essay

Cultural interaction within Swift Creek society: people, pots and paddles

world engraved : archaeology of the swift creek cultureTuscaloosaPublished In 1998 • Pages: 130-153

By: Stoltman, James B., Snow, Frankie.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The goal of this study was to use petrographic analyses to evaluate the between-site distribution of designs to determine whether it was the pots or the paddles that had circulated between communities. Sixty-nine sherds from eleven sites were studied. Stoltmand and Snow found that both pots and paddles had moved between the communities. 'One surprising finding was the recognition of metamorphic rock temper in vessels from seven sites, all of which are located on the Coastal Plain well removed from the Piedmont where such rocks must have originated.' (page 24). This could mean finished vessels came from the Piedmont area or the rocks for the temper were obtained either by trade of travel. The authors speculate the 'circulation of paddles involves the physical movement of potters. [Such as] the movement of a newly married potter from one community to another…' (page 152) or the seasonal movement of the community. The circulation of vessels 'is more likely to have been associated with …gift giving or ritual feasting…' (page 152).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Ceramic technology
Internal trade
Inter-community relations
traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Eastern Middle Woodland
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2005
RegionThe area the document pertains to
North America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Eastern Woodlands
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Archaeologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Sarah Berry ; 2003
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
not specified
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
Swift Creek
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Hartford site (9PU1) and Milamo site (9WL1), south Georgia, United States
NotesAdditional notes
James B. Stoltman and Frankie Snow
For bibliographical references see 9: Williams and Elliot
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
98009001
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Woodland culture