LATE MISSISSIPPIAN CERAMIC PRODUCTION ON ST. CATHERINES ISLAND, GEORGIA Anna M. Semon A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Vincas P. Steponaitis C. Margaret Scarry R. P. Stephen Davis Anna Agbe-Davis John Scarry © 2019 Anna M. Semon ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Anna M. Semon: Late Mississippian Ceramic Production on St. Catherines Island, Georgia (Under the direction of Vincas P. Steponaitis) This dissertation examines Late Mississippian pottery manufacturing on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. Data collected from five ceramic assemblages, three village and two mortuary sites, were used to characterize each ceramic assemblage and examine small-scale ceramic variations associated with learning and making pottery, which reflect pottery communities of practice. In addition, I examined pottery decorations to investigate social interactions at community and household levels. This dissertation is organized in six chapters. Chapter 1 provides the background, theoretical framework, and objectives of this research. Chapter 2 describes coastal Georgia’s culture history, with focus on the Mississippian period. Chapters 3 and 4 present the methods and results of this study. I use both ceramic typology and attribute analyses to explore ceramic variation. Chapter 3 provides details about the ceramic typology for each site. In addition, I examine the Mississippian surface treatments for each assemblage and identified ceramic changes between middle Irene (A.D. 1350–1450), late Irene (A.D. 1450–1580), and early Mission (A.D. 1580–1600) period. The surface treatment trend indicates stamping decreases and incising increases over time. In addition, I compare St. Catherines surface treatment data with Irene and early Mission period sites on the Georgia coast and further discuss temporal trends. Chapter 4 focuses on the technological and stylistic attribute analyses for selected Mississippian ceramics. In this chapter, I discuss details about temper, firing conditions, iii surface decorations (specifically, incised, check stamped, and complicated stamped wares), and a variety of rim attributes associated with each assemblage. I use these analyses to examine ceramic variability and identify Late Mississippian ceramic micro-styles and potting communities of practice on St. Catherines Island. The attribute data identified additional ceramic temporal changes between middle Irene phase and early Mission period. These changes include increased use of sand and sand/grit tempers, different firing conditions, increase in wall thicknesses, wider rimstrips and folds, and greater diversity of stamped and incised designs. Although data reflect numerous temporal trends, inter-site grit tempered pottery comparison revealed a long-lived, grit tempered ceramic tradition that changed through time. The pattern implies a large community of practice in which Irene potters on St. Catherines learned similar clay recipes, coil making, vessel building, and firing techniques. In addition, I characterize filfot cross variation among the assemblages. From the five assemblages, I identified 14 diagnostic designs, 21 partial designs, and 97 paddles. The evidence shows a range of filfot designs, some shared among sites and other unique to a site. The shared designs suggest interaction and affiliations among potters from different sites, while the unique designs indicate intentional distinctions. Chapter 5 provides a detailed discussion of complicated stamped pottery within each village site. In this chapter, I take a closer look at the filfot cross stamped pottery and characterize technological and stylistic variations at the midden level to test three hypotheses, as a way to identify ceramic micro-styles, unique potting communities of practice, and inter- and intra-site social interactions. The St. Catherines data indicate a more nuanced story in which midden filfot sherds consist of a range of tempers, firing conditions, thicknesses and designs. However, the St. Catherines data broadly show similarities at the midden and village levels to iv indicate a persistent grit-tempered filfot pottery tradition. In addition, the midden filfot attribute research highlights a few other patterns, including temporal trends, a distinct clay tempered filfot community of practice, and shared filfot designs that reflect social interactions. The final chapter summarizes this research by discussing the four major findings, explores Irene potters and pottery manufacturing on St. Catherines Island, and concludes by discussing future research directions. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are numerous people I want to thank for their support and guidance during this process. First, I want to thank David Hurst Thomas for introducing me to St. Catherines Island and providing continuous support and guidance. Dave, you have set an example as an archaeologist, a collaborator, and mentor that I aspire to. Without Dave’s support I would not be part of the St. Catherines Archaeological Project, finished the dissertation, or have the job I have today. Dave has provided me with endless opportunities and I am truly grateful. You have my deepest thanks. Vin Steponaitis, my sincere thanks for your support, guidance, and patience during my time at Chapel Hill. You are a role model as an archaeologist, Mississippian scholar, mentor, and teacher. I am grateful for all the opportunities you provided me while at UNC. I would also like to thank Lorann Pendleton Thomas for her advice, support, and persistence for hiring me back in 2005. I hope that I have lived up to your expectations. I am grateful for my coworkers over the years Tom Blaber, Elliot Blair, Matt Sanger, Ginessa Mahar, Christina Friberg, Rachel Cajigas, Matt Napolitano, Nick Triozzi, Glen Keeton, and Diana Rosenthal- Roberson. You made the work at the American Museum and St. Catherines Island never dull. I would like to thank the Edward John Noble and St. Catherines Island Foundations for their continued support of archaeology on St. Catherines Island. Thank you Royce Hayes for your support of scientific research, your knowledge of St. Catherines Island history, and your amazing story telling skills. Thank you Mike Halderson and the St. Catherines Island staff for vi helping facilitating our work and research on the island. Thank you Christa Hayes for always opening your home to archaeologists and being a gracious hostess. In addition, this work could not have been done without the numerous field and lab crews from North American Archaeology Lab at the American Museum of Natural History. Thank you for helping with the numerous excavations, artifact cleaning and cataloging, and the ceramic analyses. I owe a wealth of gratitude to Matt Sanger and Elliot Blair for our archaeology conversations, field work opportunities, road trips, and conference adventures. Thank you Elliot and Sarah Bergh for convincing me to study Mississippian pottery. Thank you Matt Napolitano and Elliot Blair for the many stimulating ceramic discussions. Camilla Strum, I truly appreciate our catch-up sessions and your editing assistance. I would also like to thank my committee Margie Scarry, Steve Davis, Anna Agbe-Davis, and John Scarry for your support and the many ideas, questions, and suggestions related to this research. I am grateful to the UNC Research Labs of Archaeology for the use of lab space and assistance over the years. I would also like to thank my University of North Carolina family for all their support during graduate school. Thank you to my cohort members Sara Juengst, Cassandra Hartblay, Tim Prizer, Edward Bennett, Laura Gutierrez Escobar, Diana Gomez, and Seana Monley for stimulating class and non-class conversations. Thank you Meg Kassabaum and Erin Nelson-Stevens for allowing me to visit and help on your Mississippi field projects. Although Mississippi in the middle of the summer is a little warm, I cherish these experiences because of the conversations, networking, and learning of past cultures and new archaeological methods and techniques. Thank you David Cranford, Caela O’Connell, Mary Beth Fitts, Tomas Gallareta Cervera, Maggie Morgan-Smith, Claire Novotny, Taylor Livingston, Elizabeth Berger, Andrew Ofstehage, Ashley Peles, and many others for helping me balance academics and vii socializing. Thank you Caela O’Connell and Julianna Parks for opening your home during my visits to Chapel Hill. Lindsay Bloch, thank you for introducing me to the pottery studio in Chapel Hill, which provided an outlet for my limited creativity. I am also grateful for your editing assistance and the time we spent working on our chemical sourcing projects. Finally, I would like to thank my family, you all provided support and encouragement to make this happen. I would especially like to thank my parents Helen Semon and Joe Semon and my sister Christina Semon for their love and support over the years. Thank you Aunt Elizabeth S. Bonczar for being a role model and providing advice, encouragement, and Snoopy comics. Thank you Larry Bonzcar, Mary Kurucz, Betty Rebeck, John Rebeck, and Will Semon for keeping me in line over the years. A special shout out to my cousins Elizabeth Witco, Larry Bonczar, Michael Bonczar, and Melissa Pereira for your support, visits, bread making, and housing over the years. Thank you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ..............................................................................................................xiii