Probable ceremonial burning, burial beneath a mound, and a scarcity of
domestic artifacts and refuse suggest that House No. 4 was not an
ordinary residence, but a small temple, chapel, or similar structure
used for ceremonial purposes.
Description of the Artifacts
A total of 610 artifacts was recovered from the Harroun Site, consisting
of ceramics, chipped stone implements, and a few milling stones and
pitted stones. The first step in ordering the artifacts was to lump them
all together in one heap. Then they were separated into general groups
such as pottery, dart points, arrow points, scrapers, pitted stones,
etc. Next, each group was further divided and subdivided into as many
categories as seemed warranted until a number of small groups resulted,
each containing a series of individual specimens with similar basic
characteristics.[1] Finally, each of the small groups was compared to
similar material from other sites and identified with specific types
wherever possible.
The artifacts are described below by groups. Provenience of the groups
and types within the site is discussed in the succeeding section.
CERAMICS
In addition to the two vessels from the burial at Mound A, ceramic
specimens comprise a total of 562 sherds. The paste of these sherds is
characteristically sherd tempered, occasionally with the addition of
small quantities of sand and/or bone particles. There is no shell
tempering. Study of the sherds indicates that bottles, jars with
outcurved rims, carinated bowls, and possibly other forms are
represented. Exterior surface treatment includes brushing, smoothing,
polishing, and red filming; smoothing and red filming also occur as
interior surface treatments. Techniques used in applying decorations are
incising, engraving, appliquéing, and punctating.
The small quantity of sherds did not permit reconstruction of any
vessels nor of any complete design elements: consequently correlations
between techniques of decorating, design elements, vessel shapes and
surface treatment were impossible as a rule, and a comprehensive
typological analysis of the ceramics could not be made.
The ceramics were separated on the basis of decorative technique into
six groups: brushed, incised, appliquéd, punctated, engraved, and plain.
Each group is described separately below.
_Brushed Pottery_
Of the 141 brushed sherds, 13 are rimsherds and 128 are from body areas.
The brushing is always on the exterior surface, the interior surfaces
being poorly to fairly well smoothed. Wall thickness ranges from 5 to 9
mm. Lips are rounded and slightly everted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account