Checkstamp pottery
We are digging out a house pit that used to be a sod house, inhabited by the people of Nash Harbor during the 1920s. Remains from previous houses lie on top of the sod house that we are looking for, which dates back to 2000 B.P. (Before present) . We are excavating the pit to discover remnants of Nash Harbor occupants and their ways of life. My role in the dig is too excavate the entrance to the house. So far I have uncovered what looks like a possible stone flooring to the entrance. I have found a lot of trash in my square(s), which could indicate that recent peoples of this area used it as a place to dump their trash. My most significant find was when I found a piece of checkstamp pottery, known to be associated with the Norton culture, which is more than 2000 years old. Checkstamp pottery is pottery pressed by a wooden paddle with a pattern etched into it, therefore applying the pattern onto the pottery. Temper was used to hold the shape of the pottery as it was open pit fired. My artifact was part of a bowl that may have been used to eat with. The fact that the people of Nash Harbor had pottery tends to indicate that they were more sedentary, which means they didn’t move around a lot. Under difficult circumstances they were able to fire pottery that became useful vessels for cooking, storage, or eating out of. –Dimitri
July 2nd, 2007 13:05
Hi, Dimitri!
You’ve discovered an interesting way to “dig through the trash.” The piece of checkstamp pottery is pretty awesome. Were you able to find more?
Keep on blogging those great “reads.” I’ve appreciated discovering what you all have been learning. Thanks!
Shari
July 2nd, 2007 21:25
I’ve found quite a lot of metal from the remains of barrels for some reason. One of my more hopeful finds seems to be a walkway that leads into the house pit through the entrance tunnel paved out of flat, large rocks.
Dimitri