Ceramic Petrography of Woodland Period Swift Creek Complicated Stamped Pottery in Florida and the Lower Southeastern United States

Summary

Swift Creek Complicated Stamped pottery from the lower Southeastern U.S. is a premier material for the systematic study of Woodland period social interactions. Petrographic analysis of Swift Creek pottery was undertaken as part of a research program that 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. Over 200 samples have been thin sectioned from more than two dozen sites across Florida and Georgia, dating between AD 200 and 800. 91 clay samples from most of the sample regions were included for comparison. Petrographic analysis documented eight gross temper and/or constituent categories and eight matrix or petro-fabric groups (on the basis of presence/relative frequency of mica and siliceous microfossils). Most gross "temper" and petro-fabric categories are well represented in the sampled clays. The results indicate mostly local pottery manufacture within the northern regional site clusters, which encompass large ceremonial centers. Swift Creek pottery at the southern clusters contain an abundance of non local vessels, especially at burial mounds. Integrative results indicate that interactions were geographically extensive, but clearly most intensive along particular corridors.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21011