HOUSTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

SOUTHEAST TEXAS ARCHEOLOGY


INTRODUCTION

Pottery started around A.D. 100 in the Galveston Bay area ( Aten 1983:Figure 14.1), probably as a westard diffusion from Louisiana. Aten and Bollich (1969) note that pottery started earlier in the Sabine Lake area at the Texas-Louisiana border, possibly by 70B.C. (Aten 1983:297). The use of pottery seems to have diffused slowly, first along the eastern portion of the coastal margin in Southeast Texas and then inland.

Most research in ceramics in Southeast Texas has concentrated on analyses to establish chronological sequences. As can be seen in the chronological chart below, ceramic types do not help much in determining the time period of a specific archeological site. This section of Southeast Texas Archeology will focus on the manufacture and uses of ceramics.


HOW CERAMICS WERE MADE

Little research has been done on the actual manufacturing process, such as clay sources, firing techniques, etc. Black (1988) has conducted experiments to replicate Goose Creek pottery. He notes that pottery in this region was typically made by coiled contruction with rounded pot bottoms. He also notes that firing of pottery with a wood fire will generally not be hot enough to cause vitrification but the ware will be water tight. The vessels are usually cone shaped, with occasional cylindrical shapes (Patterson, 1990d).

TEMPERING

The temper materials used in Southeast Texas include coarse sand, grog, and crushed bone. There is also untempered pottery. Tchefuncte was made from fine clay, and Goose Creek, which was made from a natural fine sand clay. Different materials can be used to temper Southeast Texas ceramics. Not all materials are suitable for cooking pottery, which have to endure long periods of exposure to high temperatures.

Shell tempering is very rare at coastal margin sites, even though there was a lot of shell available. Shell tempering was very popular in the Mississippian Culture of the Mississippi valley. Why shell was not used in this area may have been a cultural choice, or there may be technical reasons why shell tempering was not used. It may have been that Rangia did not make a good tempering material, the local clays did not interract well with Rangia shell, or special firing techniques were needed that were beyond the capabilities of the locals. We know now that temperature control is vital (O'Brien and Holland 1992:51) to making shell tempered pottery.

Bone added to clay makes durable ceramics suitable to cooking. It was found, however, that the bone had to be burned to make it friable before crushing and adding to the paste (Brewington 1992:4). Brewington also found the bone temper in sherds from archeological site range in color from black to white. The bone temper within the vessel wall remains a dark color, while the bone temper on the vessel surfaces turn white, due to the higher temperature.

Ceramics with sand temper occur throughout Southeast Texas from the beginning of the Early Ceramic era.

Grog tempered ceramics contain crushed pieces of pottery in the paste. Pieces of a broken pot are pulverized or ground, then mixed into the paste. Grog tempering produces very durable ceramics. All grog tempered pottery occurs in the Late Prehistoric in Southeast Texas ( Aten 1983:Figure 14.1).

FIRING

The degree of firing plays a large role in a piece's durability. Poorly fired pottery, common in the inland regions of Southeast Texas, are quite friable, sometimes deteriorating where it lies.

THICKNESS

 

HOW CERAMICS WERE USED

The uses of pottery by hunter/gatherers in Southeast Texas are not well understood. Some possible uses for pottery are cooking, water storage, and food storage. Imagine a 5" or 6" tall piece of pottery, filled to overflowing with acorns. Them's good eats!

Pottery may have been important for water storage on the coastal margin, because of the lack of fresh water sources. Boiling shellfish and other marine foods may have been another important use on the coastal margin. Cooking on an open fire requires the vessel be well-fired, tempered with a material thermally similar to the paste.

Inland, pottery was mainly used for food and water storage, but seldom for cooking.

It doesn't seem likely that pottery was used for carrying items. The bulk and weight of the vessels don't lend themselves to this use. But if the vessels couldn't be carried long distances, did these people, living a nomadic life, have to make new ceramics at every camp?

 

Warning! the information below is incomplete and possibly probably incorrect.

Temper

Paste

Surface Treatment

Other Characteristics

Ware

None

Sandy

Various or none Round bottom, rimmed. Most common type in SE Texas Goose Creek Plain and Incised
Low to Moderate Grog Fine sand Various or none   San Jacinto Plain and Incised
Abundant Grog Fine sand     Baytown
Bone     Not common Bone Tempered
None Fine clay with some fine sand   Rare. May be a Tchefuncte variant Mandeville
None Fine clay Stamped occurs rarely Rare Tchefuncte
Coarse Sand Sandy   Similar to Goose Creek O'Neal Plain
None Sandy   Very similar to Goose Creek. Found mainly west of San Bernard River. Rather rare Rockport Plain
Sandy Incised Very similar to Goose Creek Rockport Incised
Sandy Asphalt Similar to Goose Creek Rockport Asphalt Decorated

 

Western

Central

Eastern

Inland
Coastal
Inland
Coastal
Inland
Coastal

Sites

Sherds

Sites

Sherds

Sites

Sherds

Sites

Sherds

Sites

Sherds

Sites

Sherds

Goose Creek Plain

51

3586

11

2062

107

13022

24

36747

19

13141

90

15541

Goose Creek Incised

12

43

3

6

26

264

17

2164

10

183

39

413

Goose Creek Stamped

0

0

0

0

5

9

3

11

1

1

5

5

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This Page Last Updated:
June 29, 2004

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