As detailed in Appendix D, a total of 10,463 pieces of ceramic was recovered from the Clampitt site. This sample consisted of 425(4.1%) rim sherds, 10,038 (95.0%) body sherds, and 29(0.3%) pipe fragments. Nearly all of the pottery sherds (97.5%) were grit tempered and all appeared to belong to the Oliver phase occupation of the site. For purposes of this preliminary analysis, all pottery sherds that originated below the vessel lip were classified as "body sherds". Consequently, this category included sherds from the "neck" or "shoulder", as well as the "body", of the pot. In contrast, "rim sherds" included any sherd with an intact lip surface.
All body sherds exhibited smooth interior surfaces, and either cord- marked (44.9%), smoothed (26.5%), or smoothed-over cord-marked (28.0%) exteriors. Cordmarking most often consisted of fine, vertical cord impressions which covered the bodies, and sometimes the rims, of vessels. A minor amount of these body sherds displayed distinctively roughened or coarsely fabric-marked exterior surfaces ( Plate 2 ). The gentle curvature of most body sherds and the total lack of pointed or flat bases or angled shoulders indicated that vessels were constructed with globular bodies.
The assignment of the late prehistoric occupation at the Clampitt site to the Oliver phase was based on the distinctive stylistic attributes of the ceramics. Selected examples of decorated sherds from the site are illustrated in Plate 6 . The most common decorative motif was an incised curvilinear guilloche design executed on the neck areas of vessels. Many of these vessels exhibit narrow rim bands and thick strap handles as well. This combination of attributes occurs frequently on Oliver phase pottery from the upper West Fork White River Valley in Marion and Hamilton counties (Householder 1941, 1945; Helmen 1950; Dorwin 1971; McCullough 1991). This style of pottery decoration is best known from Fort Ancient Tradition sites in the Middle Ohio River Valley (Griffln 1966; Essenpreis 1982). Helmen (1950) and later Dorwin (1971) grouped the incised Oliver vessels into the type Oliver Cordmarked Incised which was based on the type Anderson Cordmarked and Incised defined by Griffin (1966) for Fort Ancient ceramics from southwestern Ohio.
In central Indiana, the Oliver Cordmarked Incised ceramics are invariably found alongside so-called "Late Woodland" style pottery bearing cord-impressed designs, collars7 and castellations. Dorwin (1971) classified the latter into several varieties of the types Bowen Cordmarked and Bowen Collared. These materials most closely resemble late prehistoric "Iroquoian" ceramics which have been recovered in the region of the lower Great Lakes; very few Oliver phase vessels, however, are typologically identical to Great Lakes forms. The mixture of Fort Ancient and "Late Woodland" vessel forms has become one of the most definitive characteristics of Oliver phase material culture in Indiana (Dorwin 1971).
The pottery assemblage from the Clampitt site included specimens of all but one of the ceramic types defined by Dorwin (1971). A sample of seventy rim sherds which were recovered from excavated features was used to classify the Clampitt ceramics according to Dorwin's typology. The sample consisted of all analyzable rims (i.e. sherds with intact surfaces) that were larger than 4.0 square centimeters. Each rim sherd in the sample was assumed to represent an individual vessel. This classification exercise produced the following type frequencies.
Type : variety f % Oliver Cord-marked: Incised 10 14.2 Oliver Cord-marked: Plain 31 44.2 Bowen Cord-marked:Cord-lmpressed 8 1184 Bowen Cord-marked: Punched 2 2.8 Bowen Cord-marked: Plain 7 10.0 Bowen Collared: Cambered 1 1.4 Bowen Collared: Straight 5 7.1 Bowen Fabric-marked 2 2.8 Bowen Sharps Everted Rim 0 0.0 Indeterminate 4 5.7
This distribution revealed a ceramic sample that was "weighted" toward
the Fort Ancient-like Oliver Cord marked types (total 58.4%). The Bowen Cord-marked
and Bowen Collared vessels (total 32.7%) made up the bulk of the "Late
Woodland" varieties in the assemblage. The co- occurrence of these distinctive
ceramic styles at the Clampitt site is consistent with the Oliver phase designation
of the village component.
An attribute analysis of the same rim sherd sample was carried out in order to isolate some of the more significant stylistic and morphological attributes of the ceramic assemblage. The attributes selected for study and their corresponding frequencies are shown in Appendix E. The following observations are based on these results.
In general, the Clampitt site pottery consisted of grit-tempered, globular-shaped vessels with cord-marked bodies. The rim and neck areas of these vessels were about evenly divided between cord-marked and smooth surface treatments. Nearly all lips were smoothed and ranged in form from round to flat; lip thicknesses ranged from 2.0 to 11.0 mm (with a mode of 5.0 mm). Lip surfaces were most commonly plain or undecorated. When decoration was applied to the lip, it most often took the form of oblique, transverse, or single horizontal (i.e. parallel to the lip edges) lines executed with either a plain or cord-wrapped tool. Most rims were thickened with a rim "band" which consisted of either a narrow "fold" or a wide "collar".
The height or vertical "width" of the rim band ranged from 6.0 mm to 46.0 mm. This attribute was somewhat useful for separating "folds" from "collars". The frequency distribution of rim band heights showed a multi- modal pattern with most "collared" (i.e. Bowen Collared type) rims measuring over 24.0 mm (Figure 31). Rims were predominately excurvate or "flared" in profile; however, the distinctive cambered or recurved profile was a feature of three sherds (Figure 32).
Two "zones" or areas for the application of decoration were defined for purposes of analysis, these being the "rim" zone and the "neck" zone. Rim decoration was always confined to the rim band, and no non-thickened rims were decorated in this zone which was located just below the lip. The neck zone was defined as the area below the rim band and above the shoulder.
The rim area of most of the Clampitt site vessels was plain (i.e. undecorated). Rim decoration consisted most commonly of various oblique line motifs which were executed with a cord-wrapped tool. Circular punctates, alone or in combination with oblique cord-impressions, occurred in low frequencies. The neck surfaces of most vessels were classified as "plain". The most common decorative motif was a a widely incised, guilloche design. It should be noted that many rim sherds were broken just below the rim band and thus exhibited very little surface area of the neck. Sherds with less than 4.0 square centimeters of intact neck were classified as "indeterminate" in terms of motif and technique. Although most of the remaining rim sherds were recorded as having undecorated necks, it was suspected that the actual frequency of neck decoration (which most probably consisted of incised guilloche designs is somewhat higher.
Cross-tabulations of attribute pairs revealed something about the stylistic
or decorative "rules" that may have governed the manufacture of Clampitt
site vessels (see Figure 33).
For example, rim decoration most often took the form of oblique lines alone
or paired as "chevrons", and were commonly executed with a cordwrapped
dowel. The most common neck design was a widely incised ("trailed")
guilloche motif. A cross- tabulation of rim motif and neck motif indicated that
undecorated rims were most often accompanied by undecorated necks (n-38, 54.2%)
(Figure33); however,
the co-occurrence of rim and neck decoration was rare (n- 14, 20.0%). Decorated
rims almost never occurred alone (n=5, 7.1%), even though decorated necks were
observed at slightly higher frequencies with plain rims (Figure
33).
