Pots from the Past - Late Pre-Contact Pottery from Northwestern Pennsylvania

The signature characteristics of various pottery forms are important for archaeologists in identifying the culture groups who created them. Our ability to trace the movement of pottery across the landscape aids in our understanding of settlement patterns and individual cultural groups known only to prehistory. Let’s examine some possibilities once again by visiting the Ohio River Basin (July 2, 2021 blog) where we can learn more about the interesting pottery types of the Late Pre-Contact period. 

The Late Pre-Contact (AD.1050-1590) period in this region of the Upper Ohio Valley extends from Lake Erie southward through the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau Section of west central Pennsylvania drained by the Allegheny River system and the Unglaciated Pittsburgh Low Plateaus Section drained by the Kiskiminetas/Conemaugh River system (Figure 1). Most of the sites associated with Late Pre-Contact pottery types from these localities were temporary hunting and fishing camps and the permanent settlements of the McFate and Chautauqua cultures (Dragoo 1955; Mayer-Oakes 1955; Lantz and Johnson 2019; Schock 1974). 

Figure 1. Physiographic/drainage map of the western Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania DCNR)

A hallmark defining these pottery types of the Late Pre-Contact period was the potter’s preferential use of crushed freshwater mussel shell as a binding or tempering agent added to the clay as opposed to the use of crushed rock temper in surrounding regions. Only rarely was rock temper used by the potters of the Late Pre-Contact period under discussion. The shell temper is most always finely crushed and never chunky like the marine oyster shell tempers of the coastal groups of the Northeast and Middle Atlantic regions.  

Figure 2. Examples of decorative motifs on McFate Incised pots.
(After Lantz and Johnson 2020: Figure 12.9)

The first pottery type that we are going to describe is McFate Incised. McFate Incised is a pottery type with Iroquoian decorative elements involving a variety of incised line motifs on the lips and collars of collared and non-collared vessels (Figure 2). It is the dominant Late Pre-Contact type found at the McFate Phase village (36CW1) and sites like it located in the French Creek drainage of Crawford County, Pennsylvania (Figure 3). McFate Incised was initially categorized as a “tentative pottery type” with traits shared with the Monongahela Culture of southwestern Pennsylvania (Mayer-Oakes 1955;200). 

Figure 3. Harry Schoff’s Works Progress Administration map of the McFate site excavations

                      Collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Further south, McFate Incised is a minority pottery type at the Johnston village (36IN2) site in Indiana County. A more detailed description of the type, although still tentatively defined, was provided by Don Dragoo (1955) based on his investigations at that site where numerous sherds and a vertical compound vessel of the McFate Incised type (Figure 4) were recovered. A formal description of McFate Incised and regionally related Late Pre-Contact pottery types was later provided (Johnson 1994).  

Figure 4. Vertical compound vessel of McFate Incised (Image courtesy of Pennsylvania Archaeology Inc.)

McFate Incised pottery is also a Late Pre-Contact period pottery type reported from the Wilson Shutes (36CW5) site, the three-dimensional earth ring sites in Elk County (Smith and Herbstritt 1976) and numerous rock shelter and small open-air camp sites linking Indian trails (Myers 1997; 2001) and the Smith village site (Lounsberry 1997) in Allegheny County, New York. Monongahela culture sites in western Pennsylvania that have also yielded small quantities of McFate Incised pottery include the Squirrel Hill (36WM35) site in Westmoreland County (Robson 1958) and the McJunkin (36AL17) site in Allegheny County.  

Conemaugh Cord-Impressed, always a minority type that is frequently associated with McFate Incised from Johnston phase Monongahela sites (dated circa 1450-1600) according to Johnson and Means (2020: Figure 10.8) is a pottery type characterized by substituting cord-impressed patterns of horizontal and/or oblique decorations made with a tightly spun fiber cord vs. line incising directly applied to the pot’s surface (Figure 5). 

Figure 5. Decorative motifs of Conemaugh Corded (After Lantz and Johnson 2020: Figure 12.10)

Chautauqua Cordmarked and Chautauqua Simple-Stamped are pottery types of the Late Pre-Contact period found in northwestern Pennsylvania and regions peripheral to the Upper Ohio Valley. Chautauqua Cordmarked and Chautauqua Simple-Stamped pottery are hallmarks of the Chautauqua Phase, the principal Late Pre-Contact Indigenous occupation located south of Lake Erie and whose core area of influence was centered around Chautauqua and Cattaraugus Counties, New York and Ashtabula County, Ohio. Both types are present at the palisaded hill forts of southwestern New York reported by Dean (2004) and Schock (1974).

Figure 6. Chautauqua Cordmarked pot, collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania

Chautauqua Cordmarked (Figure 6) and Chautauqua Simple-Stamped share similar traits regarding the collarless vessel shape and the tempering of freshwater mussel shell, like McFate Incised. However, their surface treatments are distinctly different. The more common type, Chautauqua Cordmarked was finished with a cord wrapped paddle or dowel tool that the potter pressed or rolled onto the pot. Conversely, pots of the Chautauqua Simple-Stamped type were finished with a plain, non-corded paddle or dowel tool leaving a burnished multidirectional grooved surface on the pot (Figure 7).  

Figure 7. Closeup view of a Simple-Stamped Pot, collections of The State Museum of Pennsylvania

These tools were used to create a row of deep rim impressions on both pottery types much in the same fashion as observed on Monongahela Cordmarked pots (Figure 8) of southwestern Pennsylvania. 

Figure 8. Monongahela Cordmarked rimsherds (Mayer-Oakes 1955: Plate 115)

The Late Pre-Contact pottery types described in this blog were primarily used to store, cook or otherwise process food for human consumption, as many of the pots show the clear presence of use wear, damaged rims and burnt food residues adhering to their surfaces. We hope that you have enjoyed reading about the Native American Late Pre-Contact pottery types from western Pennsylvania and the unique traits of the potter’s skills in making them. 

 

References 

Carpenter, Edmund S. 

1949   Wesleyville Site, Erie County. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 19(1-2):17. 

Dean, Robert L. 

2004 Preliminary report on Data Recovery Investigations at the Livermore-Wright Site (AO1311.00051), Town of Ellington, Chautauqua County, New York. Report prepared by Heritage Preservation & Interpretation, Inc., Steamburg, New York. 

Dragoo, Don W.  

1955 Excavations at the Johnston Site. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 25(2):85-141. 

Johnson, William C.  

1994 McFate Incised, Conemaugh Cord-Impressed, Chautauqua Simple-Stamped. And Chautauqua Cordmarked: Type Definitions, Refinements, and Preliminary Observations on their Origins and Distributions. Paper presented at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Lantz, Stanley W. and William C. Johnson 

2020 The Late Woodland Period in the Glaciated and Unglaciated Appalachian Plateaus Province of Northwestern Pennsylvania, Chapter 12 In: The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania Volume 2. Edited by Kurt W. Carr, Christopher A. Bergman, Christina B. Rieth, Bernard K. Means, and Roger W. Moeller with Elizabeth Wagner as Associate Editor. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia. 

Lounsberry, Kelly M. 

1997 The Smith Site: The Chautauqua-McFate Culture in the Upper Allegheny River Valley in Southwestern New York. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 67(1):21-34. 

Mayer-Oakes, William J. 

1955 Prehistory of the Upper Ohio Valley: An Introductory Archaeological Study. Anthropological Series No.2. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh. 

Myers Andrew J.  

1997 An Examination of Late Prehistoric McFate Trail Locations. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 67(1):45-53. 

2001 An Examination of Ceramics from the Dutch Hill Rock Shelter: A Late Woodland/Late Prehistoric Base Camp Located in the Upper Clarion River Drainage of Western Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 71(1):43-68. 

Robson, John 

1958 A Comparison of Artifacts from the Indian Villages Quemahoning and Squirrel Hill. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 28(3-4):112-126. 

Schock, Jack M. 

1974 The Chautauqua Phase and Other Late Woodland Sites in Southwestern New York. Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, State University of New York at Buffalo. 

Smith, Ira F. and James T. Herbstritt 

1976 Preliminary Investigations of the Prehistoric Earthworks in Elk County, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg. 

 

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .

Pots from the Past - Late Woodland Pottery – Upper Ohio Valley

In this installment of This week in Pennsylvania Archaeology (TWIPA), we are going to examine Late Woodland pottery from four site locations in the Upper Ohio Valley of western Pennsylvania and West Virginia dating AD. 400 to 900/1100. This is a poorly known period dating prior to the development of palisaded Monongahela and Fort Ancient village sites that dominated the region after AD. 1100.  Habitation sites from the Late Woodland period are found on river terraces including mound sites. Smaller, less intensively occupied sites in the uplands likely functioned as hunting and gathering places  for obtaining consumable resources and the quarrying of chert and other hard stone that is not readily available in the main river valleys. These kinds of materials were principally used by Late Woodland groups to make cutting and grinding tools that included corner notched arrowheads, knives, celts and milling stones. In contrast, clay, the principal material component for making pottery, was essentially everywhere and easily quarried from riverbanks and slack water wetlands where the soils are conducive to fine, close grained sedimentation. Late Woodland sites along major waterways were often situated close to these high-quality clay sources. Many centuries later, during the latter part of the 19^th century some of these clays from the Monongahela Valley were mined for their ceramic qualities as mentioned in our last TWIPA blog post on stoneware pottery. 

Only a  few complete or nearly complete Late Woodland pottery vessels from the Upper Ohio Valley have been reported. The best examples, come from the Watson Farm site (46HK34) Hancock County, West Virginia, the Ohioview site (36BV9) Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and the Edinburg site (36LR3) Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. All, to some degree, have been reconstructed from broken pottery fragments uncovered from archaeological excavations.  

Figure 1. Watson Farm site vessel (Image courtesy of Moundsville Museum, Moundsville, West Virginia.

The Watson Farm vessel is an example of a partial reconstruction showing the rim, neck, and shoulder of the upper half of the pot. It is a collarless vessel that is tempered with coarsely crushed limestone as is most pottery from the site. Bold vertically emplaced cordmarkings on the rim and neck abruptly change to an oblique pattern of cordmarkings on the shoulder, and upper part of the body. This pot form is believed to have served as a utilitarian storage/cooking container and is typed as Watson Cordmarked (Dragoo 1956). 

Figure 2. Ohioview site vessel (Image courtesy of The State Museum of Pennsylvania).

The Ohioview site vessel is the reconstruction of an entire vessel. It is also a collarless form showing vertical to slightly oblique cordmarkings extending from the rim to the bottom of the sub-globular base. The temper is a medium to fine crushed igneous rock and at some places on the surface the temper is exposed that shows a dark brown to a white color. Other rimsherds from the site have a short collar strip molded onto the rim of pots demonstrating that vessels with this applied collar treatment were also common.  Identified by the placement of parallel oblique or opposed oblique cord impressed decorations are, also observed as a pattern on the pottery type Jacks Reef Corded Collar (Johnson and Myers 2004; Lantz and Johnson 2020: Figure 12.6). The collarless and collared pots with their elongated bodies were utilitarian forms also known regionally in the Upper Ohio Valley as Mahoning Cordmarked (Mayer-Oakes 1955).

Figure 3. Edinburg site vessel (Image courtesy Gartley, Richard T., Jeff Carskadden and James F. Morton, 2016 The Edinburg Site, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 86(1):2-38.)

The Edinburg site vessel is also a complete reconstruction. Like the Ohioview site vessel, it is collarless with boldly emplaced cordmarkings running vertically down the exterior of the rim and neck then obliquely onto the shoulder terminating in an all over criss-cross pattern on an elongated sub-conical body. Again, the temper is of a fine to medium coarse grained igneous rock. Some of the other rimsherds from the site exhibit crushed limestone as the principal temper type.  Many of these rimsherds have parallel oblique and opposed oblique cord impressions on an added-on collar rim strip containing cord impressions stamped into the lip. Lip decorations are also present at the Ohioview site and at other Late Woodland habitation sites in the Central Allegheny/Beaver River valley. In addition, there are examples from Edinburg that are decorated with a series of parallel horizontal cord impressions encircling the necks of some vessels. Considered a container for food consumption and/or storage, the Edinburg site vessel is typed as Mahoning Cordmarked (Gartley, Carskadden and Morton 2016).

Figure 4. Mahoning Cordmarked a.k.a. Jacks Reef Corded Collar (Image courtesy of Lantz, Stanley W. and William C. Johnson, 2020, The Late Woodland Period in the Glaciated and Unglaciated Appalachian Plateau Province of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In: The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania Volume 2. Edited by Kurt W. Carr, Christopher A. Bergman, Christina B. Rieth, Bernard K. Means and Roger W. Moeller. Elizabeth Wagner, Associate Editor).

Late Woodland vessels from the Upper Ohio Valley are remarkably similar in size, shape and cordmarked surface treatment. When present, these attributes, along with the inclusion of the simple cordwrapped stick decorations on collarless and collared vessels are distinct hallmarks. The attributes were widely embraced and represent a ceramic tradition that was shared by groups throughout the Upper Ohio Valley between ca. AD. 400-1000.

Archaeologists examine the varieties of pottery recovered from excavations as a tool to identify the culture groups who created them. The Late Woodland was a fascinating period of social organization and change for indigenous peoples who occupied our pre-Commonwealth borders. Our ability to identify these various culture groups stems from decades of research and comparison of thousands of broken pottery sherds to identify these distinct pottery types, which are important in helping us to understand the activities of the potters who made them.   Understanding past human behavior, is important in preparing for the future, and our ability to adapt and change.

We hope that you have enjoyed this brief introduction into Upper Ohio Valley Late Woodland pottery. Future TWIPA blog posts will present more on the topic of Pre-Contact period  pottery of the Upper Ohio Valley and other regions of Pennsylvania where they are found.

References

Dragoo, Don W.

1956      Excavations at the Watson Site, 46HK34, Hancock County, West Virginia. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 26(2):59-88.

 

Gartley, Richard T., Jeff Carskadden and James F. Morton

2016      The Edinburg Site, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 86(1):2-38.

 

Lantz, Stanley W. and William C. Johnson

2020      The Late Woodland Period in the Glaciated and Unglaciated Appalachian Plateau Province of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In: The Archaeology of Native Americans in Pennsylvania Volume 2. Edited by Kurt W. Carr, Christopher A. Bergman, Christina B. Rieth, Bernard K. Means and Roger W. Moeller. Elizabeth Wagner, Associate Editor. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.

 

Mayer-Oakes, William J.

1955      Prehistory of the Upper Ohio Valley: An Introductory Archaeological Study. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 34, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

Johnson, William C. and Andrew J. Myers

2004     Population Continuity and Dispersal: Cordage Twist Analysis and the Late Woodland in the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau of Northwestern Pennsylvania. In Perishable Material Culture in the Northeast, edited by Penelope Ballard Drooker, pp. 87-128. Bulletin 500. New York State Museum. Albany. 

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .

Pennsylvania Archaeology - American Grey Stoneware

 This week we continue with our ongoing series of posts on early historic ceramics found on archaeological sites in Pennsylvania.

As with other ceramic types we have previously discussed, American potters’ early experiments with stoneware were informed by their European predecessors, most notably English and German styles such as Fulham and Rhenish, respectively. Manufactured in North America as early as the mid-18^th century, American Gray stoneware’s main advantage over earthenwares, such as redware, is its water-tight properties.

This desirable characteristic is the result of higher kiln temperature when firing a ceramic that produces a durable, vitreous body that will not absorb liquids. The body and paste of American Grey stoneware can range in color from grey to tan-ish/brown depending on both the temperature of the kiln as well as the specific chemical composition of the source clay. For example, clay with a higher iron content will impart a browner appearance.

Photo #1 American Grey stoneware pitcher with cobalt blue floral decoration from 36Ph1, Market Street, Philadelphia (State Museum of PA)

Most American Grey stonewares also exhibit salt-glazed exteriors similar to that found on English-made scratch-blue stoneware reviewed in an earlier post. While scratch blue stoneware’s short period of manufacture can be an asset to an archaeologist looking to determine the age of a site or feature, American Grey stoneware’s long, and continuing production offers no such advantage. A marked difference between these two ceramic types is their thickness in cross-section, which informs us about their different functions. Crocks, jugs, bottles and jars of American Grey stoneware, with their thick walls correspond with their utilitarian nature primarily as storage vessels and containers. English scratch-blue as we’ve discussed previously, on the other hand, was a delicately thin tableware commonly in form of shallow bowls and tea cups.

Frequently the robust, utilitarian appearance of American Grey stoneware was softened or counterbalanced by the application of simple yet effective motifs of flowers, sprigs and even animals in cobalt blue. Unusual vessel forms, large examples, or pieces with iconic decorations, such as an American Eagle continue to be highly prized by collectors as any viewer of PBS’s popular Antique’s Roadshow can attest .

#3 Kiln furniture from the New Geneva Waster site (36FA404)

#4 Glaze testers, material bars and stacking collars from New Geneva (36Fa404)

Pottery manufacturers often stamped or marked vessels with their company stamp facilitating research by archaeologists as to the place and period of manufacture.  The New Geneva Pottery excavations (36FA0091) and (36FA404) provided evidence of manufacturing techniques from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. New Geneva’s location in Southwestern Pennsylvania along the Monongahela River, provided a source for clay and ready access for transporting the finished pottery to markets.  New Geneva was just one of many stoneware pottery manufacturing areas in Pennsylvania enabled by skilled potters and our natural clay resources. One of Pennsylvania’s more familiar stoneware potteries was the Pfaltzgraff pottery in York founded in the early 1800’s. Research of manufacturing processes, clay sources, glazes developed, and function and utility are important in understanding the daily activities often not documented in the historic record.

Later 19^th century examples of American Grey stoneware are commonly found with Albany slip decorated interiors and/or exteriors. With the closing of the mine where Albany slip clay was extracted in 1986, true Albany slip decorated stoneware is no longer being produced, although potters have been able to replicate the dark brown, chocolate colored slip with other similar clays.

We hope you have enjoyed this brief introduction to American Grey stoneware and will stop back again as we continue our review of historic ceramics found on archaeological sites in Pennsylvania. This often-recovered category of artifact is an important tool for archaeologists in studying the past and Pennsylvania’s rich cultural heritage.  Additional examples of colonial ceramics can  be accessed on the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s on-line collections and we hope you will visit our other posts to learn more about ceramic manufacture in Pennsylvania. 

References:

Hunter, Robert (ed.)

2005 Ceramics in America. Chipstone Foundation, Milwaukee

Noel Hume, Ivor

 2001   A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia

 Website -  https://apps.jefpat.maryland.gov/diagnostic/Post-Colonial%20Ceramics/NorthAmericanStoneware/index-NorthAmericanStoneware.html

Website - https://www.amerheritage.com/salespages/rowe%20pottery/albanyslip-pottery.htm

For more information, visit PAarchaeology.state.pa.us or the Hall of Anthropology and Archaeology at The State Museum of Pennsylvania .