Date Thesis Awarded
5-2009
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Arts (BA)
Department
Anthropology
Advisor
Martin D. Gallivan
Committee Members
David Brown
Danielle Moretti-Langholtz
Abstract
The archaeology of Tidewater Virginia's Middle Woodland period presents an era of technological and social changes within hunter-gatherer societies, possibly including large-scale population movements across the Middle Atlantic. A greater understanding of this history can be obtained through the examination of pottery decoration as reflected in cordage twist patterns from a sample of Middle Woodland ceramics recovered from Chickahominy River sites and the nearby drainages of the James River. Since cordage twist is a learned motor skill linked by previous researchers to specific traditions, the distribution of different twist patterns allows researchers to make inferences regarding continuity and/or change in the region's Native populations. The data provide evidence for significant temporal and regional differences in twist directions, building a case for the existence of previously unrecognized migration waves and social relationships.
Recommended Citation
Hayden, Anna, "Ceramic Production in Middle Woodland Communities of Practice: A Cordage Twist Analysis in Tidewater Virginia" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 323.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/323
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Comments
Thesis is part of Honors ETD pilot project, 2008-2013. Migrated from Dspace in 2016.