Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T06:29:34.743Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Clay Acquisition and Vessel Distribution Patterns: Neutron Activation Analysis of Late Windsor and Shantok Tradition Ceramics from Southern New England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jonathan M. Lizee
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, U-176, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
Hector Neff
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, U-176, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269
Michael D. Glascock
Affiliation:
Research Reactor Center, Research Park, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211

Abstract

In southern New England, typological distinctions between Niantic, Hackney Pond, and Shantok ceramics have been used to describe changing settlement patterns for the Late Woodland (500- 350 Years B.P.) and contact (post-A.D. 1600) periods. Based on the initial typologies developed by Rouse (1947) the Shantok ceramic tradition was also considered an ethnic marker of the Mohegan and Pequot tribes based on material recovered from Fort Shantok. Reexamination of stylistic data have suggested that levels of stylistic similarity between late ceramic types actually limit their use as ethnic markers in reconstructing contact period settlement patterns (Lizee 1994; McBride 1990). In this study, neutron activation analysis is employed to determine if compositional profiles correspond with identified stylistic types. The distribution of compositional groups within the region proves to be useful in describing changes in settlement during the Late Woodland and contact periods for southeastern Connecticut. Results of this study suggest that cultural factors underlying the evolution of the historic Pequot and Mohegan tribes, and locations of focal village sites, also had an impact on access to clay resource zones at the time of European contact.

Resumen

Resumen

En el sur de Nueva Inglaterra, las distinciones tipológicas entre la cerámica Niantic, Hackney Pond, y Shantok han sido utilizadas para describir cambios en patrones de asentamiento para los períodos Woodland Tardío (500— 350 años A.P.) y contacto (pos-1600 D.C.). En base a las tipologías iniciales desarrolladas por Rouse (1947) y al material recuperado en Fort Shantok, la tradición cerámica Shantok también fue considerada como un marcador étnico de las tribus Mohegan y Pequot. Una reevaluación de los datos estilísticos han sugerido que los niveles de similítud estilística entre los tipos cerámicos tardíos actualmente limitan su uso como marcadores étnicos para la reconstrucción de patrones de asentamiento del período de contacto (Lizee 1994; McBride 1990). En este estudio, el análisis por activación neutrónica es empleado para determinar si los perfiles de composición corresponden con los tipos estilísticos identificados. La distribución de grupos de composición en la región prueban ser útiles para describir cambios en el asentamiento durantes los períodos Woodland Tardío y contacto para el sureste de Connecticut. Los resultados de este estudio sugieren que los factores culturales que influenciaron la evolución de las tribus históricas Pequot y Mohegan y la localización de los poblados focales también tuvieron un impacto en el acceso a zonas de procuramiento de arcilla durante el tiempo de contacto europeo.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Bishop, R. L., and Neff, H. 1989 Compositional Data Analysis in Archaeology. In Archaeological Chemistry IV, edited by Allen, R. O., pp. 576586. Advances in Chemistry Series 220, American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Byers, D. S., and Rouse, I. 1960 A Re-examination of Guida Farm. Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut 30 : 343.Google Scholar
Ceci, L. 1990 Native Wampum as a Peripheral Resource in the Seventeenth-Century World System. In The Pequots of Southern New England, edited by Hauptman, L. M. and Wherry, J. D.. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Crepeau, R., and Kennedy, G. 1990 Neutron Activation Analysis of Saint Lawrence Iroquoian Pottery. Man in the Northeast 40 : 6574.Google Scholar
Davis, J. C. 1986 Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology. John Wiley and Sons, New York City.Google Scholar
DeForest, John W. 1852 History of the Indians of Connecticut. Wm. Jas. Hamersley, Hartford, Connecticut.Google Scholar
Feder, K. L. 1984 Pots, Plants, and People : The Late Woodland Period of Connecticut. Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut 47 : 99112.Google Scholar
Glascock, M. D. 1992 Characterization of Archaeological Ceramics at MURR by Neutron Activation Analysis and Multivariate Statistics. In Chemical Characterization of Ceramic Pastes in Archaeology, edited by Neff, H., pp. 1126. Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Harbottle, G. 1976 Activation Analysis in Archaeology. Radiochemistry 3 : 3372. The Chemical Society, London.Google Scholar
Lavin, L. 1980 Analysis of Ceramic Vessels from the Ben Hollister Site, Glastonbury, Connecticut. Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut 43 : 341.Google Scholar
Lavin, L. 1986 Pottery Classification and Cultural Models in Southern New England Prehistory. North American Archaeologist 7(1) : 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lizee, J. M. 1989 Niantic, Hackney Pond and Shantok : A Reconsideration of the Late Woodland and Contact Period Ceramic Typology for Southern New England. Paper presented at the 1989 Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Anthropological Association, Montreal.Google Scholar
Lizee, J. M. 1994 Prehistoric Ceramic Sequences and Patterning in Southern New England : The Windsor Tradition. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs.Google Scholar
McBride, Kevin A. 1984 Prehistory of the Lower Connecticut River Valley. Ph. D. dissertation, University of Connecticut, Storrs, University Microfilms, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Lizee, J. M. 1990 The Historical Archaeology of the Mashantucket Pequots, 1637-1900. In The Pequots of Southern New England, edited by Hauptman, L. M. and Wherry, J. D., pp. 96116. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Neff, H., and Bishop, R. L. 1988 Plumbate Origins and Development. American Antiquity 53 : 505522.Google Scholar
Philpotts, A. R. and Wilson, N. 1994 Application of Petrofabric and Phase Equilibria Analysis to the Study of a Potsherd. Journal of Archaeological Science 21 : 607618.Google Scholar
Ritchie, W. A., and Mac Neish, R. S. 1949 The Pre-Iroquoian Pottery of New York State. American Antiquity 15 : 97124.Google Scholar
Rouse, I. 1947 Ceramic Traditions and Sequences in Connecticut. Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Connecticut 21 : 1025.Google Scholar
Steponaitis, V P., and Blackman, M. J. 1981 Chemical Characterization of Mississippian Pottery. Paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Asheville, North Carolina.Google Scholar
Trigger, B. G., Yaffe, L., Diksic, M., Galinier, J. L., Marshall, H., and Pendergast, J. F. 1980 Trace Element Analysis of Iroquoian Pottery. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 4 : 119145.Google Scholar
Williams, L. E. 1972 Fort Shantok and Fort Corchaug : A Comparative Study of Seventeenth Century Culture Contact in the Long Island. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, New York University, New York City.Google Scholar