Using Petrography to Fine-Tune Temper and Fabric Recognition of Indigenous Pottery in Florida

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas: Recent Research and Methodological Advances" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Petrographic studies of archaeological pottery from Florida have contributed to our understanding of the range of variability in pottery tempers (prominent aplastics that may have been intentionally added to clay in pottery-making) and fabrics (characteristics of clay resources themselves). From the many studies carried out in the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Ceramic Technology Lab over the years, we have identified/specified over 10 gross temper categories and seven petro-fabrics. Characteristics of each are illustrated here with clues for their recognition through standard and petrography microscopy. The time frame represented ranges from the Late Archaic to the early colonial period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Ceramic Petrographers in the Americas: Recent Research and Methodological Advances   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38196.0