Abstract

Traditional analyses of Iroquoian pottery have focused on decorative attributes, with little attention given to its manufacture. In recent years, some research has suggested that an examination of manufacturing characteristics can make valuable contributions to our knowledge of Ontario Iroquoian society. The main goal of this paper is to investigate several aspects of pottery production through replication and experimentation. Previous research has suggested that at some Iroquoian sites, potters were tempering their clay with various types of rock, some of which required more effort to process than did others. I therefore wish to investigate whether the choice to expend more effort in the acquisition of certain tempers was primarily informed by a desire for certain performance characteristics, such as heating efficiency or resistance to thermal shock. If these tempers do not provide any performance benefits, it may be that the decision to use certain rocks over others as temper was influenced by "non-functional" or social concerns.