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Pottery is an amazing artifact. There are many types, all with different designs or no design at all. Designs come from the potter’s imagination or his beliefs. All have different tempers, some of grit or small pebbles, some of Spanish Moss that has burned away, leaving only a trace of its existence. Some types are tempered with sand and some with clay; others with what some would call no temper at all, only to discover that there are small, microscopic sponge spicules that hold it together.
Think about this. Pottery is a lot like people. Each one was fashioned by the Potter’s hand, each uniquely designed from the Potter’s heart. Some were designed for daily use while others were designed for special occasions and celebration. All were tempered, but all have a different temperament. How has the Potter designed you and tempered you? What was His special plan and purpose? We are clay in His hands. Many are like much of the pottery we find, broken and discarded by the world, but there is still hope. Like the pot sherds that were broken and cast aside, then recovered and rounded into gaming stones to become the center of joy in an Indian’s life, our broken lives can be renewed to become the center of joy in the Potter’s heart.
For more detailed information on these and other pottery types within the Southeastern United States, please see our “Publications” page to order Lloyd Schroder’s Field Guide to Southeastern Indian Pottery (Revised & Expanded).
This amazing new book contains over 500 pottery types, each explained in very readable terms with thousands of illustrations and maps of distribution. The volume has earned the acilades of senior archaeologists like David Anderson of the University of Tennessee and well-known Georgia archaeologist Jerald Ledbetter. No serious student of archaeology should be without it.
RESEARCH:This type was named by Frank Schnell, Jim Knight, and Gail Schnell after their work at the Cemochechobee site in Clay County in 1981.[i]
TEMPER: This is a sand-tempered type.
SURFACE DECORATION: The decoration on these vessels consists of multiple incised lines below the lip. The multiple lines separate multiple bands of diagonal or chevron-shaped lines within the bands. The decoration design covers the entire vessel exterior. The spaces between and within the chevrons may be painted or plain. Punctated designs are also known.
VESSEL FORMS: These are small, ceremonial vessels from the Cemochechobee mound site. They are cup-sized cylindrical beakers to slightly out-slanted vessels with flat bottoms and rounded lips.
CHRONOLOGY: This pottery belongs to the Middle Mississippian period.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This pottery is known from the Cemochechobee site in Clay County, Georgia, but may be discovered along the Lower Chattahoochee River valley.
[i] Schnell, Frank T., Vernon J. Knight, Jr., and Gail S. Schnell, Cemochechobee Archaeology of a Mississippian Ceremonial Center on the Chattahoochee River, University Presses of Florida, Gainesville 1981
RESEARCH: Gordon Willey and Philip Phillips named this type in 1944.[i] Willey and Phillips did their research at the Crystal River mounds site in Citrus County, Florida.
TEMPER: Negative Painted pottery was done on sand tempered paste.
SURFACE DECORATION: The resist-dye process was used whereby the design was brought out in the natural buff color of the vessel by applying a black dye that filled in the background. The known designs on five known vessels include a running scroll with inter-spaced dots (above right), a running volute with inter-spaced dots and a dotted border band, nested triangles and chevrons, and a series of separate horizontal U-shaped elements (above left).
VESSEL FORMS: Known forms are flattened-globular jars with flared collars and flattened-globular bowls.
CHRONOLOGY: Crystal River pottery has been assigned to the Middle Woodland, Santa Rosa Swift Creek period.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: The Crystal River site is located along the west coast of Florida where three of the five known vessels were recovered. One of the remaining two was recovered from the Warrior River, mound B, in Taylor County, Florida. The final example was recovered from the Green Point site in Franklin County, Florida. Other examples may be present from Franklin to Citrus counties along the Gulf Coast.
Willey, Gordon R. and Philip Phillips. Negative Painted Pottery from Crystal River, Florida. American Antiquity 10 (2):173-185.
RESEARCH: Gordon R. Willey named this type for examples from the Crystal River mound site in Citrus County, Florida. Ripley Bullen discussed a variant (above right) that was not painted and that might be named Crystal River Punctated as a Florida type, but he does not seem to have formally defined it, nor did Willey mention it. This type is named for the Crystal River mound site in Citrus County, Florida.
TEMPER: Sand was used as temper in this type.
SURFACE DECORATION: Incised lines are deep and punctations are round dots. Lines have ragged edges suggesting that they were done after the vessel had been sun dried but before firing. The designs are a combination of lobate forms and circles, rectilinear flags, cruciform arrangements, points attached to lobate or circular elements, and pendant loops. Large dots often fill incised line formations. The designs are often connected to form more complex designs. Some natural forms such as hands, faces and birds appear while other forms do not appear to be natural. Designs are usually suspended from the rim, but may cover the entire vessel.
VESSEL FORMS: Known forms include flattened-globular jars, cylindrical beakers, double-globed vessels, collared jars, and composite-silhouette jars. Rims may remain unmodified, have a slight flange, or be folded.
CHRONOLOGY: Crystal River pottery has been assigned to the Middle Woodland, Santa Rosa Swift Creek period.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: The Crystal River site is located along the west coast of Florida, but examples have been recovered as far away as the Leake site in Bartow County, Georgia (above right).
RESEARCH: John Goggin used this name in listing the St. Johns ware types (1952).[i] Willey described Biscayne Red as essentially the same ware. Both Goggin and Willey describe this ware from Middle Woodland, Weeden Island related sites throughout peninsular Florida with a concentration in the St. Johns region.
TEMPER: The diatomaceous earth used for tempering in this type was filled with microscopic sponge spicules that served to hold the paste together.
SURFACE DECORATION: This type is essentially St. Johns Plain with a red slip on either the interior or exterior or both.
VESSEL FORMS: Willey described large shallow wash-basin like bowls as the dominate form, but added that flattened-globular bowls also existed. The lips are rounded or flat-rounded. Many of these vessels were made for mortuary purposes and had a basal perforation or “kill hole” made into the bottom of the vessel that was finished as smoothly as the mouth of the vessel.
CHRONOLOGY: This type belongs to the Middle Woodland, St. Johns I & II periods and also may be related to the Weeden Island I period.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type has a similar distribution to St. Johns Plain, but appears to be more common in certain sections of the St. Johns River valley.
[i] Goggin, John M. Space and Time Perspective in Northern St. Johns Archaeology, Florida, Yale University Press, 1952, p.99
RESEARCH: Tomas M.N. Lewis and Madeline Kneberg named the Dallas pottery types in 1946.[i] Lewis and Kneberg did their research on Hiwassee Island, Tennessee. This type was named for the old town of Dallas, Tennessee, now at the bottom of Chickamauga Lake.
TEMPER: Fine to medium particles of crushed shell was used as temper in this type. Paste color ranges from light to dark gray, light and dark brown, and brick red.
SURFACE DECORATION: Decoration on this type consists of negative painting by using the natural buff color of the vessel contrasted against the application of a black dye that was used as filler for the background. The color is light to dark gray, light and dark brown, and brick red.
VESSEL FORMS: Known vessel forms include water bottles, shallow open bowls and small globular jars.
CHRONOLOGY: Dallas pottery belongs to the Late Mississippi period associated with Dallas and Mouse Creek phases in Tennessee and the Barnett phase in northwestern Georgia.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Dallas pottery is found in eastern Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, western South Carolina and northeastern Alabama.
Lewis, Thomas M.N. and Madeline Kneberg. Hiwassee Island An Archaeological Account of Four Tennessee Indian Peoples, University of Tennessee Press, 1946
Etowah Indian Mounds collection
RESEARCH: This type was named after the Etowah Indian Mounds by William Sears in 1958.
TEMPER: Fine sand was used as temper for this pottery.
SURFACE DECORATION: The surface of the vessels were covered with a black wash in much the same way that the Middle Mississippian Moundville Black and Moundville Filmed Incised vessels were. Other decoration is known to include indentation similar to that of Moundville Engraved-Indented, rim notching and the addition of effigy figures.
VESSEL FORM: Known vessel forms include bottles, jars, plates, and bowls with flaring rims. Other elaborate shapes also occur. Appendages in the form of horizontal lugs are known.
CHRONOLOGY: The Etowah type belongs to the Middle Mississippian, Etowah period. Associated point types might include Mississippian Triangular and Guntersville points.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type originated at the Etowah site in northwestern Georgia but was spread in small quantities by the Etowah people throughout Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and probably western North and South Carolina.
Etowah Indian Mounds collections
RESEARCH: This type was named after the Etowah Indian Mounds by William Sears in 1958.
TEMPER: Like most of the Etowah pottery that was intended to be painted, fine sand was used as temper to produce a smooth even surface.
SURFACE DECORATION: The surface, with the exception of the complete coating of red wash, was left free of any decoration.
VESSEL FORM: Known vessel forms include wide-mouth conoidal jars, globular jars, rounded bowls, and cylindrical or barrel-shaped vases. Rim forms include flared, vertical, out-curved, and in-sloping rims.
CHRONOLOGY: The Etowah type belongs to the Middle Mississippian, Etowah period. Associated point types might include Mississippian Triangular and Guntersville points.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type originated at the Etowah site in northwestern Georgia but was spread in small quantities by the Etowah people throughout Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and western North and South Carolina.
RESEARCH: Thomas M.N. Lewis and Madeline Kneberg named this type in 1970.[i] Lewis and Kneberg did their research of this type at the Hiwassee Island site in the Hiwassee River in eastern Tennessee.
TEMPER: Fine to medium crushed shell was used as tempered in this pottery.
SURFACE DECORATION: The surface is smoothed and plain, with iron oxide paint covering the exterior and sometimes the interior vessel walls.
VESSEL FORMS: Known vessel forms include shallow bowls and bottles. The rims are straight or incurved and occasionally are thickened by a round fold. Flared rims rising to points are also known to exist. Long-necked bottle rims and blank face effigy bottle rims also occur. Effigy forms are attached to the vessel rims.
CHRONOLOGY: This is an Early to Middle Mississippian period pottery type.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type occurs in eastern Tennessee, northeastern Alabama, western North Carolina, extreme western South Carolina and northwestern Georgia.
[i] Lewis, Thomas M.N. and Madeline Kneberg. Hiwassee Island An Archaeological Account of Four Tennessee Indian Peoples, University of Tennessee Press, 1946
RESEARCH: Thomas M.N. Lewis and Madeline Kneberg named this type in 1970.[i] Lewis and Kneberg did their research of this type at the Hiwassee Island site in the Hiwassee River in eastern Tennessee.
TEMPER: Fine to medium crushed shell was used as tempered in this pottery.
SURFACE DECORATION: The surface of this type is covered with a painted design in red oxide paint on a plain buff surface background.
VESSEL FORMS: Vessel forms are shallow bowl shapes with rims that are incurved or flared and thickened and rounding.
CHRONOLOGY: This is an Early to Middle Mississippian period pottery type.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type occurs in eastern Tennessee, northeastern Alabama, western North Carolina, extreme western South Carolina and northwestern Georgia.
[i] Lewis, Thomas M.N. and Madeline Kneberg. Hiwassee Island An Archaeological Account of Four Tennessee Indian Peoples, University of Tennessee Press, 1946
RESEARCH: Jesse Jennings and Charles Fairbanks named this type in 1940. The use of this name was dropped in Florida in favor of Mission Red Filmed at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in 1968, however this name continues to be used in Georgia. The type was named for the Creek Indian town of Kasita near Columbus, Georgia.
TEMPER: This pottery was grit tempered.
SURFACE DECORATION: The otherwise plain surface was covered with a red film wash. There have also been some reported black or white painted sherds. Painted designs are curvilinear or infrequently rectilinear or triangular forms. Some solid triangular red areas with black lines separating them have also been reported on an otherwise buff surface.
VESSEL FORMS: Known vessel forms include flattened globular jars with flaring rims. Some plates and cups appear to copy or be influenced by European wares. Some Spanish-styled “soup bowls” and casuela bowls are known, all with flaring or horizontal rims. Lips are rounded or flattened and occasionally notched.
CHRONOLOGY: This pottery was made by Creek Indians and belongs to the Historic Spanish mission period dating between 1675 1725 A.D.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This pottery can be found from the Oconee River area of central Georgia to eastern Alabama and the mission system of north-central Florida.
RESEARCH: Originally defined by H.G. Smith from sites in Jefferson County, Florida in 1948, Gordon Willey discussed it in 1949.[i]
TEMPER: This is a grit-tempered pottery with a smooth, highly polished surface.
SURFACE DECORATION: Plate forms are decorated with interior, red painted zones (above). Cup and small jar forms are painted with a red slip on all surfaces and highly burnished.
VESSEL FORM: Known forms include the most common plate form that has an annular ring base, a cup form and small jars.
CHRONOLOGY: This is a Historic period, mission pottery related to Kasita Red Filmed and other types of painted mission period pottery.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Mission Red pottery is identified among mission sites from Leon and Jefferson counties to the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia.
[i] Willey, Gordon R., Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast, Bureau of American Ethnology Smithsonian Institution, 1949, p.490
C.B. Moore
RESEARCH: The St. Johns series of pottery was defined by John Goggin in 1952[i] from his work in sites along the St. Johns River, for which this series is named, and throughout south Florida.
TEMPER: St. Johns pottery is tempered with diatomaceous earth or soft silky clay that has microscopic fresh water sponge spicules in it that act as temper. The sherds of pottery have a soft, chalky texture, referred to as “chalky ware” as early as 1891, so that the ware can be recognized by feel alone. There was an increasing amount of sand in sherds of this type from late St. Johns II sites.
SURFACE DECORATION: This vessel, prepared specifically for mortuary purposes, was painted with a red slip that was zoned, allowing the natural buff color of the vessel to serve as the remaining decorative color. The red slip is often so weathered that it is difficult to distinguish from plain pottery.
VESSEL FORMS: The known vessel forms are usually large bowls, jars (pictured above) was designed with a basal perforation or “kill hole” for mortuary purposes. It is a globular jar with an incurved, simple rim. The basal portion is incurving with a short, but incurving collar.
CHRONOLOGY: This type appeared briefly during the St. Johns Ia period.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: St. Johns Red on Buff pottery is known only from Volusia County, Florida.
[i] Goggin, John M., Space and Time Perspective in Northern St. Johns Archaeology, Florida, Yale University Press, 1952, p.90-105
RESEARCH: This type was named by Gordon Willey in 1949.[i]
TEMPER: Temper in this pottery consisted of fine sand with only rare coarser particles in the form of grit or lumps of clay. Micah is observed in most sherds.
SURFACE DECORATION: Willey’s description of Weeden Island Plain pottery notes the use of red paint. Red paint of a carmine shade has been used as a slip on many specimens. Painted surfaces were nearly all of a natural buff surface. The paint had the appearance of a “fugitive” red as it is worn and in some cases, almost completely obliterated. Nevertheless, it does not rub off and appears to have been fixed by firing, so the term “fugitive” does not properly apply. In some cases the paint was applied only to the interiors of opened bowls; in others, the interior and the lip and vessel were painted red with vessel exterior left unpainted;
VESSEL FORMS: Vessels of this type were similar to Weeden Island Plain vessels including medium-deep hemispherical and shallow open bowls. Bowls with in-curving sides vary from those which are only slightly in-curved to others which are flattened-globular forms. There are also jars with simple or short collars, long-collars, and with squared collars.
CHRONOLOGY: This is a Middle and Late Woodland, Weeden Island I and II period pottery type.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type appears along the entire Florida Gulf Coast area into southern Georgia, northeastern Florida and Alabama.
[i] Gordon R., Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast, Bureau of American Ethnology Smithsonian Institution, 1949, p.440
RESEARCH: This type was named by Gordon Willey in 1949.[i] Willey’s research included Weeden Island period sites from the northwestern coast of Florida to Tampa Bay, Florida.
TEMPER: Fine sand was used as temper in this type with only rare coarser particles in the form of grit or lumps of clay. Micah is observed in most sherds.
SURFACE DECORATION: Decoration on this type consisted of incised lines and large triangular punctuations made in sun-dried but unfired clay. Red pigment was applied before the firing process was done. Usually, a light red to carmine shade of red was then applied to the surface. Bands or zones of paint were outlined with fine incised lines. The lines are sometimes ornamented with deep triangular punctuations. Bands or zones may form chevrons, triangles, loops, lobate forms, or circles. Zones or backgrounds to the zones are colored with red pigment. Designs appear only on the vessel exterior.
VESSEL FORMS: Vessel forms include flattened globular bowls, cylindrical beakers, human-effigy vessels, and gourd-effigy vessels. Rims seem to be unmodified and lips are rounded. Bases are round or flat. No appendages have been observed.
CHRONOLOGY: This type belongs to the Middle to Late Woodland, Weeden Island I and II periods.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This is not a common type, but seems to be found from the northwestern coast of Florida to as far South as Hillsboro County, Florida.
[i] Gordon R., Archaeology of the Florida Gulf Coast, Bureau of American Ethnology Smithsonian Institution, 1949, p.440
RESEARCH: William Sears named this type in 1958.[i] This type was named for the Wilbanks site located in Cherokee County, Georgia prior to the formation of Lake Allatoona.
TEMPER: This is grit-tempered pottery with very thick walls.
SURFACE DECORATION: The exterior surface of this type is covered with a red slip.
VESSEL FORMS: The only known vessel form is an elongated jar shape. The vessel rims are moderately flared. The lips are rounded or squared.
CHRONOLOGY: This type belongs to the Middle Mississippian, Wilbanks period.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type is found in northwestern Georgia along the Etowah River valley and may appear in extreme northeastern Alabama, southeastern Tennessee, or western South Carolina.
[i] Williams, Mark. Georgia Indian Pottery web site
