5a.6 Adena Pottery

5a.6 Adena Pottery

The Early Woodland cultures of the entire Ohio Valley region made similar pottery. They all produced wide-mouthed jars or bowls with thick walls, flat bases, and sometimes with heavy lug handles. They also all mixed crushed stone, or grit, with the clay to prevent cracking (tempering). The type of stone varied, perhaps depending on what was most available. For example, Adena potters in central Ohio used igneous rock such as granite; those in Kentucky used limestone. Some Early Woodland groups preferred vessels with smooth outside surfaces. Others roughened their pots by rolling a stick covered with a twisted fiber cord across the vessels before firing. This cordmarking process may have helped to bind the coils of clay together or may have made the pots easier to grasp. Most of the Adena pottery of southern Ohio is plain while some of the pottery of northern Ohio is cordmarked. Image Number: FOCase39

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