Understanding Prehistoric Ceramic Technology from the Grand River Valley

This research focused on understanding the production process of ceramic construction (technological choices of potters) during the Woodland Period in western Michigan. This ultimately provided information regarding choices not only pertaining to style but also to material choices and firing strategies of early societies. The research involved the replication of pottery sherds, which were then compared to a sample of Early Woodland, Middle Woodland, and Late Woodland sherds from sites in the Grand River valley by using petrographic analysis. These sherds were extracted from the Prison Farm (20IA58), Norton Mounds (20KT1), Spoonville (20OT1), and the Converse Mounds sites (20KT2). Technological changes were recorded and analyzed for a small sample of Woodland sherds from these sites that dated between 700 B.C. and A.D. 1000