Petrographic studies of Northwestern Plains ceramics

Abstract

The value of petrographic analysis as a tool for investigating ceramic ecology was outlined and its specific application to pottery from the Northwestern Plains was tested. Body sherds from surface collections and excavated sites in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana were examined petrographically. Eighty-three thin sections were analysed, using stratigraphically controlled material from the Morkin Site, DlPk 2, Alberta, as a base. It was determined that potters of the nomadic bison-hunting tribes adhered to a generalized ceramic technological tradition. The widespread use of alluvial clays and crushed granitic rock temper produced a soft porous pot adapted to cooking over an open fire. At the Morkin Site correlations existed between the surface finish of the pots and the raw materials used (specific types of clay and granitic temper).