Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Pottery And Differential Foodways: An Evaluation Of Social Stratification At The Winterville Site (22ws500), Amy Catherine Geiger

Honors Theses

The Winterville archeological site (22WS500) is a Mississippian-era chiefdom that flourished as a political center. Excavations at the site have unearthed ritual artifacts, deliberate burning, and feasting pits that hint at social stratification and other relationships present during the site’s occupation. This project analyzed 432 ceramic rim sherds from three separate contexts at the site— Area A, Mound C, and the area between Mounds B and C— and used vessel morphology, orifice diameter, decoration, and tempering to find evidence related to the occurrence of ritual feasting events and other food sharing activities as well as document changes in vessel prominence …