Manufacture

There is no correlation between temper type and finely finished surfaces or decorated vessels. Thin-walled decorated vessels may be primarily tempered with coarse mixed igneous sands. Even decorated sherds with fine-sized primary inclusions also contain some coarse grains. The decorated vessel surfaces, however, are very well compacted to submerge the grains completely. In contrast, the same types of temper grains often protrude out of the surfaces of utilitarian vessels.