The Chronological Position of the Cambered Jar at Cahokia and Its Implications

Abstract

The cambered rim jar is stylistically unique and should be especially useful as a time indicator if its place in Cahokia's ceramic history can be ascertained. On the basis of the broken-down interlocking scroll motif, a parallel line motif, and the scalloped rim found on some of these vessels, it is suggested that this vessel form occurs in periods III and IV of the basic ceramic sequence established for the Powell Tract section of the Cahokia site. It is further suggested that at Powell, late in period III and early in period IV, we have approximately the same time range as at the Mitchell site, whose radiocarbon dates cluster about A.D. 1000-1200.Finally, the similarities between the cambered rim jar at Cahokia and the S-shaped rim types in the Cambria and Mill Creek manifestations to the northwest of Cahokia suggest not only a sharing of ceramic ideas, but also contemporaneity between these three cultural groups during late period III and early period IV times as reflected in the Powell Tract sequence. These relationships would date in calendric years ca. A.D. 1000-1200. Furthermore, this vessel form probably represents a borrowing of ceramic notions on the part of the potters of Cahokia because the form (the S-shaped rim) is both old and widespread in the Central Plains and Middle Missouri regions, while it is rare or missing in the widespread Middle Mississippian manifestations in the Southeast.