Problems of Ceramic Chronology in the Southeast: Does Shell-Tempered Pottery Appear Earlier than We Think?

Abstract

The chronology of shell-tempered pottery in the eastern United States is poorly understood, preventing any resolution to the question of how this pottery came to dominate ceramic assemblages in the late prehistoric period. Part of the problem lies in traditional dating methods that either provide only average dates that suppress variation or address depositional rather than manufacturing events. Better resolution can be obtained by dating individual artifacts. Luminescence dates for 67 ceramics from several sites in the mid-South show variation in age of ceramics from a single assemblage, strong chronological overlap between shell- and grog-tempered pottery, and suggest that shell-tempered pottery may have been present in low frequencies earlier than generally assumed and before it rose in frequency sometime after A.D. 900.

Storage and relative surplus at the Mississippian site of Moundville

“…138-144), however, shows that the main occupation of the site likely occurred later in time, contemporaneous to the late Moundville I through early Moundville III phases. Using luminescence dating of ceramics from Moundville and West Jefferson sites in the Moundville region (but not 1TU265), Feathers (2009) has documented a significant overlap in the use of grog and shell tempering in pottery, a finding congruent with Welch's placement. Thus, rather than revealing a transition between storage practices through time, the Mill Creek site data seem to reflect a substantial chronological overlap of Terminal Woodland and Mississippian phase components in the Moundville region (Jenkins and Krause, 2009;Jenkins, 1978;Jenkins, 2003, see also Blitz, 2008, pp.…”

A regional record of expanded Holocene wetlands and prehistoric human occupation from paleowetland deposits of the western Yarlung Tsangpo valley, southern Tibetan Plateau

“…The total dose rate is dominated by internal alpha and beta radiation, contributing~75% of the dose. Internal alpha, beta, and gamma dose rates on the sherds were determined using alpha counting and flame photometry following Feathers (2009). Radioactive component concentrations (U, Th, K) were translated into dose rates following Adamiec and Aitken (1998).…”

Échanges transmanche de traditions techniques dans la préparation des céramiques : le site portuaire gaulois de la Batterie-Basse à Urville-Nacqueville (Manche)

“…Cependant, ce rajout peut aussi répondre à des problématiques plus abstraites, liées à une tradition culturelle et cultuelle. On citera les travaux de J. Feathers sur les céramiques à dégraissant coquillier dans le golfe du Mexique, qui voit aussi dans ces pratiques la volonté d'améliorer la résistance des vases, mais aussi du fait de sa perduration sur au moins un millénaire, une raison plus traditionnelle (Dunnels et Feathers, 1991 ;Feathers, 1989Feathers, , 2006Feathers, , 2009Feathers et Peacock, 2008 ;Feathers et Scott, 1989). D'autres chercheurs avancent le fait qu'il pourrait s'agir plutôt d'une méthode permettant de diminuer la plasticité de certaines argiles comme les montmorillonites.…”