Middle Mississipian ceramics in the northern hinterlands: Red-slipped pottery in Initial Middle Missouri sites

Abstract

Red-slipped pottery in the Northern Plains reflects the movements of people and ideas around the edges of the Mississippian world. We consider the spread of the technological knowledge necessary to produce red ware, using petrographic data to evaluate local production in Initial Middle Missouri sites. Samples were drawn from Phipps (13CK21; Mill Creek culture, northwest Iowa) and Mitchell (39DV2; Lower James River area, southeastern South Dakota). Granite-tempered, red-slipped ceramics were manufactured in the Initial Middle Missouri region, but were apparently produced at a limited number of sites. The red-slipped pottery at Phipps was not made at Phipps, but could have originated from Big Sioux Mill Creek communities to the west. Neither Little Sioux nor Big Sioux Mill Creek potters made the red-slipped ceramics at Mitchell. Our results suggest the uneven distribution (and perhaps limited number) of potters in the region who could reproduce red-slipped ceramics with local materials. At least some of these potters could have moved from Upper Mississippian communities as marriage partners during other regional exchanges and interactions.