Establishing Mississippian Potting Communities at the Wickliffe Mounds Site, Kentucky

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Scaling Potting Networks: Recent Contributions from Ceramic Petrography " session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Pottery vessels at the Wickliffe Mounds site, a Mississippian village located in Ballard County, Kentucky, can be used as a representative sample to examine the ceramic production techniques and choices used within the Ohio-Mississippi River confluence region. This paper uses both visual and quantitative (point-counting) ceramic petrography to understand steps in the *chaîne opératoire at Wickliffe establishing common practices and a localized method of production. Sixty sherds, of different vessel types, were analyzed visually using a polarized light microscope and quantitatively using a PETROG stepping stage and software. Utilizing a PCA constructed of the ceramic components, the paper identifies six fabric groups defined by different combinations of base clays and temper. The paper also infers technological choices taken by potters at Wickliffe Mounds, including paste preparation, formation methods, finishing and decorating methods, and firing conditions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Scaling Potting Networks: Recent Contributions from Ceramic Petrography   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32320