Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8368-3473
Date Available
12-1-2024
Year of Publication
2024
Document Type
Doctoral Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
College
Arts and Sciences
Department/School/Program
Anthropology
Advisor
Richard W. Jefferies
Abstract
The Mission period in the southeastern United States (beginning around 1565 AD) was characterized by dramatic social and demographic change. Coastal tribes, which include the Guale, Mocama, Orista, and Yamasee, among others, were simultaneously faced with the challenge of negotiating new relationships with Europeans and the global economy, the spread of new diseases, an influx of refugees displaced by violence, and the threat of increasingly prevalent slave raiding. Since most historical documents about this region were written by Spanish men, the experience of Native American women has been neglected. This project addresses this disparity by focusing specifically on one of the products of the everyday activities of women and the importance and stability of the networks of learning that developed among women around the practice of pottery production. This project emphasizes the stability of these communities, and the choices made by female potters to demonstrate that these women were agents of change and to counter dominant narratives that depict Native Americans as passive victims of an unstoppable colonial force. To what extent were southeastern indigenous potters able to maintain their communities of practice in the face of social turbulence and demographic change? How did they maintain these communities? In what ways were they altered or disrupted? These issues are addressed through the analysis of pottery from four cultural sites located in coastal Georgia and South Carolina – Darein Bluff (9Mc10), Sapelo Island (9Mc23), Pueblo North (9Li2117) and Altamaha Town (36Bu20/1206 and 38Bu1836/1837). Comparisons of pottery attributes from pre- and post-1660 assemblages from these sites reveal that women throughout this region were likely closely connected through the practice of pottery production. This determination is supported by petrographic analysis of a small sample of sherds from each site. While it is clear that some elements of pottery production changed during this period, it appears that the social relationships between potters did not. Despite the documented political and demographic turmoil that took place after 1660, it appears that Guale women were able to maintain communities of practice around pottery production which spanned multiple Guale towns. Stability in many elements of pottery production is also documented.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2024.467
Funding Information
This study was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. 2225897).
Recommended Citation
Straub, Elizabeth, "An Archaeological Investigation of Communities of Practice among Coastal Georgia Potters" (2024). Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology. 70.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/anthro_etds/70