Abstract

Among the earliest of Alberta collections in the Canadian Museum of Civilization are a couple of handfuls of poorly documented potsherds belonging to a single aboriginal vessel. Reconstruction shows that this was a medium-size globular pot with a vertical cord-impressed body surface, slightly ridged shoulder, near vertical rim, and a flat lip with diagonal notch-like incisions. Historical research reveals that it was collected on the Red Deer River in 1889 by the Geological Survey of Canada's first full-time museum employee, Thomas C. Weston. It also shows that collection occurred at an intermediate stage in northern Plains ceramic studies, after the era of manufacture and use, but before the development of anthropological concepts for ceramic analysis. This may account for its lack of analysis during the nineteenth century. Though not well known, this pottery has figured in various twentieth-century ceramic studies. Recent comparison with better documented specimens indicates a probable age in the range of AD 1,100-1,400. Cultural association appears to lie with a poorly established grouping variously known as Ethridge ware, Wascana ware and Late Variant Saskatchewan Basin complex.