Binkley, Ainslee, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Susquehanna University, 514 University Ave, Selinsgrove, PA, 17870, binkley@susqu.edu; Ciccarello, EmmaLia, , Earth & Environmental Sciences, Susquehanna University, 514 University Ave, Selinsgrove, PA, 17870, ciccarelloe@susqu.edu; Elick, Jennifer, M Earth & Environmental Sciences Susquehanna University 514 University Ave Selinsgrove PA, 17870, elick@susqu.edu.
Analysis of pottery and associated artifacts collected from the Isle of Que, Selinsgrove, PA, reveals evidence of interaction and exchange among native groups. Pottery fragments, recovered from surveys of plowed fields, represent a cultural transition between the Archaic and Woodland periods (4,300–300 years BP). Among the 593 pottery pieces donated to the university, fragments of steatite, argillite, and metarhyolite were identified—rock types whose sources lie nearly 140 km downstream in Lancaster and South Mountain, PA. This study investigates the physical, chemical, and mineralogical composition of the pottery to identify the natural resources used in its production. Samples were prepared as thin sections for petrographic analysis, pressed pellets for geochemical analysis using wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF), and powders for X-ray diffraction (XRD).
Modern sediment was removed from shards using a sodium metahexaphosphate solution. Pottery was sorted into four color categories; dimensions, textures, and decorative designs were documented. Colors ranged from off-white to pale brown, pink, maroon, and dark gray, with some shards showing iron staining likely influenced by iron-rich groundwater. The pottery varies in thickness from 0.2 to 1.13 mm and in size from 5.6 to 22.6 cm². Decorative motifs include square stylus marks, circular punctations, deep incisions, cord marking, fabric draping, and sand pressing; some fragments lack visible decoration.
The pottery, constructed using the coil method, is composed primarily of illitic clay with a quartz-rich temper. Temper materials include quartz sand, quartzite, quartz sandstone and wacke, fine to coarse chert, gneissic and granitic grains, grog (recycled pottery), and organic matter. Pore morphology suggests the possible inclusion of shell fragments. Compared to modern river sediments, the pottery exhibits a distinctive geochemical signature with elevated barium and lower sulfur, iron, and manganese concentrations—elements typically associated with coal combustion or waste.
Situated downstream from the confluence of the West and North Branches of the Susquehanna River, the Isle of Que occupies a landscape where native trails and cultures converged. Native peoples used locally available clays derived from the Keyser and Tonoloway Formations along Penns Creek and from the Hamilton Group along Middle Creek, or they transported clay from deposits along the Susquehanna River. Temper was collected from local sand sources, including river sand, tool debitage derived from Shriver Chert, and pottery fragments (grog). The sediments they used did not contain the constituents associated with recent coal mining. Continued geochemical and mineralogical analyses will help clarify the natural resources used in pottery production and illuminate patterns of cultural exchange in this region.