Petrographic analysis of Contact Period Native American pottery from Fort Hill (27CH85), Hinsdale, NH, USA

• Published in: Archaeological and anthropological sciences Vol. 7; no. 4; pp. 517 - 532
• Main Authors: Boulanger, Matthew T., Hill, David V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-12-2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amalgamation; American Indians; Anthropology; Archaeology; Chemistry/Food Science; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geography; Indigenous peoples; Life Sciences; Original Paper; Pottery; Refugees; Traditions; Variability; Contact Period; Northeastern North America; Ceramic technology; Petrographic analysis
• ISSN: 1866-9557; 1866-9565
• DOI: 10.1007/s12520-014-0214-3

We present results of petrographic analysis of a sample of pottery from Fort Hill, a fortified village in southwestern New Hampshire built and occupied by a group of Native Americans between Autumn of 1663 and Spring of 1664. Our analyses reveal a surprising degree of variability in ceramic fabrics and in ceramic production techniques relative to that reported for contemporaneous and slightly earlier assemblages from southern and central New England. We explain the presence of this variability as likely reflecting the amalgamation of multiple ceramic traditions that would result from the presence of refugees within the community occupying Fort Hill.