AN ANbLYSIS OF CERAM ICS F3.0:1 :"ISTO IC C:iBROKEE TO~mS by Brian John Egloff A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the r equirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology Chapel Hill 1967 Approved by; Adviser BilAN JOHN EGL OP? ~n ~nal ysis of Ccra=~c: Jro~ ~ist o r ic Ch"rokee ';;01".'1'1S . (Un<i f, :::- t he direc"~ ion of JO:;'?RE L . COE . ) tribution of vz.rious cera::ic tY3les \[i-,; ::1:, -;;~_'" :)r.e:,:-o:l:ee a rea Ge orgia . Sa~ p l es of po~tery were obtz.~n~d fr .J ~hirteen historic Cherokee to\-;nc and analy c.~d ~'.:' t;-. -;;._ ,- :. .• ~l)r.t of dis- c erni ~f.) t he Sit. il2. ~ !.tics or c.lff~r2ncc~ -·r .::'..'::: .. ..;8.~': \.. '~\"<' ~ nc historic c c r~mlcs of the ;:vc r c~ :o nz o~ ~ . ~ ,~ ~ ~~~ area . .. T~c an31y~is o! cerarnic~ i:"_i...lc8. t c s ..... _.' - ..... ... .... .... 1:ri;.~rtite div' sion of -;; ae Cherokees i n~ o Lowe r, ~id~:e ~~d Overhill TOl·ms us maj or "'phe l"' cs of sccial inte ract:!..o::': ::'5 f u:-ther re - fl ect e~ i n ~h c :~ ~~:fe r ing cera ~i c trad:tio~s . O e ra ~ ~cs from the Valiey and Out Towns are similar ~o a~~ sho~ l d be ':::e Lo~';er ':'G~jr. s at the fringes of ~ he Blue Ridge ~o un t& ~ns ~av6 been s~ ron gl y in~lu e nced by ~: _ 3 ?ie t~ont COID - plica~ed sta . ped trad:.tion . The Overh:'ll To ~ns in the Gr eat Valley of TenneSSEe ~ave been doc inatcd by a ~ississip pia n s hell t ~~p~ r e d tradition . ':'::e :,:iddle To\ms ;:ave r.ad C.e ir c e ramic tradition mar:<edly affected by the cO !n-;> licatcd s~amped tradition which developed :'1'1 central Ge orgi& . To SO~E degree t he di ~fe r ence ~as casked during historic ti~es by ~he : ama ~ s tyle ~ o ri son wh1c is manifested in t he Qualla Series . -- TABLE OF CONTENT S Chapt er Page TA BLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS iii I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. PHYSIOGRAPHY 3 III. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND . 20 IV . CERAHIC ANA LYSIS 27 .,. V, SU MJ.1ARY. 68 BI BLI OGRAPHY . 76 TABLE OF ILLUSTRATIONS Page Figure 1 Profile of Ditch at Nununyi 15 Figure 2 Rim Profiles . 47 Figure 3 Regional Distribution of Cerami cs 69 Map 1 The Cherokee A r e ~ . 4 l'iap 2 Ki tuhl-ra - Surface Collection .A reas 17 Map 3 Kitc hin 'ap of Cherokee Towns .. 21 Plate I Ceramics from the Lower Towns 53 Plate II Ceramics from the Lower Towns 55 Plate III Ceramics from the Lower and Middle Towns. 57 Plate IV Ceramics from t he 1iddle Towns . 59 Plate V Ceramics from the Middle Towns . 61 Plate VI Ceramics from t he Middle Towns . 63 Plate VII Ceramics from the Vall ey and Out Towns . 65 Pl ate VIII Cer am ics from the Overhill Towns . 67 Table 1 Distribution of Ceram ics Lower Towns. · 28 Table 2 Distribution of Cer amics Middle, Valley and Ov erhill Towns . · . 29 Table 3 Distribution of Ceramics Out TOI-ms. · . 30 Tabl e 4 Distribution of Ceramic s Complicated Stamped Des i gns . 33 Table 5 Distr ibution of Rim Profiles 48 Table 6 Distribution of Rim Profiles by Ce ramic Series 49 L -_.. __ . -. _... ----.. CHAPTER I INT:lODUC ION The position , size and importance of the Cherokee Indi an in the eighteenth century is a well known story and t he subse~uent attrition and destruction of this nation, in broad outline , is e~ually well known . Under the rele ntless pr e s sure of an energetic and land- hungry pioneer population t he Cherokee Here pushed from their mountain domain . The Cherokee Hho struggled for nationalism and survival were an Ind i an t r ibe sustained by a strong cul tural tradit ion . Alth ough t he history and ethnology a r e reasonably well docu­ mented , Che r okee protohistory and prehistory have heretofore r emained negl ected and the Cherokee culture has not been placed in t he greater picture of Southeastern cultural .. de v e lo pment . The purpose of t his Hork is to present a description of Cherokee c eramics, all of which were collected from known his t oric sites upon the major trade routes . A comparison of ceramic s from the major regions of the Cherokee iation will serve as a basis upon which the direct historical approa c h may be applied i n studies deal ing with prehistoric Cherokee cer amics . Historic Cherokee ceramics have been placed in a vagu e hor i zon c a t egory which has been applied to a wide varie,y of 2 com p l exe~ in the Southeast . This paper offe~s a departure from what has been accept ed as standard terminology . Tne prodig ious "Lamaroid" classification into Hhich Che rokee c eramic s have been lumped is abandoned . In its place t .e Qualla Series has been developed and described to offer a meaningful category for historic Cherokee ceramics . Although this pape r deals primarily with historic Che r okee ceramics, dept h is given to t he study by t he in­ c l usion of prehistoric sherds . The Co nnest ee , EtoHah, Pigeon and Pisgah Series are represent ed in t he ceramics a n alyzed . In conclusion I wish to t hank Dr . Joffre L. Coe who has made available the facilities of the Research Laboratories of Anthropology , without Hhich this pape r Houl d n ot have been possible . This work is part of a at ional Science Foundat ion pr o ject which is devoted to studying the cultural and ecological base of t he Cherokee Nat ion . ." .' CRA PTER II PHYSIOGRAPHY The Cherokee were divided into distinct settlements which reflected historical factors as Hell as the physio­ graphy of the Southern Appalachian Highlands . The LOlfer TOHns were found at the foot of the Blue Ridge escarpment along t he major rivers which floH sout heast into the ktlantic Ocean . The Middle TOlfns vlere located along the headwaters and tributaries of the Little Tennessee River . The Valley TOlffiS He r e a western division of the Middle TOHns and Here grouped along the Valley, Nottely and HiHassee Rivers . The Out To;rns lay to the north of the Middle TOHns along the banks of the Tuckasegee and Oconaluftee Rivers . The Over­ hill To;rns, sometimes referred to as t he Upper To;rns, we r e founu in the Appalachian Great Valley Province . These divisions were used by the British Colonial government as a basis for establishing and controlling trade. The geographical location of the Cherokee peoples would not appear to be conducive to the fostering of a large and prosperous population. A. L. Kroeber points out that in many instances mountains acted as boundaries between abori­ ginal Americans. A mountainous area is especially limiting to cultural development when the mainstay of the culture is agriculture (Kroeber, 1963 : 95)~ The Cherokee culture is • 5 peculia r in that t developed, flourished and continue s to­ day in a mountainous area . The lush mountain valleys whose soil was enriched yearly by floods were the dominant element in determining Cherokee settlement patterns . LO WER TOyTNS The three Lower Towns with wh ich this study i s con­ cerned are located on the Tu~aloo River. He r e the \-T ide river bottoms provided adequate rich s oil for agriculture. The valley narrows considerably as one proceeds upstream from Chauga to Estatoe, "There it is 2,000 feet wide . The sides of the valley are border ed by large mountains whic h provide a local relief of approximately 600 feet . CHA UGA Chauga lies at the confluence of the Tugaloo and Chauga Rivers . It is situated on a low eminence on t he no rth bank of the Tu galoo River 1,200 f eet upstream from the mouth of the Chauga River (Ke lly and Neitzel , 1961 : 2) . Th e mound at this location was at l east twelve f eet high and had a basal dimension of over 100 fe et square, prior to r eduction during historic times . The mound and the associated village area underwent excavation by a Unive rsity of Georgia field party as a part of the Hartl,ell Basin salvage operation ( Kelly and Neit zel, 1961) . Excavation of the mo und revealed t en stages of mound construct ion. The initial stages ar e assoc iated Hit h Etol,ah c eramic s and t he final ones with Qualla ceramics . The mound displays a continuum of r ebuilding that can be clearly assp- 6 ciated with t he Cherokee (Ke lly and Neitzel , 1961 : 59 - 60 ) . In contr ast \,ith Tugalo and Estatoe, Chauga did not appear . \ to have a prolonged occupation during historic times (Kelly and Ne itze l, 1961: iii) . The pr ecise location of square 560- 70 E90- 100, which provided the c er amics f or this study is given in The Chauga Site in Oconee County, South Carolina (Kelly and Neitzel, 1960 : Pl ate 12 ). The t en foot square unit 560- 70 E90- 100 has a numbe r of intrusive elements, the l ar gest of whic h is a portion of Burial 59 .