Field Trip to Museum of Appalachia

Indian Pottery in East Tennessee

As my object I chose a storage pot that was presented with several other objects of Native American pottery in a glass cabinet. Among those obejects there were pots used as water bottles, cooking pots, serving bowls, storage bowls and ceremonial dishes. Many of the pots were adorned with abstract effigies of various animals, for example frogs, owls and turtles. All of the pots were made out of clay and shaped into functional round form.

Indian Pottery

Big Indian Storage Bowl

A large piece of indian pottery was created for storage purposes by East Tennesseean indian potter sometime between 1200-1600 A.D. The bowl was shaped out of red clay, dried and then burned in a ground oven. It looks like it has either been repaired by adding more clay on top of it to fill out the cracks. It was found from Jackson County near the border of Tennessee. To me it tells about Appalachian culture with its function - people were settled to live somewhere there since they would not carry a large storage dish with them anywhere. The pot was supposedly used for storing corn, acorns or seed.

Large Storage Bowl