Connestee Series Tetrapodal Vessel

This is the first in a series of posts concerning artifacts recovered from a Middle Woodland site in Montgomery County, Kentucky. Between May 15 and July 30, 2001, Cultural Resource Analysts personnel completed a phase II National Register evaluation of site 15Mm137 in Montgomery County, Kentucky (Richmond 2001). The work was completed on behalf of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The site was situated in an upland setting along a ridgetop overlooking the Sycamore Creek. Of interest here is an artifact cache that was encountered during fieldwork. Field notes, records, site photographs, and cultural materials was curated with the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology at the University of Kentucky.

The artifact cache yielded a radiocarbon date of 1890 ± 40 B.P., pointing to the Middle Woodland period. The Middle Woodland component was represented by a feature containing a Connestee Series tetrapodal vessel and two copper ear spools, marking Hopewellian influence. The feature is interpreted as serving an unknown ritual function.

The partial vessel pictured below was clearly Middle Woodland in age and probably an item that originated in the Appalachian Summit area of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. It was most likely affiliated with the type Connestee Brushed (Keel 1976).

We are interested in obtaining any other information that may be available for this vessel type including distribution, context and radiocarbon dates.





References Cited

Keel, B. C.
1976 Cherokee Archaeology: A Study of the Appalachian Summit. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Richmond, Michael D.
2000 A Geochemical Analysis of Select Copper Artifacts from the Midcontinental United States. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Kent State University.

2001 A National Register Evaluation of Sites 15Mm137, 15Mm139, and 15Mm140 and Deep Testing Along Sycamore Creek in Montgomery County, Kentucky. Report prepared for Palmer Engineering and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. CRAI Contract Publication Series 01-106.