AN ANALYSIS OF RED SLIPPED CERAMICS FROM CLEMENT (34MC8): A MULTI-MOUND CENTER IN SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA

Abstract

Clement (34MC8) is a multi-mound ancestral Caddo center located in McCurtain County, Oklahoma. The site is comprised of at least two mounds, multiple structures, and midden areas. The site was first excavated by the WPA in 1941 and subsequently by the OU field school during the summer of 2008. The Clement site has an abundance of ceramics including extremely well-crafted red slipped ceramics which comprise about 30% of the total ceramic assemblage. The focus of this thesis is these red slipped ceramics. I analyzed 2,164 sherds for this study. Only diagnostic, rim or decorated, red slipped ceramics were included in this analysis. Physical attributes such as thickness, weight, decoration type, motifs, slip thickness, and slip color were recorded. LA-ICP-MS analysis was completed at the University of Missouri Nuclear Research Reactor (MURR) on thirty red slipped sherds and four possible pigment sources to understand the chemical composition and materials used in red slip. These attributes were recorded to better understand possible communities of practice among potters at Clement. The results of my analysis are used to understand slip groups based on composition, different usage of the site throughout time, purpose of red slipped ceramics at Clement, and production of red slipped ceramics. Through my analysis I aim to specifically answer the following questions: (1) What contexts are red slipped ceramics in at Clement? (2) How are red-slipped ceramics at Clement being made? (3) what does compositional analysis of red-slipped ceramics explain about communities of practice among potters at or around Clement?