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Economic and social contexts of early ceramic vessel technology in the American Southeast
Abstract
Ceramic vessel technology was first developed or adopted in three separate areas of the American Southeast between 4500 and 3000 years ago. Temporal lags in the adoption of pottery in these areas are evident, while pottery was not widely used in the intervening areas of the Southeast for nearly 2000 years. I examine variables related to the production and exchange of alternative cooking technologies to interpret the variegated spatial and temporal patterns of early pottery use. I take as a case study the development and adoption of fiber-tempered pottery in the Savannah River Valley region. The antiquity of pottery in the region is unparalleled, but the rate of local acceptance was extremely slow. Prior to and during the time early pottery was available, an indirect-heat cooking technology involving soapstone was utilized in the central portion of the valley. I present evidence to support the argument that the social relations surrounding the production and distribution of soapstone had an inhibiting effect on the rates and pathways of pottery adoption in the region. Empirical support for this argument is drawn from technofunctional analyses of pottery and its nonceramic cooking alternatives, and from distributional analyses of soapstone and pottery. Evidence for the mechanical performance and use-wear of pottery is employed to identify functional attributes of pot design and use on over 1200 vessels from 30 assemblages. I compare these data with distributional patterns of soapstone to show that: (1) pots were rapidly developed for use over fire in areas outside the sphere of soapstone exchange, (2) pottery was not readily adopted by individuals directly involved in the production and exchange of soapstone, and (3) when finally adopted by individuals using soapstone, pots were used simply as containers for indirect-heat cooking. Results of the case study are applied to the greater Southeast, where I argue that the Poverty Point commerce in soapstone vessels was a primary deterrent to the widespread adoption of pottery. I offer an alternative model for the westward spread of pottery which emphasizes the role of social integration on the periphery of Poverty Point exchange.
Subject Area
Archaeology
Recommended Citation
Sassaman, Kenneth Edward, "Economic and social contexts of early ceramic vessel technology in the American Southeast" (1991). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9120933.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9120933