Northeast Subsistence-Settlement Change: A.D. 700 –1300

that Clemson Island was greatly influenced by Owasco
through social interaction, trade and exchange, and diffusion
(Lucy 1991; McCann 1971; Ritchie and Funk
1973; Stewart 1990, 1994:203). In comparison, Clemson
Island types (e.g., Clemson Island Punctate, Clemson
Island Cord-on-Cord, etc.) are rarely if ever applied to
cordmarked ceramics in New York, downplaying (and
potentially denying) any role that Clemson Island
groups may have played in the prehistoric occupation
of the region (but see Snow 1995; Schulenberg, this volume).
One of the dangers of applying Owasco type names
to Clemson Island ceramics is that established dates
and periods of use in New York are automatically
assigned to ceramics in northcentral Pennsylvania.
This not only masks variation but may also have the
effect of assigning incorrect dates of occupation to sites.
Comparison of ceramic types and radiocarbon dates in
northcentral Pennsylvania (East et al. 1986; Garrahan
1990:17-26; Hatch 1980; Hay and Hamilton 1984:Table
3; Kolb and Huner 1968:163; Lucy and McCann 1983;
Mair and Geidel 1988) has shown that Owasco-like
types often appear much earlier, in greater frequencies
in different time periods, and have much longer presences
than is generally reported for sites in New York.
Finally, problems associated with the use of ceramic
types as chronological markers also occur in northcentral
Pennsylvania. Chronological evidence for settlement
pattern analysis rests to the extent possible on
chronometric techniques. Radiometric and accelerator
mass spectrometry dates provide the chronological
framework for settlement studies within northcentral
Pennsylvania (Hay et al. 1987; Hatch 1980; Stewart
1994). However, in instances where radiometric techniques
are unavailable or have produced unreliable
results, ceramic types are often used to date individual
components or assess contemporaneity between sites
(Lucy 1959, 1991a; Lucy and McCann 1983). One of the
more serious problems in this technique occurs when
“chronologically distinct types” are recovered from the
same archaeological feature or context. As demonstrated
at the Workman site (Kolb and Huner 1968:152),
early types, such as Clemson Island Punctate, are often
found in pit features with later types, such as Owasco
Corded Oblique and Shenk’s Ferry Incised Multiple
Banded. Similarly, at the Minisink site in the Upper
Delaware Valley of Pennsylvania, Kraft (1978:89, as
cited in Stewart 1990:85) reports that Levanna Cord-on-
Cord sherds were found in association with Owasco
Corded Horizontal and Owasco Corded Oblique
sherds dating to the thirteenth century. While a differential
use-life may account for some this variation,
Schulenberg (this volume) and Watson (1991:86)
caution us that more serious problems associated with
the quality of the association between pottery and the
charcoal from a nearby hearth may also be at work.
Both argue that a more conclusive means of determining
the age of sherds is dating the sherd itself by
thermal luminescence dating or by dating the food
encrustations on the sherd’s surface using accelerator
mass spectrometry.
DEFINITION OF CLAYS
AND THEIR USE IN NORTHEAST
COMPOSITIONAL STUDIES
Trace element analysis of ceramic sherds was
employed to determine if ceramic compositional profiles
corresponded with culture historic types. Ceramic
compositional analysis is a technique that is used to
measure the physio-chemical construction of an artifact
and is dependent upon the premise that “chemical
changes associated with the geological processes of
erosion, transportation, mixing, deposition, and weathering
redistribute these elements [throughout clay
deposits], creating a characteristic composition [or fingerprint]
for the local deposit” (Bishop 1980:48-49).
Successful completion of compositional analysis
requires an understanding of the compositional make
up of clays and their relationship to the surrounding
environment.
Shepard (1995:6) defines clays as fine-grained (less
than 2 mm, or 0.002 µm) material that develop plasticity
when mixed with water, and whose primary constituents
are silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium,
potassium, and sodium. Brownell (1951:111)
describes the structure of clays as having a two-sheet
(one tetrahedron and one octahedral) arrangement of
atoms held together by strong bonds within the layers
and relatively weak bonds between layers. As water is
absorbed between the bonds, the matrix is lubricated,
allowing the atoms to slide over each other as occurs in
the plastic state. When water is removed through drying,
the atoms once again come close to each other,
allowing the matrix to become rigid.
Clays that form in place during weathering are
called primary or residual clays. Residual clays often
have a low organic content and plasticity, making them
of limited value to prehistoric potters (Rice 1987:64).
Clays that accumulate during the transport of weathering
products are known as secondary or depositional
clays. These clays are often transported through the
flow of water and are often deposited some distance
Chapter 7 Early Late Prehistoric Settlement: A View from Northcentral Pennsylvania 139