Jane Eastman's type description

Background

(See Background discussion for Dan River Series)

Sorting Criteria

Two partially reconstructed vessels, a cup or small jar and a miniature pot, had plain exteriors. Both bore evidence of having been lightly brushed or scraped. A rim sherd from a third plain vessel also indicates a small orifice diameter. All of these vessels have smoothed or plain interiors. The miniature vessel and several other Dan River Plain sherds have been decorated with incised geometrical designs or cross-hatched lines. Paste characteristics are like those for Dan River Net Impressed sherds.

Distribution

The Dan River series occurs in the central North Carolina and Southern Virginia Piedmont incorporating the Dan and Yadkin drainages. It is comparable to the Haw River series defined for the Haw and Eno drainages in North Carolina Piedmont and the Wythe series defined for western Virginia.

Chronological Position

AD 1000-1700. The chronological position for the Dan River phase has been well-defined by radiocarbon dating. The calibrated intercepts for of forty-five dates associated with Dan River ceramics range between ca. AD and 1450, with most between ca. AD 1200 and 1450 (Eastrnan 1994a:29). A radiocarbon sample from Feature 18 at Upper Saratown (Skla) returned a calibrated intercepts that range from AD 1328 to 1.

Primary References

Coe and Lewis (1952); Dickens, et al. (1987); Ward and Davis (1993); Eastman 1994a, 1996 (ms in Part I).