Interpretation of Prepared Clay Surfaces at Dust Cave, Alabama

Abstract

This paper presents the results of actualistic studies conducted in order to provide insight into prehistoric cooking and processing technologies and their resulting archaeological remains. Excellent preservation conditions at Dust Cave, a deeply stratified Paleoindian through Middle Archaic site in northwest Alabama, have preserved numerous anthropogenic deposits whose function is unknown, including intentionally prepared, burned clay surfaces. These distinct features, often with textile impressions, are now known to appear at other pre-ceramic sites in the Midwest and Southeastern United States. The physical and chemical attributes of these archaeological deposits have been extensively documented using micromorphology and geochemical analyses, however their function is still unknown. Lacking modern analogs or ethnohistoric data for their use, experimentation served as a productive means through which to generate data and test hypotheses related to their function. Two actualistic studies were undertaken to simulate the controlled burning of experimentally constructed surfaces, as well as to evaluate different cooking technologies for analogous foods. The results are compared to the archaeological examples from Dust Cave and allow us to narrow down the ways in which these surfaces may have functioned. In particular, they point towards coals roasting as an important food preparation technology utilized in the pre-ceramic Mid-South.