Prehistoric Life on the Mississippi Coast: Chronology and Function of Ceramics from Three Shell Middens in the Grand Bay Estuary

<p>This study analyzes ceramic assemblages with radio carbon dates produced from three archaeological sites, 22JA564, 22JA575, and 22JA633, with a view to determine the types and varieties of containers brought to and used at each site. The study area is located in the extreme eastern end of the Mississippi Sound in Jackson County, Mississippi. Methods employed in this research evaluate five variables: orifice diameter, vessel wall thickness, decoration, temper, and vessel shape. These variables were selected in order to determine the mechanical performance characteristics, as well as the formal and functional aspects of pottery assembled in this study. Determining form and function of recovered ceramics illuminates differences in site activity between each site and between periods. By correlating the results from the faunal analysis with ceramic analysis settlement patterns, subsistence patterns and a chronology of site use are constructed. This research evaluates prehistoric use of the Grand Bay estuary and documents how use of the estuary changed through time. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Anthropology and Sociology

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Huey, Samuel Michael

Contributors dc:contributor

• Edwin Jackson
• Jeffrey Kaufmann
• Marie Elaine Danforth

• Grand Bay
• ceramics
• archaeology
• function
• form
• Gulf Coast

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/4

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1013