Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Vol. 54, No. 1 ...

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BULLETIN OF THE MASSACHUSETIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, VOLUME 54(1), 1993
RECONSTRUCTING A LESS THAN RECONSTRUCTABLE POT
What can you do with a handful of sherds?
For a class project in "Analysis of Material
Culture" (Anthropology 325) at the University
of Massachusetts at Amherst, I undertook to
learn what I could about the manufacture,
shape, and function of a vessel represented by
42 sherds accounting for less than a reconstructable
pot. The sherds had been sorted out of a
larger number from a single area of a site using
sherd lot criteria defined by Dincauze (1975).
Specifically, I was interested in the relation of
temper particles to vessel function, a relationship
well established in archeological literature
(Rice 1987).
Temper refers to the non-clay additives
contained in a paste and experimentally has
been shown to modify certain characteristics of
clay prior to, during, and after firing. These
modified characteristics can profoundly alter the
workability, firing characteristics, thermal
behavior, and resistance to mechanical stress of
the clay (Braun 1982; Bronitsky and Hamer
1986; Rice 1987; Rye 1976). The various
types of material used to temper prehistoric
ceramics differ in their ability to influence the
properties of clay. Therefore, in creating a
vessel for a particular function, potters generally
select those temper particles that strengthen
their pots with respect to the desired function.
Archaeologists can thus make inferences between
temper and function in prehistoric assem­
blages. Rye explains:
Each pottery vessel reflects decisions
made about materials and
techniques as well as cultural
Copyright 1993 Patrick P. Robblee
Patrick P. Robblee
choices, and thus represents a
combination of many variables
which may be useful in archaeological
interpretation (Rye 1976:
106).
In the study reported here, attributes of the
vessel lot, representing an Early Woodland pot
of unknown function from a Connecticut River
Valley site in Massachusetts, were analyzed to
determine and compare temper and function.
Initial attribute analysis began in the fall semester
of 1990 at UMass by undergraduate anthropology
students in Prof. Dena Dincauze's
Anthropology 325 course. Analysis and interpretations
were completed by the author in the
fall semester of 1991 in the same course. The
site's name and the vessel's corresponding
provenience are not included here in order to
protect the sensitive nature of the site. The pot
is currently part of the UMass collection (KBB
2.8-2.12, 2.14-2.17, 2.19-2.21, 2.23-2.31,
2.33-2.36, 2.38-2.50, 2.52, 2.54).
METHODS
The 1991 analysis began with a simple
inventory of the entire vessel lot. In all, 33
body, 6 rim, and 2 bottom sherds were recorded,
most measuring approximately 3-6cm across
by 3-6cm up and down. An analysis of temper
type, range, and size was then conducted in
order to insure that all the sherds belonged in
the same lot. Observations were made with a
binocular microscope at a magnification of lOx
with a high intensity lamp.
Temper inclusions in all but one sherd, a
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