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Early pottery in the North American Upper Great Lakes: exploring traces of use

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

James M. Skibo ,
Mary E. Malainey  and
Susan M. Kooiman
James M. Skibo*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Illinois State University, Schroeder Hall 332, Normal, IL 61790–4660, USA
Mary E. Malainey
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Brandon University, 270 18th Street, Brandon, MN R7A 6A9, Canada
Susan M. Kooiman
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University, 665 Auditorium Road, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: jmskibo@ilstu.edu)
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Abstract

Why was pottery developed and adopted? Food residues on ceramic material from three sites in the Upper Great Lakes region of North America suggest that there is no single answer, and contradict previous indications that pottery was created for the ritual processing of fish oil. Samples from two sites showed evidence of both plant and animal remains, but no fish oils were detected, even for the site believed to be a fishing camp. Nut oils dominated for the third site, being present on both fire-cracked rocks and pottery, and were suggestive of an acorn-rendering process. All of the vessels were ideally suited to slow simmering, but it seems that their applications were diverse.

Keywords

North AmericaUpper Great LakesEarly Woodland Periodpotteryresidue analysis
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 353 , October 2016 , pp. 1226 - 1237
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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