from David Anderson's type description

Background

This pottery type was first recognized in a surface collection from a sandbar at the mouth of the Uwharrie River where it empties into Lake Tillery in Montgomery County. This site was designated the Uwharrie site. No description of the site or ceramics has been published but a collection of sherds from at least five vessels is housed in the Research Laboratories of Anthropology of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The type was first defined by Joffre Coe (1952: 307-308) and a collection from the Trading Ford site (31Yd1) was described the next year by Howell and Dearborn (1953).

Sorting Criteria

Vessel forms may be limited to somewhat globular jars with conoidal or rounded bases. Jar forms usually have low, broad shoulders and slightly restricted necks. Rims tended to be long and slightly everted or straight. Vessel necks and shoulders were often decorated with multiple parallel incised lines, brushed or scraped bands, or fingernail impressions oriented parallel or perpendicular to the vessel rim. Vessel lips were either flattened or rounded and often notched. Most vessel interiors are scraped. Vessel walls tend to be rather thick, usually between 6 and 10 thick. Uwharrie sherds are usually tempered with angular quartz particles or coarse sub-angular quartz sand and have a rough and gritty feel. These tempering agents were sometimes mixed with other types of crushed minerals like feldspar or mica.

Chronological Position

AD 500-1200. Nine radiocarbon dates associated with Uwharrie series pottery have been collected. Four of these dates fall within the AD to 1200 range, while three dates from the Yadkin River drainage fall between AD 1400 and 1600 (see 1994).

Distribution

Uwharrie ceramics are found throughout the North Carolina Piedmont and into South Carolina including the Dan River, Yadkin, Catawba, Broad, Haw, and Eno drainages. The series, defined for southwestern Virginia, is comparable to the Uwharrie series. Uwharrie Net Impressed sherds are the most common type in the series, accounting for between 50 and 90 percent of collections.

Primary References

Coe (1952:307-308, 1964:32-33); Howell and (1953); Eastrnan (1994, 1996 (ms in Part I))

(Series Description: Jane Eastmun)