Potomac Creek rim decorations: A motif typology

Few researchers have documented Potomac Creek rim decorations from a perspective emphasizing ideographic representations in material culture, and how this may lead to an understanding of the way prehistoric peoples organized themselves geographically. A database of motif decorations was constructed from existing collections whose sherds were excavated from sites containing Potomac Creek pottery. Analysis of the database served to create a motif typology from which regional interpretations could be made. Regional considerations derived from the motif typology suggest that the Potomac Creek peoples interacted with each other to varying extents through their geographic range over a period of some 500 years. Motif norms and variations seem to indicate that relations between groups of people may have occurred at local and regional levels. The study of pottery attributes may illustrate aspects of prehistoric lifeways and raise interpretations from the level of the artifact to the people who made and used them.