ABSTRACT
Early Woodland sites are distinguished by somewhat crude pottery, the earliest in central and northeastern America. Why is the presence of ceramics so meaningful here? Archaeologists put a lot of weight on pottery sherds because, unlike most artifacts, they are practically imperishable, usually abundant in a site, and can vary stylistically to a greater degree than stone or bone artifacts. Pottery clays may be mixed with pulverized stone, shell, or sherds or with fibrous plants; they can be shaped into plates, jars, or cups, large or small, globular or with elegant curves; left plain or burnished; decorated with incised lines, stamps, patterned fabric, colored slips or washes or paints; decorated on the body and on the rim with different designs; and fired to blacken or to lighten. Clay sources may be determined by laboratory analysis, to answer the question of whether a pot was made locally or traded in. Sites with ceramics offer more, and more distinctive, data to archaeologists than Paleoindian or Archaic sites. So much for archaeologists’ procedures: Should a few crude sherds be reason to designate a new cultural “stage”?
