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A Spanish Influenced Native American Pottery Vessel
An interesting vessel of apparent aboriginal manufacture has recently been discovered in Jefferson County, Florida. The artifact measures 103 mm high by 70 mm wide at the rim. It has a flared rim and a constricted neck measuring 47 mm at the narrowest part. The widest part of the body is slightly more than halfway down from the rim and it measures approximately 78 mm. The base is constricted with a perfectly flat bottom measuring 52 mm across. An unusual feature is the addition of a gracefully curved handle attached from just below the flared rim, extending outward and downward and attached to the widest part of the pot, or the hip, with a small lip extending out and beyond the second attach point.
The pot was fired with wood as a fuel source, as indicated by the burn clouds or marks on the pottery, but the resulting condition of the material is so hard that it is almost certain that it was fired in a kiln rather than in an open pit.1 Tempering is present and appears to be mica and fine sand. Another characteristic indicating European imitation is the small finger groove for pouring, which is not normally present on native American ceramic ware.
While the material and the hand-made appearance suggest native origin, the overall form of the vessel, and especially the curved handle give the strong impression that the potter was imitating a similar object of European manufacture. A few instances of this have been noted in the past, one being reported by Gluckman and Peebles at Di-62, the Lang Site near Oven Hill, which yielded two complete native ceramic vessels, one imitating a European brass kettle, and the other in the fashion of an iron tripod pot.2 John Goggin also found a native American pot fashioned in the European form near the Spanish mission at Fig Springs in Columbia Co[3]. As seen in the photo, it too has the small finger groove pouring spout.
1Personal communication from Mr. Claude Van Order of Lakeland FL. Mr. Van Order is one of the most knowledgeable individuals concerning all aspects of pottery making using materials and methods identical to those of local Native American manufacture in Florida.
2Gluckman, Stephen J., and Christopher S. Peebles, “Oven Hill (Di-15), a refuge site in the Suwannee River.” Florida Anthropologist 1974. 27: 21-30. It is interesting to note that the vessel in question resembles almost exactly the color and texture of many of the Seminole Brushed potsherds from the Lang Site and Oven Hill.
[3]Boyd,Mark F., John W. Griffin and Gale G. Smith. Here They Once Stood: The Tragic End of the Apalachee ;Missions, Univ. of Florida Press, Gainesville, l951, inside frontispiece photo.
