Courtesy Photo | This is an example of Madison cord-impressed pottery found at a past archaeological...... read more read more
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Pre-contact pottery or ceramics, made by Native Americans, are an important time indicator at archaeological sites and have been found at Fort McCoy during more than 30 years of archaeological work. Pottery first appears in Wisconsin approximately 2,500 years ago during the Woodland cultural period (500 B.C. to A.D. 1200).
Woodland pottery has a tempering agent of sand or crushed rock (grit) mixed with the clay that helps prevent shrinking and cracking during the drying and firing process.
The designs or decorations on pottery change through time. Potters have used many methods of creating decorations, including fingernails, sharp tools, rope, cord-wrapped sticks, or stamps. Archaeologists use the type of temper and designs on ceramics to determine their age.
The Woodland cultural period is divided into three time periods: early, middle, and late. Each period's pottery has identifying characteristics, such as vessel form and decoration. Generally, Early Woodland (500 B.C. to A.D. 100) vessels are thick and straight-walled with a flat bottom.
Middle Woodland (A.D. 100 to 500) vessels tend to be elongated jars with a conical base.
Late Woodland (A.D. 500 to 1200) vessels are globular with a conical to rounded bottom. The earliest Woodland vessels held about half a gallon, while more recent Woodland pots held two to three gallons.
Ceramic vessels were used for cooking and storing food items. Ceramics were similar to today's pots and pans for cooking or plastic containers for storage.
The vessel pictured is known as Madison cord-impressed pottery. Madison cord-impressed ceramics are characteristic of the Eastman phase of the Mature Late Woodland in western Wisconsin. This ceramic type dates to A.D. 700 to 1000. Madison ware ceramics typically have a rounded body with a neck narrower than the body, thin walls, and sometimes an outward-flaring rim. The base of the vessel is conical to round. The temper used in the clay is a fine, crushed grit.
The decorations on this vessel were made with a variety of cords and tools such as sharpened sticks or bone. Decoration is typically found on the rim, the neck, and the shoulder of the vessel. The rim has punctations, then the neck of the vessel has two horizontal cord impressions followed by two zones of alternating left and right cord impressions.
Each zone is separated by a smoothed band with horizontal cord impressions above and below it. The last decorative element consists of two rows of parallel punctations.
All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was coordinated by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals. Anyone who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any historic or prehistoric site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.
The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch at 608-388-8214.
(Article prepared by Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands.)
| Date Taken: | 04.26.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.26.2018 15:32 |
| Story ID: | 274683 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 260 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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