Virginia Indian pot mend, cord-marked surface treatment, ca. AD 900-1650

Use of Ceramic Pots

Archaeologists have also been able to partially reconstruct a number of ceramic vessels in the Flowerdew Hundred collection to determine the shape of their forms and their function. Virginia Indians used pots like this one to cook over fires. The rounded, or conical, bottom was propped upright with stones.

The Virginia Indian diet included a variety of seasonal flora and fauna. However, a very limited amount of direct evidence about Virginia Indian food survives in the archaeological record.  Consequently, researchers must rely heavily on artifacts and historic documents to piece together what Virginia Algonquians ate. 

From Thomas Harriot’s A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, 1590
Tracy W. McGregor Library of American History, Special Collections (A 1590-1634 .B79 GE)

For example archaeologists recently have used chemical analysis to determine the types of foods cooked in ceramic vessels. As pots were used over and over again, microscopic components of the foods cooked in the container created a residue that was absorbed into the clay. Researchers can test the amounts of certain chemical elements present in the residue to assess the types of plants or animals cooked or stored in these containers.