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Analysis of Slips and Other Inorganic Surface Materials on Woodland and Early Fort Ancient Ceramics, South-Central Ohio

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Spencer J. Cotkin ,
Christopher Carr ,
Mary Louise Cotkin ,
Alfred E. Dittert  and
Daniel T. Kremser
Spencer J. Cotkin
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
Christopher Carr
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Mary Louise Cotkin
Affiliation:
910 Hartwell Dr., #3, Savoy, IL 61874
Alfred E. Dittert
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287
Daniel T. Kremser
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Box 1169, One Brookings Drive, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899
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Abstract

Petrographic analyses were made of 386 utilitarian pottery vessels from 23 dated components of 18 Early Woodland through early Fort Ancient period sites (ca. 1150 B.C.–A.D. 1300) in south-central Ohio. The analyses reveal that a significant percentage ( 11.6 percent) of the 386 vessels bear uncolored (i.e., unpigmented) pottery slips and washes, that these surface materials were common (>56 percent) among the 23 sampled components, and that they were produced throughout most of the examined prehistoric sequence, including the earliest Early Woodland, when pottery making began in the Midwest. In contrast, a literature review indicates that uncolored slips and washes are unrecorded for utilitarian wares in the prehistoric Eastern Woodlands, that both colored and uncolored slips are unknown for any ceramics of the Early Woodland period, and that colored slips or washes in the pre-Mississippian Midwest have been observed in only low frequencies. Electron microprobe analysis of seven sherds show the compositional similarity of the clays of slips to the clays of their associated vessel bodies, indicating that the slips were made from the same raw clays as the bodies, but with no or little added rock temper and/or with the sieving of the slip clay. Contextual analyses give further insights, including the possible uses of slips and washes for decoration and to decrease vessel wall permeability. Calcite and apatite coatings on the vessel surfaces also were observed and are interpreted. Results indicate greater continuity between and Midwestern and Southeastern United States in ceramic technology than previously thought, and suggest a need for caution in electron microprobe and INAA chemical studies of Midwestern ceramics.

Résumé

Résumé

Se realizaron análisis petrográficos a 386 vasijas de cerámica utilitaria de 23 componentes provenientes de 18 sitios de la parte sur-central de Ohio, fechados desde la fase Woodland Temprano hasta la parte inicial del periodo Fort Ancient (ca. 1150 A.C B 1300 D.C.). El análisis revelo que un procentaje significativo (11.6%) de las 386 vasijas tienen engobes y recubrimientos sin coloratión (esto es, sin pigmento), que estas superficies fueron comunes (>56%) entre los 23 componentes muestreados, y quefueron producidas a lo largo de la mayor parte de la secuencia prehistórica examinada, incluyendo la más temprana que coresponde a Woodlands Temprano, cuando se inicia la manufactura de cerámica en la región del Mediooeste (Midwest) Norteamericano. En contraste, una revisión en la literatura indica que los engobes y recubrimientos sin coloratión no se registraron en las vajillas utilitarias de la prehistoria de la región Woodlands del Este, que las cerámicas del periodo Woodlands Temprano no presentan engobes con color o sin color, y que los engobes o recubrimientos con color en el periodo pre-Mississippi del Mediooeste se han observado solamente en frecuencias bajas. El resultado del análisis de microsondeo de electrones practicado a siete tiestos muestra una compositión similar entre las arcillas de los engobes y las arcillas de los cuerpos de las mismas vasijas, indicando que los engobes fueron hechos de las mismas arcillas que las arcillas usadas para fabricar los cuerpos de las vasijas, pero sin desgrasantes o con una pequeña cantidad de desgrasantes de roca y/o cirniendo las arcillas del engobe. Los análisis contextuales proporcionan datos adicionales, incluyendo los posibles usos de engobes y recubrimientos para decoratión y para reducir la permeabilidad de las paredes de la vasija. También fueron observados e interpretados los recubrimientos de calcita y apatita sobre las superficies de las vasijas. Los resultados indican una mayor continuidad en la tecnología cerámica del Mediooeste y el Sureste de los Estados Unidos de lo que anteriormente se había pensado, y sugiere la necesidad de tomar con cautela los análisis del microsondeo de electrones y los estudios químicos INAA de las cerámicas del Mediooeste.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 316 - 342
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1999

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