Getting Plastered: A Technological Analysis of Daub Recovered from a Mississippian Period House in Bartow County, GA
Disciplines
Archaeological Anthropology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
During the Mississippian Period (1000-1500) the Etowah River Valley experienced waves of population growth and decline with communities of people entering the valley from across the Southeast region of the U.S., leading to a unique intersection of ceramic, architectural, and lithic styles. One element of this intersection was daub, the name given to clay that has been plastered onto the surface of branches or river cane woven between pine posts called wattle. Even today, people use wattle and daub construction to build domestic structures for protection from the weather, insulation, and privacy. However, in the archaeological record daub is extremely under-emphasized due to the fragile nature of the clay if it has not been fired. Clay, both fired and unfired, is prone to disintegrating without the proper storage methods, meaning that that daub can be difficult to collect, transport, and store unless properly protected. It can also be difficult to differentiate between fired clay and daub. But, if daub is preserved, what questions can it answer about the people making it? How much energy and effort were put into its production? Is daub differently sourced from clay used to manufacture pottery? Was any temper added to daub to prevent it from cracking and shrinking once applied to the walls of the house? These questions along with others will be addressed in the paper regarding the excavation of a burned Wilbanks Phase (1200-1350) house being excavated by Kennesaw State University.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Geography & Anthropology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Terry Powis
Getting Plastered: A Technological Analysis of Daub Recovered from a Mississippian Period House in Bartow County, GA
During the Mississippian Period (1000-1500) the Etowah River Valley experienced waves of population growth and decline with communities of people entering the valley from across the Southeast region of the U.S., leading to a unique intersection of ceramic, architectural, and lithic styles. One element of this intersection was daub, the name given to clay that has been plastered onto the surface of branches or river cane woven between pine posts called wattle. Even today, people use wattle and daub construction to build domestic structures for protection from the weather, insulation, and privacy. However, in the archaeological record daub is extremely under-emphasized due to the fragile nature of the clay if it has not been fired. Clay, both fired and unfired, is prone to disintegrating without the proper storage methods, meaning that that daub can be difficult to collect, transport, and store unless properly protected. It can also be difficult to differentiate between fired clay and daub. But, if daub is preserved, what questions can it answer about the people making it? How much energy and effort were put into its production? Is daub differently sourced from clay used to manufacture pottery? Was any temper added to daub to prevent it from cracking and shrinking once applied to the walls of the house? These questions along with others will be addressed in the paper regarding the excavation of a burned Wilbanks Phase (1200-1350) house being excavated by Kennesaw State University.