Abstract
Pottery is a mainstay of archaeological analysis worldwide. Often, high proportions of the pottery recovered from a given site are decorated in some manner. In northern Iroquoia, late pre-contact pottery and early contact decoration commonly occur on collars—thick bands of clay that encircle a pot and extend several centimeters down from the lip. These decorations constitute signals that conveyed information about a pot’s user(s). In southern Ontario the period A.D. 1350 to 1650 witnessed substantial changes in socio-political and settlement systems that included population movement, coalescence of formerly separate communities into large villages and towns, waxing and waning of regional strife, the formation of nations, and finally the development of three confederacies that each occupied distinct, constricted areas. Social network analysis demonstrates that signaling practices changed to reflect these regional patterns. Networks become more consolidated through time ultimately resulting in a “small world” network with small degrees of separation between sites reflecting the integration of communities within and between the three confederacies.
Highlights
When present in the archaeological record, pottery is a mainstay of archaeological research worldwide
The 1350–1400 period is when the average evenness value is highest, and evenness decreases significantly to the 1400–1450 period. These changes indicate that as settlement systems changed from dispersed villages to geographically distinct clusters of villages, signaling networks relied on fewer collar motifs
Pottery design sequences typically have been used in northern Iroquoia to identify ethnic affiliations of pre-contact sites and to hypothesize population movements through time
Summary
When present in the archaeological record, pottery is a mainstay of archaeological research worldwide. Of particular note are the decorations that often occur on high proportions of pots at any given locale. These decorations, whether impressed into the clay itself through incisions, stamping or other means, or added to the surface through paint or other additive process, are frequently among the traits or the sole trait used to define archaeological taxa, which in turn are frequently associated with ethnicity. There have been few studies that seek to understand how pottery decoration changes in relation to trends in regional socio-political and settlement systems established through independent lines of evidence (e.g., [3]). In northern Iroquoia, comprising much of New York, southern Ontario and southern Quebec, changes in pottery during the last several centuries before European
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
