It's Not in the Ceramics: 18th century Apalachee Cultural and Ethnic Identity

Summary

Archaeologists have always made use of ever-abundant ceramic materials as markers for cultural and ethnic identity of past peoples. This works distinctly on the assumption that these identities and their linked ceramic traditions are stable and unchanging; ceramics that do not fit into the expected pattern are often explained away as trade items or the arrival of new ethnic groups. This paper instead argues that ceramics reflect the sequence of ceramic manufacture generated by individual potters whose behaviors reinforce a community of practice, open to change over time through innovation and interaction. A series of detailed ceramic analysis methods were developed to interpret data from four related 17th and 18th century sites, tracking the diaspora and culture change of the Apalachee, a Native American group originally from Northern Florida. In the case of examining the ceramics of post-diaspora Apalachee, these assemblages allow an in-depth study of ceramic practice with the unique advantage of also having substantial historic documents identifying the potters’ ethnic identity. With this knowledge, this paper attempts to divorce the unchallenged connection between ceramics and ethnicity and instead encourage interpreting ceramics as a vehicle for culture change.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21689