Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2004 Measuring Tradition and Variation: A St. Johns II Pottery Assemblage from the Shields Site (8DU12) Vicki L. Rolland Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MEASURING TRADITION AND VARIATION: A ST. JOHNS II POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE SHIELDS SITE (8DU12) By VICKI L. ROLLAND A Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2004 The members of the committee approve the thesis of Vicki L. Rolland defended on December 18, 2003. _____________________________ Rochelle Marrinan Professor Directing Thesis _____________________________ Rebecca A. Saunders Committee Member _____________________________ Glen Doran Committee Member Approved: __________________________________ Dean Falk, Chair, Department of Anthropology The office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii To Jeff and Meaghan Rolland, and Jeff one more time for good measure iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are three women who have been my excellent teachers and my excellent friends. They have always freely shared their time and offered me encouragement. The following pages resonate with their ideas, their knowledge, and their desire to uncover and understand the process of pottery construction, continuity, and change. Thank you to Rebecca Saunders, Rochelle Marrinan, and Ann Cordell. I thank Keith Ashley for his curiosity, patience, and energy, all of which have often provided me with ample inspiration and determination. No one places the bar higher than Dr. Ashley and it has been my honor to participate in the Shields project. Once again I thank Jeff and Meaghan. This has been a very long and winding road and never once did they complain about time spent away on projects near and far—time that could have been spent on activities more pertinent to our family life. But here we are, and we have survived it all. Thank you to my committee, Rochelle Marrinan, Rebecca Saunders, and Glen Doran. All three are fine teachers and motivators who encourage looking at new approaches to analysis and interpretation. Also thank you to Lisa Beverly at the graduate office who guided me through the intricacies of finishing the thesis paperwork. A special and heartfelt thank you goes to Mr. and Mrs. Kinzey Reeves who have protected the property around Shields Mound. An unknown number of sites along the south bank of the St. Johns River have been impacted or destroyed by pothunters or developers, but the integrity of the Shields site was apparent from the first shovel load. The Reeves maintain a beautiful yard and rose garden, yet they allowed gangs of scoundrel archaeologists to return again and again disturbing their yard and their quiet weekends. The Reeves are true patrons of Florida history and Southeastern Archaeology. The Shields excavations were unfunded. Many UNF students, neighborhood folks, and other volunteers participated and helped make the Shields project an outstanding contribution to Florida archaeology. Access to the Shields site and the surrounding iv properties were greatly aided by Walter Wells. Walter and his fellow members of the Northeastern Florida Archaeological Society, Michael Tarlton, David Bishop, and James Freel were highly instrumental in the excavations and in the guiding of new recruits as to exactly what was and what was not an artifact. Thanks again to Ann Cordell who allowed me to use the Florida Museum of Natural History ceramics lab for the refiring experiment. Thanks also to Greg Heide who guided me through a variety of computer and graphics problems. Finally, I thank my dad, Dale Mortimer, who has throughout his life set an example for hard work and perseverance. All of us have a great deal to live up to. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures.................................................................................................................. xiii Abstract..............................................................................................................................xv 1. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................1 2. COUNTINUITY AND CHANGES IN CERAMIC TRADITIONS, FUNCTIONS AND INFORMATION ...........................................................................8 Shields’ Socio-political Organization...............................................................9 Theories of Ceramic Change and Continuity..................................................10 Non-local Pottery and Mixed Assemblages...................................................13 Discard and Scale...........................................................................................17 Summary........................................................................................................21 3. THE SHIELDS SITE AND ST. JOHNS II CULTURE................................................23 St. Johns II Occupation of the Lower St. Johns River Basin.........................23 The Shields Burial and Ceremonial Center ...................................................25 Excavations at the Shields Site .....................................................................28 Organization of the Site into Ten Subareas ...................................................32 Dating the Middens.......................................................................................36 4. METHODS AND DEFINITIONS.................................................................................38 Defining Paste Groups: Tempering and Aplastic Agents..............................39 Definitions of Surface Treatments.................................................................44 Summary........................................................................................................57 5. PASTE ANALYSIS.......................................................................................................58 Paste Groups .................................................................................................58 Spatial Distribution of Paste Groups and Subgroups....................................67 6. VESSEL FORMS, CONSTRUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION..................................75 Forms and Orifice Measurements...............................................................76 Vessel Forms and Wall Thickness..............................................................88 Vessel Surface Treatment and Wall Thickness ..........................................89 Vessel Thickness Experiment: Smaller and Larger than 2 cm ...................91 Special Form Modification .........................................................................92 vi 7. SURFACE TREATMENTS ......................................................................................... 96 Distribution of Plain Sherds: Spiculate, Sand, and Sand-Grog Tempers . 97 Non-spiculate Vessels Surface Treatments............................................... 98 St. Johns Vessels Surface Treatments......................................................101 St. Johns Check-Stamped.........................................................................104 St. Johns Plain..........................................................................................107 Comparing Vessel Sizes and Surface Treatment.....................................110 8. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY UTILIZATION OF POTTERY.............................115 Primary Use-Wear ...................................................................................115 Secondary Use-Wear ...............................................................................128 Discussion................................................................................................131 9. REFIRED SHERD STUDY ........................................................................................132 What Refiring Experiments Reveal ..........................................................132 Refiring Procedure...................................................................................134 Study Sample ............................................................................................135 Results......................................................................................................135 Shields Test Units: Stratigraphic Comparisons .......................................145 Discussion................................................................................................146 Conclusion ...............................................................................................149 10. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................151 APPENDIX A..................................................................................................................157 Midden or shovel test group: surface treatment and thickness East Group ...............................................................................................158 West Group ..............................................................................................159 West Bluff Group.....................................................................................160