Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Aquatic Adaptations And The Adoption Of Arctic Pottery Technology: Results Of Residue Analysis, Shelby L. Anderson, Shannon Tushingham, Tammy Y. Buonasera

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The late adoption of pottery technology in the North American Arctic between 2,500 and 2,800 years ago coincides with the development of a specialized maritime economy. Arctic pottery technologies present an excellent case study for examining possible correlations between hunter-gatherer pottery and aquatic resource use. Review of the timing and distribution of early pottery in Alaska shows that early pottery is rare and dates at the earliest to 2,500 years ago; the earliest pottery is found in small numbers and primarily in coastal areas. Despite expectations that pottery use would be strongly linked to marine lipids, biomarkers and compound-specific δ …