Weeden Island Pottery

[Bow Only]

Here is a frame of Weeden Island pottery. It's Woodland dating somewhere around 500 BC. Some is later approaching the Mississipian time period. This case has Weeden Island plain, Weeden Island Incised, Weeden Island Punctate, Weeden Island Zone Red, Net Impressed, Fingernail Punctate, a scalloped flared rim, Cord Wrapped, a patch hole, Fabric Impressed, and a lot of Swift Creek Complicated Stamped. For years, I've been trying to make one of the pieces Cobb Marked but its not. It's a good representation of middle to late Woodland artifacts from the primary Woodland peoples in NW FL. There were other peoples who made other wares during this time as well. They were a different bunch.

 

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[Wes213]

could you give me some clearer pictures? I love pottery patterns. thanks

 

[Bow Only]

could you give me some clearer pictures? I love pottery patterns. thanks

I haven't opened that frame in years but I do have a pic of some of that pottery already on file. It is of the Swift Creek Complicated Stamped. A wooden paddle was carved and that design was pressed into the wet clay prior to firing. The design carved left the opposite imprint on the clay. That just means if the area is raised on the pot, it was recessed on the paddle. I have over 50 designs from one site.

 

[Mrdigz]

Bow Only,
Those are some cool examples and there's one piece towards the bottom that looked like it would of had a sick design on it. I have not been able to find much pottery throughout the years but I have found some interesting pieces related to it.
My question is if you knew of any process where bark would be peeled then have a design carved onto one side to be used as a stamp? Ive read that this method was used but I cannot find a match to what I found. It's a type of petrified bark/ fabric about 3 feet underground in a dense forested area which was once a heavily occupied area.

 

[rock]

So if they used a stamp has one ever been found? They were so artistic with their hands why not just carve on the bowls free hand with a graver?

 

[Wes213]

Wow....very cool!

 

[The Grim Reaper]

Very cool post Bow Only. I love seeing the different Pottery styles used around the country. Those are some beautiful pieces.

 

[Jon Stewart]

Good stuff Bow Only.

I have about a 5 gallon bucket of pottery that I have picked up over the years. Your frame gives me an idea what to do with some of the nicer pieces. This winter I quit picking up the plain pieces and just picked up the painted and embossed sherds.

 

[jamey]

i wish i could find some

 

[Bow Only]

Bow Only,
Those are some cool examples and there's one piece towards the bottom that looked like it would of had a sick design on it. I have not been able to find much pottery throughout the years but I have found some interesting pieces related to it.
My question is if you knew of any process where bark would be peeled then have a design carved onto one side to be used as a stamp? Ive read that this method was used but I cannot find a match to what I found. It's a type of petrified bark/ fabric about 3 feet underground in a dense forested area which was once a heavily occupied area.

The method you are describing is the paddle stamp method used by the Woodland and even Late Mississippian/Historic peoples. Bark or soft wood would be carved and used as a paddle. It would be much easier to carve a big piece of bark than wood. There is a type of pottery called Fabric Impressed but that is when they used their fabrics to wrap a wet pot to leave it's impression. I have some of those as well but not many large fragments.

So if they used a stamp has one ever been found? They were so artistic with their hands why not just carve on the bowls free hand with a graver?

The paddle stamps have not been found but Frankie Snow has been able to recreate hundreds of paddles and has been able to trace the movements of the Swift Creek people by their paddle designs. As for carving the bowls, pots get very hard and carving them actually took longer. IMO, the paddle designs represent each family with only some designs being ceremonial. The early example of a "weeping eye" comes to mind and is seen in the teardrop. Frankie has a more anthropomorphic analysis and is much more thorough. My analysis comes from one large site and thousands of shards, not entire vessels like Frankie's studies. I've found 7 fragments of the same design that appear to come from different vessels. Difficult to say 100% but it appears that way to me. When studying Native American cultures, you ask yourself "How many pots did each family unit have?" Then you ask yourself "How many pots and pans do I have?" It's an interesting conversation.

Here's a link.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276302094_Style_in_swift_creek_paddle_art