A Technological Analysis of Daub from a Middle Mississippian Period Site in Bartow County, Georgia

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Daub is clay used in the construction of wattle-and-daub houses that acts both as insulation and protection from the weather. Less emphasized compared to other materials recovered in the archaeological record, daub played an important part in the waterproofing of dwellings in the Mississippian period. Being made of clay, daub is not preserved unless it was fired during some catastrophic event. But when it is preserved, what can daub tell us about how Mississippian houses were constructed? How much energy and effort were put into its production? Is daub differently sourced from clay used to manufacture pottery? Was any temper added to daub to prevent it from cracking and shrinking once applied to the walls of the house? These questions related to composition, among others, will be addressed when discussing our investigation into a burned house dating to the 13th century (Wilbanks Phase) located near the Etowah Indian Mounds in North Georgia. Our petrographic analysis of daub fragments from the Cummings Site will address questions around sourcing of the clay material as well as the preparation and application of it to the house. Comparisons to houses at Etowah and the Long Swamp Site will be included.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36796.0