Chronology of the Ceramic Period

Publisher Summary The ceramic-period chronology of the Cannon Reservoir Human Ecology Project area includes Middle and Late Woodland occupations ranging in time from approximately 200 B.C. to A.D. 1400. Changes in ceramic and projectile point styles have allowed the definition of five ceramic period phases. The goal of this formulation is to provide a framework for additional between-site comparisons and analyses within the project area, and it is offered as an expansion of a two-phase chronology proposed by Hunt for the Late Woodland period. Thirty-eight radiometric sample means from 14 sites in the Cannon Reservoir area fall within the ceramic period. Rimsherds have been recovered in association with dated, carbonized materials that range in date from 150 ± 100 B.C. to A.D. 1400 ± 100. The ceramic period projectile-point sequence from Pigeon Roost Creek is based on 94 complete, or relatively complete, specimens from Woodland and Mississippian levels.