Archaeology Terms
Oneota Ceramics
Oneota pottery (1200 AD to 1625 AD) was tempered with crushed, burned mussel shells which allowed the vessel walls to be much thinner than Woodland pots. The vessels are much larger than Woodland pots, and were probably formed by modeling lumps of clay. The body of the vessel has a smooth surface. Decoration was done using fingers or sticks to make trails, dots (punctates) and sometimes complex patterns in the wet clay. (Oneota, La Crosse County, WI)