Cord-marked pottery appeared in the lower Ohio Valley, particularly southwestern Indiana, between 700 and 500 BCE. This type was likely inherited from the peoples near the mid-Atlantic seaboard. The name of this pottery comes from the distinct cord-like impressions (etched from top to bottom), made with a special tool. This kind of pottery was made in the so-called Early Woodland period which begins the era when decorated pottery was made. The making of pottery was significant in itself, for humans were now creating objects that looked nothing like the raw materials that went into them.

New cooking techniques and a sedentary lifestyle was reflected in the new pottery. The climate in the lower Ohio stabilized, and was very similar to today’s conditions. New horticulture methods, coupled with a long growing season, allowed small villages to remain fixed.

The Sugar Hill pottery, as it is called in the lower Ohio Valley region, was similar to the thick, basin-shaped bowls that were common to the ancient mid-South. Included also were conoidal and “flower-pot” type jars. The pottery was sand- or clay-tempered, a hallmark of the Woodland period. According to found shards, extra decorations were limited to bands just beneath the rim. This pottery was eventually replaced by fabric-marked pottery, introduced around 500 BCE.

References:

Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology: www.gbl.indiana.edu/abstracts/87/french_87.html www.gbl.indiana.edu/abstracts/IHS/4ph.html

Logan Museum of Woodland and Mississippian Traditions: www.beloit.edu/~museum/logan/mississippian/introduction/vesseltypes.htm

www.people.memphis.edu/~chucalissa/woodland.html

Written by Mark Faron