Help Identify Indian Pottery Shard

[wayne007]

Can anyone help Identify a pottery shard I found in Chesterfield, Missouri.

 

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[rock]

Its one I havent seen yet. Maybe show the underside and a side view showing the curve of it. Is it a rim section? Monsterrack will probably know when he signs in I believe he is from your area. It has a very nice design to it, rock

 

[wayne007]

Indian Pottery Identification

Its one I havent seen yet. Maybe show the underside and a side view showing the curve of it. Is it a rim section? Monsterrack will probably know when he signs in I believe he is from your area. It has a very nice design to it, rock

Thanks for your help. The shard is about 6x8. The attached is a photo of the back side.

 

[wayne007]

Here is the side view

 

[rock]

Well seeing nobody from your area has responded. There should be a site for your state that shows all of the different types and then you will have to match yours to it. I use the one my state has which of course will be different from yours. When you find out please post the results. Takes a little time but that way when you find the age of it then you can look to see what type of other artifacts to look for in your spot. Its one way to determine the age of that area as to who lived there.

 

[monsterrack]

I have never seen NA pottery like this, when you find out let us know, it almost looks like a piece from an old clay flower potMost NA pottery design's where pressed inward. Welcome to Tnet

 

[yakker]

I think I do see the pattern being 'pressed inward', but what I can't see is the tempering material. Usually in NA pottery there's some obvious material mixed in w/ the clay- so it would fire well- without exploding. Sand, crushed shell are 2 examples of what gets tossed in the mix, so you need to look for that- and any places on the piece where it is not perfect- any edge or surface. That's where the evidence of the tempering material will be most obvious. See what you see and try to get a good sharp photo of it- or a couple. If it's too smooth and uniform, it may well be modern- like an old flower pot or terra cotta vase, etc. Yakker

 

[wayne007]

Monsterrock:
The design is pressed into the material. I guess the photo makes it look like it coming out but its truely recessed. The composition is a mixture of clay and small material which looks like fine rock. The mixture is not homogeneous and it's very fragile and is flaking in layers. The inside appears to have a layer of smooth material. I'm curious about the outer design. It looks like a turtle shell pattern with six tear drop shapes around a center circle which does look like a flower design. Nothing on the piece is uniform or smooth. The edges are all worn down. Using crude measurement of the length and curvature, I'd guess the full pot to be approximately 24" in diameter.

I'd appreciate any help I can get in trying to identify if its near modern or NA.

wayne

 

[wayne007]

Here is a more detailed photo of the edge showing the clay and rock detail.
Is there any cheap way to date the piece?

Thanks for your help!

Any way to determine the age of the pottery?

 

[wayne007]

Had a follow-up question. At first glance I assumed the pattern was a flower pattern which seemed odd due to the pedals being so far away from the center. If you stretch your imagination the panels of the piece appear to be like a turtle shell, irregular plates. Connecting the dots could make the outline of a turtle in each panel ( head, tail, 4 legs, and shell center) as shown in the attached photo. Any ideas as to did NA art have this type of design.

 

[NCPeaches]

Welcome to Tnet! It's a pretty shard but I don't have a clue about it. Try doing Google searches and if there is a local museum go there and compare it to other shards. That's what I had to do when I found my first shard. My area has never been documented so it's difficult to find answers and I'm hoping it will go easier for you. Congrats on the great find though!

 

[rock]

wayne have you tried to go back where you found it and look for more?

 

[wayne007]

Yes but no luck on pottery. Did find some points further down the creek.

 

[NCPeaches]

Yes but no luck on pottery. Did find some points further down the creek.

Thinking you will find more ;-)

 

[rock]

Yes but no luck on pottery. Did find some points further down the creek.

Lets see the points. Maybe then we can help get a age on your pottery.

 

[wayne007]

Points found near pottery

Here are two points which were found around 2000 feet from the pottery shard

 

[wayne007]

Also a curious piece I found in the same general area. I don't have a clue as to what it might be (Pestle?? or Grinding Tool?). Any ideas?

 

[rock]

The points look Woodland to me and the last one I think is just a cool rock.

 

[JRedHorse]

Can anyone help Identify a pottery shard I found in Chesterfield, Missouri.

It looks like an Osage turtle rattle head, they made rattles out of clay in the shape of a turtle if it is a piece of one it would not have been pottery as we think of it today but more like the construction of an Ocarina , made to be hollow and have stones placed inside, it would have had a handle also. IF it is a part of one then I can date it between 1500-1700.