients from specific resources, however, the invention of pottery is best understood as part of broader developments featuring seasonal gatherings and a new articulation of social relations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Toward a Social Archaeology of Food in Northern North America

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14828