THE HISTORY AND PRACTICE OF SHELL TEMPERING IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC: A USEFUL BALANCE

Middle Atlantic shell-tempered pottery emerges in primitive form in the Albemarle region of North Carolina as the flatbottomed Currituck "beaker" ware and Water Lily type, possibly flourishing prior to A. D. 400. Classic shell tempering is first represented in the Mockley series, variously...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Southeastern archaeology 2008-12, Vol.27 (2), p.265-285
Main Author: Herbert, Joseph M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeological sites
Calcite
Ceramic materials
Coastal plains
Contributions of Transportation Archaeology to American Bottom Prehistory
Geographic regions
Historic buildings & sites
History of technology
Museums
National parks
Pottery
Tempering
Woodland period
Woodlands
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Summary:Middle Atlantic shell-tempered pottery emerges in primitive form in the Albemarle region of North Carolina as the flatbottomed Currituck "beaker" ware and Water Lily type, possibly flourishing prior to A. D. 400. Classic shell tempering is first represented in the Mockley series, variously interpreted as evidence of the first Algonquian migratory event or local innovation, appearing on the Delmarva Peninsula about A. D. 100 and subsequently on Maryland's Western Shore and in Tidewater Virginia. The tradition of shell tempering reaches its zenith in the region as the Townsend series, generally understood as the ceramic tradition of Algonquian immigrants to the middle Atlantic region about A. D. 800. The use of shell as temper continues into the historic era as Colono-Indian ware of Tidewater Virginia. Replication experiments evaluating the practical implications of shell tempering indicate that the appearance, adoption, and geographic distribution of this technology in the middle Atlantic necessarily accompanied low-temperature firing techniques. Results suggest that long-held views regarding the necessity of prefiring shell are unfounded but confirm other aspects of traditional archaeological assumptions about the technological process derived from materials science studies.
ISSN:0734-578X
2168-4723