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RESEARCH: Bennie Keel defined this type as an annular or segmented coil pottery that was built on a conical, disc, or tabular base. Keel’s description of this type was based on his research in sites in western North Carolina.
TEMPER: Connestee Brushed pottery was tempered with fine to medium sand with small amounts of crushed quartz occasionally mixed in. The sand often contained mica naturally, but it was not purposefully mixed in. The surface was smooth, but sandy to the touch with a light tan to dark brown exterior, with darker colors being more predominant.
SURFACE DECORATION: Brushing was done with twigs or a sinew-wrapped paddle. Brush strokes were predominantly parallel to the rim, but were also found vertical or diagonal to the rim. Brush strokes are unevenly spaced and measured between .2 and 1.5mm wide. The vessel was then finished by hand smoothing. A plain band was sometimes present between the rim and shoulder of the vessel, rarely with a circuit of round or rectangular punctations along the shoulder of the vessel. Uniformly narrow curvilinear and rectilinear incised designs also infrequently accompanied brushing.
VESSEL FORM: Vessel forms included conoidal jars, hemispherical bowls and flat-based jars with podal supports. Lips were rounded, flattened or chamfered. These were notched, brushed or punctated. Rims were most often flaring, but were also straight, vertical or incurved.
CHRONOLOGY: A number of radiocarbon dates from various sites have been associated with Connestee pottery that range from Middle to Late Woodland periods. From Russell Cave, Alabama, the type dated to A.D. 740+/- 100. In Tennessee the type dated to A.D. 605+/-90 at Icehouse Bottom. In Georgia at Tunacunnhee it dated to A.D. 150; at Manderville to A.D. 530+/-150. In North Carolina at the Garden Creek Mound No.2 site it dated to A.D. 805+/-85. Keel concluded that Connestee pottery disappeared between A.D 600 to 650. Associated points might include Ebenezer and Jack’s Reef Corner Notch points.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION: Connestee pottery has been found in western North Carolina, western South Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and northwestern Georgia, and northeastern Alabama.
RESEARCH: Bennie C. Keel named and defined this type in 1976. Keel’s research of this type was conducted in Cherokee related sites in North and South Carolina, eastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia; however this type was only present from the Garden Creek Mound No. 2 site. The type was probably named after the Pigeon River that runs from eastern into western North Carolina in the vicinity of Keel’s research.
TEMPER: Medium to coarse crushed quartz was used as temper in this type. Exterior sherd colors range from light brown, light to dark gray, to red or orange. The lighter colors are more common.
SURFACE DECORATION: Brushing on this type was fine and was oriented vertically or diagonally to the rim. Brushing likely covered most of the body of the vessel, however Keel made no mention of its distribution.
VESSEL FORM: Pigeon vessels are known to include simple open bowls, straight-sided conoidal jars, jars with slightly restricted necks, and flat based jars with large podal supports. Rims are straight to slightly flaring with lips that are rounded or paddle-flattened and slightly everted. Basal supports were conical or wedged when present.
CHRONOLOGY: Dates relating to the Pigeon period reported by Keel ranged between AD 200 and 400, indicating that this is a Middle Woodland pottery type. The Garden Creek site contained Swannanoa Stemmed, Swan Lake (Pigeon Side Notched), Yadkin (Garden Creek Triangular), Copena Triangular, Coosa Side Notched, Haywood (Woodland) Triangular, and South Appalachian Pentagonal points. Many of these names were given by site investigators.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: This type is known only from the Garden Creek Mound No.2 site in North Carolina.
RESEARCH: Joffre Coe reported the Caraway pottery type at the Doerschuk site in Formative Cultures of the Carolina Piedmont in 1964.
TEMPER: Caraway pottery was tempered with very fine sand and the paste was compact and hard. Coe considered this the best made aboriginal pottery in the area, even having a distinctive ring sound to it, even when broken.
SURFACE DECORACTION: The surface appears to have been brushed with fine twigs or brush that left a stroke in the clay similar to that of Flint River Brushed pottery. The rim was everted or simple and might be decorated with incised chevrons with rounded, serrated or flattened lips.
VESSEL FORM: No complete vessels are known to have been recovered.
CHRONOLOGY: The Caraway pottery at the Doerschuk site belonged to the Historic period and dated to AD 1700. The decorated sherds date to the earlier portion of this period while the smoothed and burnished sherds date to the later portion. This pottery is often associated with Caraway points.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION: Caraway pottery has been recovered from Late Woodland and Historic sites within the Southern Piedmont region of North Carolina.
