North Carolina Archaeology Volume 48 1999 1 North Carolina Archaeology (formerly Southern Indian Studies) Published jointly by The North Carolina Archaeological Society, Inc. 109 East Jones Street Raleigh, NC 27601-2807 and The Research Laboratories of Archaeology University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3120 R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr., Editor Officers of the North Carolina Archaeological Society President: Robert V. Graham, 2140 Woodland Ave., Burlington, NC 27215. Vice President: Michelle Vacca, 125 N. Elm Street, Statesville, NC 28677. Secretary: Linda Carnes-McNaughton, Historic Sites Section, N.C. Division of Archives and History, 4621 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4621. Treasurer: E. William Conen, 804 Kingswood Dr., Cary, NC 27513. Editor: R. P. Stephen Davis, Jr., Research Laboratories of Archaeology, CB 3120, Alumni Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3120. Associate Editor (Newsletter): Dee Nelms, Office of State Archaeology, N.C. Division of Archives and History, 4619 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4619. At-Large Members: Thomas Beaman, Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858. Danny Bell, 903 Greenwood Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. Wayne Boyko, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, Public Works Business Center, Environmental Projects, Fort Bragg NC, 23807-5000 Jane Brown, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723. Randy Daniel, Department of Anthropology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858. Rick Langley, M.D., N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh, NC. Information for Subscribers North Carolina Archaeology is published once a year in October. Subscription is by membership in the North Carolina Archaeological Society, Inc. Annual dues are $15.00 for regular members, $25.00 for sustaining members, $10.00 for students, $20.00 for families, $250.00 for life members, $250.00 for corporate members, and $25.00 for institutional subscribers. Members also receive two issues of the North Carolina Archaeological Society Newsletter. Membership requests, dues, subscriptions, changes of address, and back issue orders should be directed to: Dee Nelms, Office of State Archaeology, N.C. Division of Archives and History, 4619 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4619. Information for Authors North Carolina Archaeology publishes articles on the archaeology of North Carolina and neighboring states. One copy of each manuscript, with accompanying tables, figures, and bibliography, should be submitted to the Editor. Manuscripts should be double spaced with ample margins throughout. Style should conform to guidelines published in American Antiquity, vol. 57, no. 4 (October, 1992). The Editor can assist those wishing to submit a manuscript but who are unfamiliar with American Antiquity style. North Carolina Archaeology Volume 48 October 1999 CONTENTS Prehistoric Pottery: Series and Sequence on the Carolina Coast organized and compiled by Joseph M. Herbert Introduction to “Prehistoric Pottery: Series and Sequence on the Carolina Coast” Joseph M. Herbert............................................................................................. 1 Early Ceramic Traditions on the Southern Coastal Plain of North Carolina: Radiocarbon Data from 31CB114 Erica E. Sanborn and Lawrence E. Abbott, Jr.................................................. 3 Oak Island: A Retiring Series Mark A. Mathis ................................................................................................ 18 Prehistoric Pottery Taxonomy and Sequence on the Southern Coast of North Carolina Joseph M. Herbert............................................................................................ 37 Woodland Burial Mounds in the North Carolina Sandhills and Southern Coastal Plain Jeffrey D. Irwin, Wayne C. J. Boyko, Joseph M. Herbert, and Chad Braley .............................................................................................. 59 Interior Rim Impressions as an Indicator of Typological Relationships Adam Marshall................................................................................................. 87 Ceramic Types and Typology in Northeastern North Carolina: The View from the Davenport Site (31BR39) John E. Byrd..................................................................................................... 95 “Chesapeake” Pipes and Uncritical Assumptions: A View from Northeastern North Carolina Dane T. Magoon ............................................................................................. 107 About the Authors......................................................................................... 127 INTRODUCTION TO “PREHISTORIC POTTERY: SERIES AND SEQUENCE ON THE CAROLINA COAST” by Joseph M. Herbert In the summer of 1954 William G. Haag, then a relatively new faculty member in the Department of Geology and Anthropology at Louisiana State University, launched one of the first exploratory archaeological expeditions along the coast of North Carolina. Bill’s work with William S. Webb in the WPA and TVA archaeology programs and his graduate studies with James B. Griffin at the University of Michigan had developed in him a passion for prehistory and a penchant for scientific inquiry. Public interest in the archaeological research of the lost colony and Fort Raleigh was running high. When the U.S. Navy began a research project to study the natural and cultural history of the North Carolina coast, they hired Bill for the task of discovering what he could of the remains of the misbegotten Roanoke voyagers and the Indians among whom they settled. Taking the assignment to heart, Haag requisitioned a post-war jeep and a graduate-student assistant, and began a survey of coastal sites that would take the better part of four summers. Beginning with Fort Raleigh, at the present site of the Elizabethan Gardens in Manteo, they explored sites on Albemarle Sound as far west as Chowan River, east to Currituck County, and down the Outer Banks to the Cape Creek or Croatan site on Hatteras Island. Data collected those first two summers (1954–1955) were the basis of monograph titled The Archaeology of Coastal North Carolina. This eloquently written report illustrates Bill’s affinity for describing the natural environment of coastal Carolina and his understanding of its prehistoric past. His descriptions of the results of testing and surveying sites along the northern coast of North Carolina provided the foundation for the prehistoric ceramic sequence still in use today. Collections were also made during the summers of 1956 and 1957 at sites on Pamlico, Neuse, New, and Cape Fear rivers. Before he was satisfied, Bill and his assistant had surface-collected 79 sites in coastal North Carolina, 73 sites in South Carolina, and 18 in Georgia. Back in the laboratory with artifacts spread across every available tabletop, the task of making sense of those remains must have seemed daunting; however, as fate would have it, the job was cut short. Wanting to do Bill a favor and to impress the Navy with the great research Bill was doing, a university administrator invited a visiting admiral to visit the archaeology facility. After patiently touring the lab the admiral turned to Bill and said, “Do you mean to tell me that the Navy is paying for all these rocks? Well, not any more!” Sure enough, it wasn’t long before funding for the project was withdrawn, effectively eliminating the possibility for further analysis and publication. 1 NORTH CAROLINA ARCHAEOLOGY [Vol. 48, 1999] Archaeology on the Carolina coast (and Federal policy regarding the funding of archaeological research) has come a long way since that first jeep survey. But our imaginations are still fired by traces of ancient cultures amidst an environment unique in its beauty and resources. The challenges of unraveling the tangled evidence of prehistoric Native American peoples are no less daunting, but the way has been substantially smoothed by the hard work of previous researchers. In the spirit of this quest and in celebration of Bill Haag’s initial explorations, a symposium was organized at the Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in Greenville, South Carolina. Bill was not able to attend the symposium, but he welcomed Bennie Keel into his home for a videotaped interview. Thanks to Bill and Bennie, the tape was aired at the 1998 conference along with a wonderful assortment of slides that Bill took during his survey. Needless to say, it was very warmly received. The symposium papers reflect some of the most important current research of coastal North Carolina prehistory. Six of these papers are published as articles in this volume of North Carolina Archaeology, as a tribute to the pioneering efforts of William G. Haag. The remainder will appear in the next volume. The articles that appear here are arranged roughly in order of the age of their archaeological subjects, from early to late, and geographically from south to north. Erica Sanborn and Lea Abbott begin with a description of the Riegelwood site in Columbus County and pottery found in contexts that produced several surprisingly early radiocarbon dates. Mark Mathis presents the data that have led him to call for retiring the shell-tempered Oak Island series and describes the ramifications of this proposed retirement. Joe Herbert reviews pottery taxonomies for the lower Cape Fear basin and presents several recently obtained thermo- luminescence