The Center and the Plain: Results from an Analysis of Absorbed Residues from Mississippi and Fort Ancient Pottery from the Guard Site
Presentation
Overview
Overview
Description
The Guard site (12D29) has a mixture of non-local Mississippi Plain and local Fort Ancient pottery types. Mississippi Plain pottery is more concentrated in the central plaza whereas the Fort Ancient pottery is more common in residential areas. Here we report on an absorbed pottery residue analysis from a small sample for each of these pottery types to better understand spatial and functional differences. The most notable distinction was a spatial one in terms of the chemical signature distinguishing C3 and C4 plants, with the sherds with residues for C3 being more concentrated in the plaza whereas sherds with residues for C4 were more common in residential areas. There was no distinction between these characteristics for pottery type. In addition, conifer biomarkers were present in most of the residues in varying amounts suggesting that perhaps a coating was used to seal the pottery.
