Identity in the Late Woodland Northeast: interpreting communities of practice from paste composition at the Thomas/Luckey and the Losey 3 sites (original) (raw)

Thomas/Luckey's 13 th-15 th and Losey 3's 14 th-17 th century occupations in the Late Woodland Northeast contain assemblages with incongruous regional pottery types; Kelso Corded and an assumed non-local Shenks Ferry. I argue the presence of Shenks Ferry vessels at these two sites indicates the movement of people who reproduced their natal designs upon arrival, rather than trade. The question of whether identity and communities of practice can be discerned from pottery decorations and paste was answered by analyzing sherds with pXRF. While pottery types are based on visual attributes, pXRF looks at elemental composition. Decoration is mimicable, but paste is not; paste accurately illustrates a vessel's origin. Cultural groups are not static entities, and internal development or outgroup interaction indicates change. Communities of practice recreate themselves in a new environment and in relation to others. The results of this analysis add new depth to conceptions of group movement and identity construction. v For my family and for the potters who made the vessels that I studied. As research does not occur in a vacuum, there are a great many people who helped produce this work. I thank them all for their time, talents, materials, knowledge, and patience. Dr. Tim De Smet provided many good articles and helped with out-of-thebox thinking. Dr. Jeff Pietras and Josh Novello guided me through the pXRF, Geology Department and processing the data. Dr. Claire Horne, Sam Kudrle, and all of the Public Archaeology Facility staff for insight and the loan of equipment for getting clay and for the storage of artifacts. I would like to thank Dan Rhodes and his efforts and knowledge to get clay. Tim Knapp and Binghamton University's field school of days past deserve a special thanks, because without them, this thesis and the artifacts would not here. The highest level of thanks that I can give goes to my committee. Dr. Nina Versaggi deserves thanks for her tireless aid in making me a better archaeologist. I appreciate your wisdom, direction, and guidance and hope I have absorbed some of it. I especially thank Dr. Laurie Miroff for her insights into not only Thomas/Luckey itself, but her wealth of knowledge of pottery and Northeastern precontact archaeology. I thank Dr. BrieAnna Langlie for use of the Laboratory of Ancient Food and Farming facilities, and guidance when I needed it. I thank Sam Bourcy for his edits, perspective, and willingness to share some coffee. I thank my cohort in the Binghamton University Class of 2020 for distractions, stress relief, camaraderie, and constructive comments. My thanks go out to members of the State Museum of Pennsylvania; Jim Herbstritt, and Janet Johnson for helping along the Pennsylvania side of the border and providing access and aid for the collection of the Losey 3 artifacts. I thank the many members of Skelly and Loy, Inc.; the field crews for excavating the site and Thomas East and Chris Espenshade for their work iv in heading the report preparation. I would like to thank Lisa Anderson of the New York State Museum for her help with the pXRF when I needed it most. Additionally, Scott Shaffer deserves thanks for supplying a copy of the consultation video and final artifact catalogs from Skelly. I thank Mara for making me a better writer, despite my best attempts to the contrary. Finally, my family deserves thanks for everything, without whom I would not be where I am. v Table of Contents List of Tables .