Page 89 - Middle Georgia State University - Knighted 2019

continued into later phases. Backtracking by use of phase groups places Creek pottery
development as originating along the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. Frank Schnell coined the
Blackmon phase in which most of the Creek pottery types originated from the Ocmulgee River
valley between 1625–1715.18 The style of a pot determines the use of a pot and sometimes the
designs that are added.

Pots were usually created by a woman by coiling clay until it forms the shape of the
intended ceramic; she then would smooth out the clay with a stone.19 Many of the ceramics
found had a round or semi-pointed bottom so that when they were set down, it was necessary to
prop them up or to set them on rocks that were used as a stand.20 The Upper Creeks began to
slowly replace the flattened pots with this style of rounded pots they tended to be smaller,
probably due to the design of the rounded bottom. 21 Most of the pots found had been used either
for food storage, in the preparation of food, or as water containers. The largest and most used
pots were their large cooking pots that usually had a “low flat form.” They would typically be in
use all day.22 These large cooking pots were also used in child burials along with smaller pots
that were usually made to carry seeds. Some pots’ function was so specific that it directly
affected the way they were made and often they were destroyed after their use. Occasionally pots
were not even fired; instead, they were left plain without markings or decorations.23 Rim
notching replaced folding, and pinching and small handles connecting the rim to the neck of the

18. Chad O. Braley, “Historic Indian Period Archeology of the Georgia Coastal Plain,” 32.
19. Thomas Foster II, Archeology of the Lower Muskogee Creek Indians, 1715-1836, 72.
20. Ibid, 73.
21. Lloyd E. Schroder, The History & Material Culture of the Muscogee Creek in Alabama
and Georgia (USA: Lulu Press, 2016), 6.
22. Thomas Foster II, Archeology of the Lower Muskogee Creek Indians, 1715-1836, 73.
23. Ibid, 74.

88