Research Training Program

Digna Ortiz
Universidad Interamerica de Puerto Rico
San German, Puerto Rico

William Billeck, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Department of Anthropology

Testing the Ceramic Chronology Sequence of the Steed-kisker Phase

A chronological sequence of decorative designs on the Steed-Kisker ceramic vessels has been proposed by Patricia J. O’Brien, and is tested here. O’Brien proposed four phases for the Steed-Kisker ceramics, each phase typified by specific deigns. The sequence is tested by comparing the ceramic designs from two houses (Houses 1 and 3) and a cluster of storage/refuse pits (Area 1) with the proposed stylistic sequence. Each house is believed to have been occupied for at most one or two decades based on the historic life span of similar houses. The main task of this project will be to classify ceramics from several Steed-Kisker houses to determine the relationships between the houses based on similarities and differences in ceramic decoration. How are the houses alike or different in ceramic decoration and what is the chronological and the cultural significance of these differences? The vessels forms and decoration of the Steed-Kisker phase ceramics will also be compared to those from the Middle Mississippian tradition site of Cahokia near St. Louis, Missouri, and to the nearby archaeological sites of the Central Plains Tradition to assess their relationships with the Steed-Kisker phase

This research was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Letter of gratitude