Rethinking Ceramic Attribute Technology during the Late Woodland Period in Southwest Ohio

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The focus of this research is the variability of ceramics from Late Woodland (A.D. 400-1000) sites in the Little Miami River Valley in Hamilton County, Ohio. Few Late Woodland features have been recovered and little is known about the ceramic technology in southwest Ohio, but these artifacts still play a major role in understanding prehistoric societies. The Hahn’s Field (33Ha10) and Firehouse (33Ha419) sites were selected to show how changes in ceramic technology affected vessel attributes. Variability in temper, exterior-surface, interior-surface, weight, maximum thickness, burn patterns and thermal features were examined to determine differences between sites. Radiocarbon dating provided a Late Woodland context to the features and ceramic attributes, and x-ray diffraction analysis provided a bases to develop inferences about resource selection through key mineral identifications.

Considerable differences between Hahn’s Field and Firehouse ceramic technology were determined in this study. Specifically, variability in temper, exterior-surfaces, burning, and thermal features of sherds indicates that change in ceramic attributes occurred on a shorter timescale than previous models suggest. Combining ceramic analyses with dating results revealed that Hahn’s Field and Firehouse were contemporaneous (A.D. 392-564). Finally, mineral identifications supported the inference that local resources were used to produce these ceramics.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25935