- Berkeley Series
- Connestee Simple Stamped
- Deptford Overview
- Deptford Brushed
- Deptford Incised
- Deptford Cord Marked
- Deptford Linear Check Stamped / Fabric Impressed
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- Berkeley Series
- Connestee Simple Stamped
- Deptford Overview
- Deptford Brushed
- Deptford Incised
- Deptford Cord Marked
- Deptford Linear Check Stamped / Fabric Impressed
- Deptford Linear Check Stamped
- Deptford Linear Check Stamped/Cord Marked
- Deptford Linear Check Stamped/Simple Stamped
- Deptford Simple Stamped
- Deptford Zoned-Incised Punctate
- Deptford Check Stamped
- Oak Leaf
- Swift Creek Complicated Stamped
Textile Marked Wares
- Woodland Plain
- Dan River Series
- Etowah Complicated Stamped
- Irene Complicated Stamped
- Irene Incised
- Lamar Complicated Stamped
- Napier Complicated Stamped
- Oldtown Series
- Pee Dee Complicated Stamped
- Santee Simple Stamped
- Savannah Series
- St. Catherines Series
- Uwharrie Series
- Woodstock Complicated Stamped
- Historic Period
Dates and Dating
Many archaeologists erroneously conflate the ideas of age and cultural development and refer to a particular span of time as if every group alive at that time was at the same stage of development. The most obvious example is the “Late Woodland” period as used in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. In South Carolina and Georgia it is believed that the Mississippian people arrived after about 900AD, and that everyone thereafter was living in the Mississippian Period and presumably, practicing the same lifeways. That is, living in villages, building temple mounds, growing corn, and following hereditary leaders. In North Carolina the Mississippian culture only touched the Southern part of the state, and everyone else continued to live “Late Woodland” lifestyles. So if a person refers to the Late Woodland as if it is a time period considerably different ages can be implied. If the only indication of a temporal affiliation that is used is a term like "Late Woodland" then it is not clear at all what the author is trying to convey.
Fortunately we have access to scientific dating methods that can allow us to independently date contexts containing pottery, and deduce its probable age by association. As stated above, there are three major break points, with a fourth that is more nebulous. To avoid the cultural conflation issue I have split pottery into four time based groups that essentially mimic what has come before, though what others term the Late Woodland and Mississippian are conflated. These are Early (~2500BC to 500BC), Middle (~500BC to 500AD), Late (500AD to 1520) and Contact (1520-present) Periods. The historic or contact period can be split in two, as early contacts (1520-1670) were brief and sometimes indirect, while later contacts (1670-present) were more sustained.
The Early Period includes Thoms Creek, Stallings, Hamps Landing, New River, and Refuge wares. This dates from about 3000BC to about 500BC, when carved paddles were used to form check stamped Deptford pottery. As early as about 1500BC pottery making was getting its start in the Mid Atlantic states, and from its earliest expression surfaces were frequently marked with cordage, nets, or fabric.
Early Period wares with textile impressions likely to be found in South Carolina include the Hamps Landing and New River series (Herbert 2003). Although the introduction of Deptford pottery marks a fairly clear break point, its abandonment a thousand years later is not as clear. By the end of the Middle Period in about 500AD check stamping had largely been replaced by textile marking.
Thus the beginning of the Late Period is marked more by the decline of check stamping than the introduction of anything radical or new. In South Carolina complicated stamped wares associated with Mississippian culture are introduced around 900AD. For a time it was believed that they replaced textile marked wares and their makers, but more recently dates have been obtained that indicate considerable overlap.
The Historic Period is the fourth group. It is somewhat nebulous and should probably be split into pre-1670 (1520-1670), 1670 to 1730, and 1730 to present divisions. During the early Historic Period European impacts were relatively minimal, but after the English arrived in 1670, they were transformational, resulting in an almost total collapse of Native American societies. Little Native American pottery was made after the 1730s, because there were few people left to make or use it. After the 1730s the groups that coalesced as the Catawba, and possibly other "Settlement Indians" made limited amounts of pottery for trade, and this practice continues today.
When David Anderson did his 1975 study he noted that only 14 radiocarbon dates